Section 251

But, from a scientific point of view, this is very reasonable. Every time there is an extra electron outside the nucleus, the properties of the element will change. Then in order to balance the extra negative electrons, there will be an extra positively charged electron in the nucleus. The protons determine the intrinsic properties of the element.

It sounds more and more like there is a sense of design in it.

Is there really a Creator of the world?

Every scientist probably has such an idea in his mind, but in the end he rejects it with his own scientific ideas.

"But having said that, do you really plan to place your first target on the first wall of materials?"

Li Jiangan asked again at this time.

Xiao Yi nodded: "Yes."

"If the problem of the first wall material is not solved, then how to efficiently extract the energy generated by nuclear fusion will never be solved."

Li Jiangan was silent for a moment.

He knew this was true.

If heat does not exchange, then the energy of nuclear fusion can only be trapped in the nuclear fusion reactor.

And heat exchange occurs, which means contact is required.

At the level of human civilization, there is absolutely no material in this world that can directly resist nuclear fusion plasma.

Therefore, the materials responsible for exchanging heat can only become consumables.

Xiao Yi said: "Think about what I said on the day of the induction ceremony."

"What will humans do when the raw materials for making such consumables are completely exhausted?"

"For example, the metal tungsten."

"According to statistics, the global tungsten reserves are only more than 4 million tons. Although it seems like a lot, if tungsten becomes the most important first wall material for nuclear fusion in the future, its consumption will inevitably increase dramatically. By that time, , we must consider the possibility of exhaustion of tungsten reserves.”

"If mankind has not found a new energy source that can replace nuclear fusion before then, then all nuclear fusion reactors around the world will have to shut down. From then on, human civilization will directly regress to our era."

"Think again, in 1850, when mankind officially started the second industrial revolution, the total global population was almost 1.2 billion people. But now in 2024, the total global population has directly reached 8 billion people, of which a direct increase of nearly 7 times as much.”

"And if nuclear fusion technology appears, then in a few hundred years, the global population will most likely surge..."

At this point, Xiao Yi suddenly raised his eyebrows and said: "Of course, considering the common thinking of young people today, it is indeed a question whether the population will surge six or seven times."

"However, two or three times shouldn't be a big problem."

Hearing this question, Li Jiangan became interested and joked: "Aren't you also a young man? What are your thoughts?"

Xiao Yi glanced at Academician Li helplessly: "Academician Li, you'd better not care about my affairs."

"Hey, how can you not care about this? You are considered a young comrade in our institute now. As an old man, it is reasonable for me to care about the emotional problems of young comrades, right?"

Xiao Yi's eyes suddenly turned cold: "Women will only affect the efficiency of my scientific research."

Li Jiangan laughed dumbly.

However, he then coughed twice and said: "But no matter what, I think your idea is still too pessimistic. As the saying goes, the boat will straighten out when it reaches the bridge. By that time, humans will always find a way."

He looked at the sun in the sky and said: "For example, a few hundred years later, our human civilization will already have the ability to build a Dyson sphere. Once the Dyson sphere is built, we will have the ability to share weal and woe with the sun."

"Dyson ball..."

Xiao Yi thought of his dream within a dream that night.

Inside, humans have indeed built a Dyson sphere, which can almost completely absorb the energy emitted by the sun. Obviously, compared to this largest energy source, no matter how many nuclear fusion reactors humans build, they cannot compare. Get a natural fusion reactor like a star.

On this basis, human beings can indeed share weal and woe with the sun.

However... at the level of civilization that can make a Dyson sphere, even if it doesn't use the sun, there will probably be no problem at all, right?

Maybe at that time, humans will still feel that the sun is the most beautiful scenery in the world, and if we want to protect the sun, we cannot build a Dyson sphere.

Finally, he shook his head and said: "Okay, the time for science fiction imagination is over. Now let's think carefully about what kind of structure can help us resist the power of the sun."

Xiao Yi waved his hand, said no more, and then continued to try on the computer in front of him.

Just now, he had been trying to use modeling on the computer to build a structure that could withstand the impact of high-energy particles.

When entering the microscopic world, the concept of temperature does not actually exist. Temperature is a macroscopic number, and when reflected in the microscopic world, it is related to the average kinetic energy of matter. Of course, considering the different forms of objects, the relationship between them is also different. .

For example, the temperature of a gas, according to the classical kinetic theory of gases, is related to the average translational kinetic energy of molecules: 3/2kB·T=1/2m[v^2], where kB is Boltzmann’s constant, which is approximately 1.38×10^23 J/K, T is the Kelvin temperature, m is the mass of the gas molecule, and [v^2] is the mean square value of the molecular velocity.

