Rebirth of science and technology academic master

Chapter 326 Collider Meeting

a conference room

"Dear leaders and experts, I suggest building a large particle collider!" Academician Wang spoke first: "For China, this is the best opportunity to lead the world in basic physics research!"

Qin Yuanqing listened to Academician Wang's speech and then read through it. Looking at the conference room materials for this meeting, in addition to Academician Wang, Mr. Yang and others, there are also Qiu Chengtong, plus a total of 13 top scholars from Qin Yuanqing.

Although Academician Wang was just elected as an academician last year, he has made considerable achievements in high-energy physics. He has been engaged in high-energy physics experimental research for a long time. In terms of neutrinos, he is the main proposer of the Daya Bay experimental plan and led the completion of its design, construction and research. ; Proposed and led the Jiangmen Neutrino Experiment. In terms of electron-positron collision, he led the design, construction and preliminary research of the new Jingcheng spectrometer at the Jingcheng Electron-positron Collider.

After graduating from Jinling University in 1984, Academician Wang went to the European Nuclear Center in Geneva, Switzerland, to participate in the L3 experiment led by physicist Ding Zhaozhong, specializing in the study of high-energy particles. It can be said that he has been studying high-energy particles for more than thirty years and has made considerable achievements in high-energy physics. For his small achievements, he won the Breakthrough Award in Basic Physics last year, with a single prize of up to US$3 million.

This document about China's construction of a large electron collider was proposed by him, and several top scholars such as Qiu Chengtong also signed it.

"Building a large particle collider can make us the center of particle physics research in the world and firmly establish China's leading position. At the same time, we can achieve localization and lead the world in the following technologies." Academician Wang said passionately: " This will not only allow our country to get rid of the restrictions of CERN and gain independent research and development capabilities in the high-energy field, but also make our country the center of high-energy physics in the world. It will attract tens of thousands of top scholars from all over the world to settle in our country like CERN in Europe. It can effectively improve our country’s international image.”

"If the large collider cannot discover new particles or new phenomena, it will also give us a deeper understanding of the physical world. Just like the Michelson-Morley experiment did not discover the ether, but it contributed to physics, especially the establishment of the theory of relativity. It plays an important role." Academician Wang continued: "The circular collider is an ideal Higgs particle factory, and the Higgs particle is the most important window for currently unknown particle physics research."

Several other co-signing scholars also put forward their own opinions. Originally, the center of high energy physics was about to be transferred from Europe to North America. However, it was because of the establishment of CERN in Europe that it consolidated its status as the world's center of high energy physics. For a long time, tens of thousands of Engineered physicists work at CERN to provide intelligence for European development. This is undoubtedly a very clear example.

"Mr. Yang, you are a two-time Nobel Prize winner in physics, and you are engaged in theoretical physics. You are an expert in high-energy physics. Do you think we should build a large particle collider?" The leader looked at Mr. Yang and asked road.

Although the proposal was jointly signed by six top scholars, the superiors did not make a direct decision. Instead, they held a demonstration meeting to demonstrate whether it was necessary to build a large particle collider.

After all, the construction cost of 200 billion is not a small amount. Even if it is not invested so much in one year, it is still a large amount of money. Although China has had financial surpluses in recent years, it cannot squander it.

That's why we have today's meeting.

"Experts and leaders, from a scholar's point of view, I am very opposed to the construction of a large particle collider at this time." Mr. Yang said slowly.

When the others heard this, their expressions changed one after another. Mr. Yang had not only opposed the construction of a large particle collider before. After all, this is already the fourth time.

In the past, China was poor and there was nothing that could be done. From an economic point of view, it was excusable. But now that China is rich, the country is extremely rich, and it can fully afford the money, so why should we oppose it.

Don’t you know that building a large particle collider will be beneficial to China and its scholars? China is far behind Europe in high-energy physics. Isn’t it because Europe has CERN and can continue to make discoveries, so there are a large number of papers every year?

But Mr. Yang didn't seem to notice their expressions, and said with clear thinking: "First of all, I think the scientific goal is unclear, and 200 billion may be wasted. Whether new particles can be found is still unknown, and huge investments are made when the goal is uncertain. What is the value of the financial and material resources? After all, 200 billion is not a small amount. After completion, it will require a large amount of operation and maintenance costs every year, which can be said to be a bottomless pit. It cannot be realized within 50 years. What's more, the proposal estimates 200 billion, but I think It is very likely that 200 billion will not be enough. If it is built, it may require 300 billion, or even 400 billion."

"Furthermore, the key technologies are not in hand, squeezing other scientific research funds. In the absence of revolutionary technologies, many technical details require European and American support. Even most technologies require European and American support, which means that such a large In the end, investment must be left to European and American companies.”

