Chapter 152: Nobel Prize Winner’s Praise

European, Atomic Energy Experimental Agency Centre.

A collision meeting was held here to arrange the work of the LHC for the next six months.

"If there are no objections, the work arrangements for the second half of this year from July 15th to December 1st will be carried out according to the form in your hand."

In the spacious conference room, David Gross, chairman of the LHC Board of Governors wearing rimless glasses, adjusted his glasses and glanced at the entire conference room.

In fact, these work arrangements have been discussed and debated long ago. It will be mentioned again in the council meeting just to go through the process.

After all, the LHC is the largest large-scale strong particle collider in the world today. Every operation and collision experiment it performs may bring Nobel Prize-level results.

Coupled with its large number of member states, it can be said that the interests involved behind it are extremely complex.

In the conference room, applause broke out. David Gross showed a smile that looked a little funny, not that he meant it, but that was just how he smiled.

"Okay, that's it for today's meeting. Everyone is dismissed."

There were rustling sounds, and many council members and participants left one after another.

"Hey, Witten, let's go have a cup of coffee together?"

After Chairman David Gross packed up the meeting materials on the table, he saw Edward Witten who had not left yet. He was looking at something with concentration at the moment.

Hearing the voice, Edward Witten replied without raising his head: "Go ahead, I have something else to do here."

"What are you looking at? You are so serious."

Witten's concentrated look aroused the curiosity of David Gross, the director of the LHC, who came over.

However, he did not look at anything on the computer without permission. After all, everyone has their own privacy and secrets, and some cannot be shared with others.

Leaning by the conference table, David Gross didn't care whether Witten would answer his question, and then asked: "I heard that you accepted a student, why don't you bring some knowledge with you this time?"

"He is now studying mathematics with Deligne."

"Deligne? Viscount Pierre Deligne?" David Gross asked in surprise.

Witten nodded: "Yes."

David Gross was curious: "But isn't he your student?"

Witten shrugged and said, "He is also a student of Deligne."

Hearing this, David Gross became more curious and asked with surprise: "It's unbelievable that you two actually accepted the same person as a student. What is his background?"

Witten: "The most important discovery in mathematics last year was the Weyl-Berry conjecture, which he proved."

"In addition, the calculation method of celestial parameters currently under review in the journal "Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics", which is currently the greatest concern in the astrophysics community, is also his result."

"It turns out to be him, a talented boy from that eastern country."

David Gross suddenly understood why Witten and Deligne would accept someone as a student at the same time.

For others, this is almost impossible, but for an eighteen-year-old genius who can solve world-class mathematical conjecture problems, this is nothing.

"Mr. Chairman, I need to apply for the medium-sized proton synchrotron at the center of the experimental institution this month." Witten said.

"SPS?"

Witten nodded and said, "Yes, does it have any experimental plans this month?"

David Gross thought for a while and then said: "There must be arrangements. There is an experiment application from the University of Oxford, a country where the sun never sets, and there is also an accelerated experiment from New Zealand, but they are not very important experiments."

After a pause, he then asked with interest: "Do you have a new scientific research experiment plan?"

Witten shook his head and said, "It's not me, but my newly recruited student."

"You want to apply for equipment for your students?" David Gross asked curiously.

Witten nodded and said: "Yes, he just sent me a very interesting paper. It is a method of calculating the proton radius from first principles. In the paper, he conducted a calculation on the previous proton radius data. analysis, the result of the proton’s radius was finally determined.”

"With the help of this paper, perhaps we can get a more accurate proton radius, instead of being faced with several values ​​that are difficult to choose like now."

David Gross asked in surprise: "How to calculate the proton radius from first principles? He can also do this kind of thing."

Witten: "It is not completely first principles. It is mixed with a lot of previous proton observation data. It does not obtain a completely new proton radius data. It just confirms the previous controversial data."

"That's pretty awesome," David Gross said in admiration.

But then he remembered something again and asked: "Didn't you just say that your student was studying mathematics with Deligne? How come you suddenly made results in physics?"

Witten smiled, took off his glasses and wiped them with the lens cloth he brought with him, and then said: "Yes, he is indeed learning some mathematics from Deligne now. This achievement was actually done before he came to Princeton. part of it.”

"He is very talented in particle physics. He can do research independently without anyone's guidance. He can also integrate mathematics into physics and use mathematics to study physics. Such talent is very rare."

"When he came to Princeton before, he impressed me with this paper, which was not yet completed at that time. I told him that if he could complete this calculation method within one and a half months, I could help him apply for a proton accelerator for verification."

"Oh? Can I see the paper you mentioned?"

David Gross was also moved by what Witten said.

"Of course." Witten nodded and gave up his seat.

Although the paper Xu Chuan sent him had not been officially published, Witten did not mind letting David Gross read it.

In front of him, plagiarism was impossible. With email records and original manuscripts, even if it was published in advance by others, he had the ability to have any journal in the world reject the manuscript and let the plagiarist receive the most severe punishment.

In addition, a Nobel Prize winner in physics would not do such a thing.

Witten gave up his seat and David Gross sat over.

On the computer screen of the conference table, Xu Chuan's calculation method was opened. Gross pulled it to the top and watched it from the beginning.

After a long time, David Gross adjusted his glasses and stood up again.

He sighed and said, "This paper is indeed the essence, especially the mathematical methods and mathematical ability shown in it. No wonder you chose to be his teacher. His mathematical ability is probably unmatched by few people in the entire physics community."

Witten smiled and said, "Yes, it is rare for a physicist to have such mathematical ability."