Of course, the form of plasma is similar to that of gas.

Therefore, according to the temperature of plasma, the kinetic energy of its single particle can be calculated.

In nuclear fusion, the particles of plasma, mainly electrons and ions, and in addition to neutrons, have the kinetic energy equivalent to hundreds of millions of degrees, and hit the atoms of the wall material.

Under such a huge impact, materials with ordinary structures are obviously impossible to withstand.

Therefore, his current goal is to find an atomic structure that can withstand this impact.

Metal tungsten is obviously a good choice. Under some current alloy technologies, such as tungsten-chromium-titanium alloy, it can theoretically last for more than one month in a nuclear fusion environment.

But only one month is definitely not enough.

So at this time, we have to consider what kind of alloy structure can further improve its radiation resistance.

In addition, tungsten is not without shortcomings. Its problem of becoming brittle at high temperatures also greatly affects its performance, so it is also necessary to try to solve this problem in research.

In addition to metal tungsten, carbon-based composite materials are also an option.

Carbon, as a material, has shown quite a lot of characteristics, as if it can show its role in any field.

Carbon-based composite materials have good thermal conductivity and thermal shock resistance, but physical and chemical changes will occur under high-energy neutron irradiation, which also requires further research.

In addition to these two materials, there are many other types of materials that have entered the scientists' selection.

For example, low-activated steel and ODS steel, as well as nanostructured materials, etc.

Among them, Xiao Yi prefers steel and carbon-based materials. After all, the reserves of these two in the earth are much higher than tungsten, so there is no need to worry, especially the cost is much lower than tungsten.

Moreover, the density of tungsten is much higher. Under the same mass, whether it is carbon or steel, its volume is much larger than tungsten.

The density of tungsten is about 19.35 grams per cubic centimeter, while the density of iron is about 7.86 grams per cubic centimeter.

As for carbon, there is no need to say more.

Of course, considering that the abundance of iron in the earth's crust reaches 5%, while the abundance of carbon is only 0.02%, iron has the highest priority.

In this way, Xiao Yi kept trying to build different structures. Of course, there is no need to think about getting results in a short time.

Faced with such a problem, even he can only try his luck by constantly trying.

Of course, in addition to trying simulations on the computer, he is also constantly using experiments to synthesize new materials, and then using material mastery to simulate the interior of the material more.

In this process, he also discovered another function of material simulation, that is, he can directly simulate the environment of nuclear fusion, thereby simulating the impact of neutron irradiation and high-temperature plasma on the material.

This function can be said to be quite powerful, which means that he does not need to put the synthesized material into the nuclear fusion device to try it again, and can directly simulate it.

You must know that the cost of igniting nuclear fusion is quite high. The electricity bill required to heat the fuel to hundreds of millions of degrees is not a small amount of money, plus the subsequent maintenance costs, it will cost a lot of money.

Moreover, with this function, he can also observe what the inside of the material will look like after neutron irradiation and high-temperature plasma impact, so as to make targeted improvements.

In this way, time passed quickly.

…

The days gradually entered March.

And the proof report meeting of the NS equation was getting closer and closer.

So much so that Xiao Yi had to suspend the research on the first wall material and began to spend part of his time on preparing for the report meeting.

At present, the number of people who are confirmed to attend this report meeting has reached nearly 2,000, which can be said to be quite a lot.

Nearly half of them are scholars from abroad.

As for the location of the report meeting, it was finally placed in the Hui Province International Conference Center in Fei City. Other places basically cannot host such a large student conference of 2,000 people.

It is also a pity for the University of Science and Technology. They originally wanted to hold it in the school, but according to this scale, only the playground can support it.

But if such an academic conference is really held on the playground, it is estimated that it will be complained on the hot search list that night.

"There's only one week left before the presentation."

In Xiao Yi's office at the Science Island Laboratory, he glanced at the date, March 8, and there were only seven days left until March 15.

"Well, it's time to get the PPT out."

Turn on the computer, start creating a new folder, and name it [2024.3.15NS Equation Proof Report PPT].

Create a PPT file, simply use a template, and then start typing.

As for whether the PPT looks good...

Well, he's not a student who has to defend his thesis, and he doesn't have to worry about whether the PPT looks good.

However, just after he typed the topic on the first page, the door of his office was knocked.

"Come in."

He said.

As the door opened, Liu Xiaodong walked in.

"Professor Xiao!"

Xiao Yi took a look, raised his eyebrows, and asked, "Liu Xiaodong, what's the matter?"