Chapter 160 Failure Is the Mother of Success
Chen Zhengping undoubtedly welcomes Xu Chuan's joining.
At present, their research progress has reached a deadlock, whether it is Nanjing University, the University of Australia, or Georgia Institute of Technology.
None of the three universities can find the Yukawa coupling phenomenon between Higgs and the third-generation heavy quarks (top quark t and bottom quark b) from the collision experiment data.
They don't have much time left. If no discovery can be made within the time limit of CERN, this part of the data will be fully disclosed and studied by all physicists together.
But the Yukawa coupling phenomenon between Higgs and the third-generation heavy quarks (top quark t and bottom quark b) can be said to be destined to be discovered.
After all, the Yukawa coupling phenomenon between Higgs and the third-generation light quark particles (tau t) was discovered last year.
This confirms the correctness of the Higgs mechanism.
And under this mechanism, the Yukawa coupling phenomenon between Higgs and the third-generation heavy quarks (top quark t and bottom quark b) is destined to be discovered.
Now it depends on who can find valuable clues or evidence from the collision experiment data first.
This is a result that is destined to be picked. If it is missed, I am afraid no one will be willing to accept it.
But no one knows at which collision energy level the Yukawa coupling phenomenon between Higgs and the third generation heavy quarks (top quark t and bottom quark b) will appear.
If there is a researcher with outstanding mathematical ability to help them analyze this year's collision data, even if they cannot find clues from this year's experimental data, they can rule out the possibility of an energy level.
Or, find something else, such as finding the area where the Higgs boson is most likely to decay.
This will be of great help for applying for experimental data next time.
At least CERN will take their ability into consideration in this data analysis.
After all, CERN is not a non-profit organization. Although their funding comes from member states all over the world, they still have to do things after receiving the funding.
Teams that are capable or can quickly produce results will naturally be given priority by CERN.
The fact that Nanjing University can obtain the right to analyze experimental data from other competitors this time is inseparable from the achievements made by Chinese scientific research staff at CERN in recent years.
In particular, the Yukawa coupling phenomenon between Higgs and the third-generation lepton (tau τ), as well as the discovery of four-quark particles and five-quark particles, which China has deeply participated in, have won them a lot of bargaining chips.
Otherwise, in this scientific research organization dominated by Western countries, Nanjing University may not be able to apply for this scientific research experiment.
For Xu Chuan, the purpose of joining his mentor Chen Zhengping's team is not to find the Yukawa coupling phenomenon between Higgs and the third-generation heavy quarks (top quark t and bottom quark b).
For this year's research, he actually knew the outcome in advance.
This is an experimental research with a high probability of failure.
Because the Yukawa coupling phenomenon between Higgs and the third-generation heavy quarks (top quark t and bottom quark b) was discovered in 2018.
That is, two years later, CERN will first discover the Yukawa coupling phenomenon between Higgs and the third-generation heavy quarks.
Xu Chuan has a deep memory of this incident, because in his previous life, 18 years was almost when he officially entered the physics world, and he paid more attention to these things.
The reason why it is a high probability instead of 100% is that he dare not guarantee that there will be no clues in this year's experimental data.
After all, he has not seen this year's experimental data. Maybe there are some clues hidden in this year's experimental data?
But to be honest, Xu Chuan did not hold much hope for this.
On the one hand, Nanjing University, Australia University and Georgia Institute of Technology have basically given the answer.
At least a dozen researchers from three universities have analyzed a piece of experimental data and found no clues. Xu Chuan does not think that any clues can be missed from these researchers.
This probability is still quite low. After all, this is not looking for unknown particles outside the standard model, and people know nothing about it.
Based on the experience of discovering the Yukawa coupling phenomenon of Higgs and third-generation light quarks last year, if the Yukawa coupling phenomenon of Higgs and third-generation light quarks really appears in this experimental data, it should not be missed by researchers from three universities.
It is possible that one university missed it, but the probability of three universities missing it at the same time is too low.
In addition, the data generated by each collision experiment is basically different. Even if the energy levels, experimental details, and experimental steps of two collision experiments are exactly the same, the data generated may be different.
Therefore, it is impossible to determine whether there is Yukawa coupling data between Higgs and third-generation light quarks in the data of this collision experiment.
It is just like the discovery of the Higgs particle.
Since March 2010, LHC has been collecting and analyzing data intensively, but it was not until July 4, 2012 that CERN announced the discovery of the Higgs particle.
This journey to explore the Higgs particle lasted for more than two years. The collision energy level searched the 100~180GeV area, and finally detected excess events at 125-126GeV and found this mysterious particle.
Judging from these two points, the probability that the experimental data this time may contain data and clues of Yukawa coupling between Higgs and third-generation heavy quarks is quite low.
Although there is no hope of finding clues from the experimental data this time, it may be possible to make a data analysis of the Yukawa coupling energy level of the Higgs and the third-generation heavy quarks with the help of this data.
After all, in today's CERN, if you want to find a new particle or phenomenon, you rely on analyzing experimental data through the collision of different particles at different energy levels of the LHC.
Just like the Higgs boson, the collision energy level has been searched in the 100~180GeV area.