Hearing this, David Gross laughed and said, "That's not necessarily the case. Didn't he study mathematics at first? Or is it difficult for a mathematician to have such physical ability?"

Witten shrugged and said nothing more.

Although this is a bit heartbreaking, what Gross said is indeed true. Xu Chuan's performance in mathematics is much higher than that in physics.

On the arxiv preprint server.

The paper that Xu Chuan posted immediately attracted a lot of attention.

The problem of 'the mystery of the proton radius' has been a hot research direction in the physics community in recent years. Not only particle physicists, but also many other physicists have kept their attention on it.

After all, the radius of the proton is related to the foundation of the physics building.

If its precise information changes significantly, it may affect the entire physics community.

This is a big deal.

At the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Lushida Karas, professor of particle physics and nuclear physics, is browsing the Arxiv website.

Looking for useful things from the Arxiv preprint server is one of his favorite things to do.

Although the quality of the things on the Arxiv website, which has not been peer-reviewed, varies greatly, and most of them are of no value.

But occasionally there will be some good things that will make people's eyes shine.

And finding these good things will make Lushida feel like panning for gold in the sand.

After flipping through the papers and ideas in the field of particle physics and nuclear physics, Lushida pinched the bridge of his nose and was a little disappointed.

Today is another day without any gains.

But this is normal.

After all, even if you can find some good things on the Arxiv preprint website, it is not available every day. Most of the time, it has knowledge dross.

Shaking his head, Lushida moved the mouse to the upper right corner, ready to cross the web page and go to lunch.

However, at this moment, his personal page suddenly received a reminder message from the Arxiv website itself, which came from the tag he followed - particle physics.

This means that someone has newly uploaded a paper or idea related to particle physics.

In the end, Lu Xida couldn't help it and clicked on the message, ready to go to dinner after reading this new thing.

"The Mystery of Proton Radius - On a New Calculation Method of Proton Radius and Its Extended Significance"

Seeing the title, Lu Xida shook his head.

Although the "mystery of proton radius" is one of the hottest research objects in the physics community today, simple calculation papers are of no use to it.

To solve this problem, major physics experimental research institutions can only use equipment such as proton accelerators or proton colliders to conduct experiments.

A calculation method alone is of no use in solving this problem.

Unless it is a calculation based on first principles, it can indeed directly bypass physical experiments to calculate the radius of the proton.

But it is obvious that the thing posted on the Arxiv website cannot be a calculation method based on first principles, because no one in the entire physics community can do this.

Unless Newton is resurrected, there is a slight possibility.

Because this is actually a mathematical problem, not a physical problem.

Although mathematics is also needed in physical research, not every physicist has advanced mathematics like Witten.

In fact, the mathematical ability of most physicists is basically limited to applying the mathematical tools they need to solve their own physical problems, and many people can't even do this.

So Lu Xida didn't think much of this paper, but he still chose to open it.

Anyway, I have already seen it, and it won't take long to read it. I'll go to eat after reading it.

Then, he read this paper for a whole afternoon.

Not to mention lunch, he didn't even bother to eat dinner.

At Princeton University, Xu Chuan did not wait for Edward Witten’s reply, but instead waited for a call from the other side of the world.

The caller was his mentor at NTU, Chen Zhengping.

"That paper you sent me, the one about the mystery of the proton's radius, have you solved it? Got the exact radius of the proton?"

When the call was connected, Chen Zhengping asked anxiously.

Xu Chuan smiled and said: "It is not that easy to solve the mystery of the proton radius, and the precise radius of the proton is not that easy to obtain. I just did some analysis based on the previous experimental data to determine which of the experimental data is more accurate. That’s all.”

On the other end of the phone, Chen Zhengping sighed: "That's not easy either."

After a pause, he continued: "When I suggested you try to solve this problem, I just wanted you to pay attention to physics. I didn't expect that you actually made achievements in this area."

Hearing this, Xu Chuan smiled. He was studying physics with Chen Zhengping, but ended up doing math and proving a difficult mathematical problem. This must have made Chen Zhengping feel more melancholy.

"Have you shown this paper to your supervisor Witten? What did he say?"

On the other end of the phone, Chen Zhengping continued to ask.

He naturally knew that Xu Chuan had two mentors, and he was happy about it at the beginning. After all, both Witten and Deligne were top-notch talents.

One has won the Fields Medal as a physicist, and the other is a Grand Slam winner in mathematics. No one can dream of either of them, let alone both at the same time. Become Xu Chuan’s mentor.

Chen Zhengping estimated that when Xu Chuan returns from his studies, the time may have to be delayed by two or three years. After all, these two people can teach a lot.

But this is not a bad thing, being able to learn more is the most important thing.

Xu Chuan nodded and said, "I sent it to him, but he is currently in a meeting at the LHC and has not responded to my email yet."

"Well, then just wait for him to reply. Oh, by the way, speaking of the LHC, my time has been set. The experiment will start on the 18th of this month. Remember to ask for leave and buy tickets in advance. "

On the other end of the phone, Chen Zhengping responded, and then explained the plan for the collision experiment in the middle of this month.

Xu Chuan nodded and said, "Okay, I will be there on time."

Even though Witten had agreed to apply for a proton accelerator to complete the mystery of the proton radius, Xu Chuan still didn't want to miss Chen Zhengping's experiment.

Not everyone has this opportunity to have access to first-hand collision experiment data.

There are endless secrets hidden in the data and energy spectrum images coming out of the collider. If you can find one, it will benefit you for life.