"The most critical point is that China's advanced physics scholars currently account for less than 1% of the world's total. After the project is completed, it will inevitably be dominated by foreigners and serve as wedding dresses for others. Look at the current younger generation of scholars, except for Academician Qin, which one can be called Can you become a top scholar in advanced physics? No, not one!" Mr. Yang said rudely: "The feast of high-energy physics has passed, and everything that needs to be discovered has been discovered. If we take another step forward, the input and output will be completely Not proportional.”

The prosperity of particle physics in the 1960s and 1970s was called a "feast", which was comparable to the grand occasion of quantum mechanics at the beginning of the century. At that time, new experimental discoveries were exploding, and theoretical work represented by the Standard Model, effective field theory, and quantum chromodynamics was equally brilliant, as well as string theory, loop quantum gravity, grand unified theory, etc. Further elevate theoretical work to a higher level. At this feast, a large number of god-like people emerged, such as Weinberg, Glashow, Gross, Yang/Lee, Witten, Wigner, Schwinger, Gell-Mann, Weltman, Hoft et al.

After that, the feast ended, and what was discovered later was what was predicted and demonstrated before.

The biggest achievement in physics in the past 40 years is not the discovery of a certain particle or a certain wave, but Qin Yuanqing's solution to the Yang-Mills theory and the unified theory of strong electricity proposed by Qin Yuanqing.

It is precisely because of this that Qin Yuanqing has been regarded by many as the greatest physicist and mathematician of the 21st century.

"Academician Qin, what's your opinion?" The leader named Qin Yuanqing. After all, Qin Yuanqing's opinion is the most important. Now Qin Yuanqing is a leading figure in the scientific community and a banner of the Chinese scientific community.

"First of all, there is one thing. A large particle collider will always be built, but not now, nor on the earth. The large particle collider should be built on the moon after the moon landing." Qin Yuanqing said with a smile: "In current high-energy physics research, the most important thing is not to build a large particle collider, but to cultivate corresponding talents. What will we do if we don't have the talents to build this thing?"

"But..." Academician Wang was about to retort.

"Okay, Academician Wang, this topic ends here." The leader interrupted Academician Wang. Two Nobel Prize winners in physics objected. One of them was the first person in physics in the second half of the 20th century, and the other was Currently, both of the greatest physicists of the 21st century hold a negative attitude, so what else needs to be discussed?

When Academician Wang heard the leader's words, he knew that the situation was over.

He couldn't understand that Qin Yuanqing and Yang Lao would be opposed, especially Qin Yuanqing. The construction of a large particle collider would be of no harm to Qin Yuanqing and would not affect Qin Yuanqing's status.

Moreover, Qin Yuanqing is so rich. 200 billion is not even a quarter of Qin Yuanqing's net worth. Qin Yuanqing can build a large particle collider by himself.

Qin Yuanqing didn't know what he was thinking, otherwise he would definitely sneer and think too much. It's his own business to have money, so why invest in building a large particle collider.

China still has so many fields to solve, and so many places are still poor and backward. It is more cost-effective for him to use the money to help education in these places than to invest in the construction of a large particle collider.

With the development of high-energy physics, it is already very difficult to make any breakthroughs. The gravity on the earth is also very strong. It is already difficult to invest 200 billion yuan to build a large particle collider. Even Qin Yuanqing doubted it. It’s about whether an investment of 500 billion can yield substantial results.

On the contrary, if a large particle collider is built on the moon, the effect will be much better. The moon's gravity is much smaller than that of the earth, and there is no need to consider taking up space.

The meeting ends here.

Qiu Chengtong and Tao Zhexuan greeted Qin Yuanqing. Qiu Chengtong said: "I didn't expect that you would deny the large particle collider and also proposed to build a large particle collider on the earth. The idea is very good, but it is not practical at all. It is better to say never. Let’s build a large particle collider.”

This time Academician Wang came to him. He thought this was a great thing and would greatly promote high-energy physics in China. Moreover, China was not short of money and could build it. He even roped in Tao Zhexuan.

Tao Zhexuan smiled bitterly and said: "This time I am pretending to be a good person, and I am no longer a human being inside and outside."

Qin Yuanqing smiled lightly and said: "The large particle collider being built now will be no different from what it will be ten, twenty, or even thirty years from now. There are still many poor people in China, with more than 600 million people earning a monthly income." Less than 1,000 yuan, such a large amount of money can be of great use in many fields."

Although China is now rising step by step, in fact there are still many problems in China, such as the development of the central and western regions. The development of the western region has now become a major national strategy. Trillions of funds are continuously invested every year to stimulate the development of the central and western regions. development of.