If the Higgs boson was not the last piece of the puzzle for the standard model, I am afraid that the LHC would not have done a two-year collision experiment specifically for it.
After all, every startup of the Large Intense Particle Collider costs millions of dollars, or even tens of millions of dollars.
The power consumption of the LHC exceeds 200 megawatts, which means that the power consumption per hour exceeds 200,000 kWh.
If we calculate that an ordinary family consumes 2,000 kWh of electricity a year, the LHC running for one hour is enough for one hundred ordinary families to use for a year.
This is only the amount of electricity consumed when the collider is running, not counting other things, such as large supercomputers processing data, which are also very power-consuming equipment.
In addition, there are expenses such as staff salaries and equipment maintenance.
If it were not for finding the last particle in the standard model and verifying the origin of mass, CERN would probably not do such a money-burning behavior.
And using mathematics to analyze the Yukawa coupling collision data of the Higgs and the third-generation heavy quarks, determine at which energy level it will be coupled, and determine the ideal search channel for the Higgs boson to decay into a pair of bottom quarks (H→BB), there is no doubt that it is of great value.
In terms of matter, if this step can really be achieved, at least tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars in collision funds can be saved.
In terms of scientific research and development, this is an important progress in the search for new physics. These analyses are a crucial step in the long journey of measuring the properties of the Higgs boson, and help scientists understand the key to the origin of mass.
This is also the reason why Xu Chuan chose to stay at CERN and join his mentor Chen Zhengping's team after solving his own "proton radius mystery" problem, even though he knew that this experiment would most likely not find the Yukawa coupling phenomenon between the Higgs and the third-generation heavy quarks.
This is also the reason why he decided to focus on mathematics in his life.
In academia, at least in the physics world, mathematics is indispensable.
Although mathematical calculations and mathematical analysis cannot directly let you see particles or collision phenomena, they can analyze collision data and find key points, thereby saving a lot of time and money.
The collision of top physics ability + top mathematical ability can promote more things than imagined.
Xu Chuan now deeply understands this point. His current mathematical ability is not really top-notch, but it has helped him solve a lot of troubles.
For example, Chen Zhengping's tungsten diselenide experiment, the previous Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem method for calculating celestial parameters, this time's proton radius mystery, etc., all started from mathematics.
This also made him believe that if he could improve his mathematical ability to the top in this life, he would definitely see some new things that he could not see in his previous life.
After joining the experimental team of his mentor, Xu Chuan followed Chen Zhengping to analyze data during the day and "learn" theoretical physics knowledge, and perfected his thesis in the hotel at night. His life was quite fulfilling.
Even though he knew the results in advance, he did not work overtime day and night to complete the experimental data analysis.
There is still more than a month before Nanjing University submits this report, and it is enough to complete it before then.
The days passed one by one, and in the blink of an eye, it was already mid-September.
In the office of CERN China, Xu Chuan sat at a desk, staring at the data on the table in a daze.
More than half a month has passed, which is enough for him to go through all the experimental data.
Although he hoped to find clues to the Yukawa coupling phenomenon of Higgs and third-generation heavy quarks in this experimental data.
But unfortunately, there was no such clue in this experimental data.
If there were clues to the Yukawa coupling phenomenon of Higgs and third-generation heavy quarks, Xu Chuan believed that with his current sensitivity to the data, he would definitely be able to find some abnormalities.
Unfortunately, he has read the experimental data over and over again for more than half a month, but has not found any valuable clues.
This is normal.
Not every collision experiment can discover something, and not every collision data is valuable.
At CERN, each operation of the LHC will produce about 10 billion particle collisions per second, and each collision can provide about 100 MB of data, so the annual raw data volume is expected to exceed 40k EB.
However, based on current technology and budget, it is impossible to store 40kEB of data, and only a small part of this data is actually meaningful.
Therefore, there is no need to record all the data, and the actual amount of data recorded has been reduced to about 1 PB per day after supercomputing analysis.
For example, the last real data in 2015 only collected 160 PB, simulated data 240PB, and most of the other data were discarded.
Whether we can find something in the remaining data depends largely on luck.
It is normal that there is no data on the Yukawa coupling phenomenon between the Higgs and the third-generation heavy quarks in the experimental data this time.
After all, this is reality, not an online novel or a science fiction movie, and not every effort will be rewarded.
If a new particle or new results can be discovered in a random collision experiment, there will not be so many mysteries in the physics world.
The standard model must have been completed long ago, and even dark matter and dark energy have been discovered long ago.
It is normal at CERN to spend several months without making any useful results.
People tend to remember successful examples, but it is easy to ignore how many failures there are behind a success.
Just like the discovery of the Higgs boson shocked the world, the world remembers the day when the Higgs boson was made public on July 4, 2012.
But who knows how many collision experiments and data analyses did CERN and other laboratories and research institutions conduct before the discovery of the Higgs boson?
Thousands? Tens of thousands? Or more?
This is an answer that no one can count.
Failure is the mother of success, and this sentence is still very reasonable when applied to the field of high-energy physics.
Through continuous trial and error in practice, the correct method or result can be found. This is how CERN does it, how particles are found one by one, and how the standard model is perfected.