Volume 1: Student Life Chapter 491: Continuation of the Era
“Dear guests, scholars, professors, graduate students, and scientific researchers…”
"Everyone is welcome to come here and witness with us the rubber ball we have been searching for for decades..."
"And witness with us the decommissioning ceremony of all colliders in SLAC..."
"Starting with the SLAC Linac, these colliders have been in continuous operation for nearly fifty years..."
"I am honored to be the first researcher to accompany them to the end..."
"I am also very fortunate that, because of SLAC Linac, Professor Kendall, Professor Taylor, and I jointly won the 1990 Nobel Prize in Physics..."
"Of course, SLAC has made far more discoveries than these. Before us, the experimental team led by Professor Richter had already conducted research on the collision of matter and antimatter through the positron-electron accelerator ring SPEAR, and successfully discovered charm quarks..."
"In addition, Professor Pell used SPEAR to discover the third generation of leptons produced by electron-positron collisions, namely τ particles..."
Friedman had already adjusted his mood before taking the stage.
For a successful scientist like him, the so-called fame, wealth and honor are just external things, a kind of affirmation of his own achievements.
The reason why he said these words at the opening of this conference of physicists .
It’s because of nostalgia and reluctance.
Before this conference of physicists, the U.S. Department of Energy and Stanford University had already begun shutting down laboratories.
The place where Friedman worked all his life is now gone.
There may be other emotions as well.
But it's not that important.
SLAC, with its outstanding contributions, cannot be overlooked in the history of physics, especially in the history of high-energy physics.
When Friedman was speaking on the stage, he felt as if the scenes of his past work were right in front of him.
Time flies, and the time in a person's life is really limited.
Friedman feels it is worth it to devote his life to the scientific research he loves.
Friedman feels that it is really great and he is very happy to be able to achieve fruitful research results in this career.
Retracting his thoughts that were gradually being distracted by himself, Friedman glanced at the people in the audience and said with a slow smile, "Don't think I'm being long-winded. Just give me more time. You will get what you expect later. I believe that young people will be able to speak better than an old man like me."
Hearing Friedman's words, everyone in the audience smiled with understanding.
There were also quite a few people looking towards where Chen Zhou was.
Nowadays, whether in the mathematics or physics community, there are really not many people who don’t know the name Chen Zhou.
At this physicists' conference, there were definitely quite a few people who came for Chen Zhou.
Chen Zhou naturally also felt the attention being paid to him. To him, this was something he was accustomed to.
However, the people who pay attention to it have changed from students to experts in the field.
After thinking about it, Chen Zhou took the lead in applauding Friedman.
The applause gradually became louder.
This is not only for the old man on the stage, but also for SLAC which has made great contributions.
Friedman looked at the people applauding in the audience and felt slightly moved.
But he quickly adjusted his mood, and when the applause died down, Friedman continued:
"As we all know, there are many particles in the universe. The discovery of new matter and new particles will surely help us uncover the mysteries of the universe."
"It can also advance the progress of 'new physics', and the Large Hadron Collider is a machine suitable for microscopic physics research..."
"It is true that in the process of collider research, there are various constraints, and there may always be a huge asymmetry between input and output, because scientific research itself is extremely uncertain..."
"But the facts also prove that the Large Hadron Collider has not let us down in its previous research history..."
"Whether it is the new particles discovered by SLAC or the Higgs particle discovered by CERN, they are all precious treasures we have gained..."
"I believe that in the near future, we will also be able to obtain what we all dream of from the collider..."
When he said this, Friedman's expression darkened slightly.
If it weren't for the transformation of the world's high-energy physics research center, if it weren't for the rise of CERN, perhaps SLAC's collider laboratory would have had some lifespan.
But this is also a necessity for historical development and the development of scientific research.
You can't rely on outdated equipment for your future.
Here, Friedman can speak frankly, although with some helplessness, but it also means that he acknowledges this fact.
Apart from anything else, CERN does represent a possible future in a sense.
During the construction of CERN, more than 8,000 scientists and technicians were involved in order to ensure the normal progress of the project.
Then, after 14 years of hard work and financial support from dozens of countries, the world's largest hadron collider was finally built at CERN.
And the result is just as Friedman said.
After being officially put into use, this world's largest hadron collider discovered the Higgs boson, known as the "God particle".
It is this fact that gives confidence to many physicists, including Friedman who is on the stage now.
They all believe that the Large Hadron Collider is bound to discover some exciting matter.
Some physicists even assert that extra spatial dimensions, dark matter particles, or some new symmetry could be discovered through large colliders.
"As I said before, matter is the basic structure that makes up the universe. Research in any scientific field cannot be separated from the study of microscopic particles." After organizing his thoughts a little, Friedman continued.
"Understanding the laws and mysteries of the microscopic world will help humans understand more clearly where we come from and where we are going."
"From this perspective, particle research conducted through large colliders is absolutely necessary. At the same time, using colliders to conduct particle research can also contribute to the cultivation of talents."
“From ordinary to outstanding, the growth of a scientist must be rooted in practical research. Science that stays at the level of theoretical research cannot be called real science in the strict sense.”
“Only by combining practice and theory can a scientist go further and create more infinite possibilities. Only by participating in more advanced research can greater breakthroughs be achieved.”
After saying this, Friedman paused for a moment and glanced at Chen Zhou intentionally or unintentionally.
Although Chen Zhou's growth rate was fast, Friedman felt that this was partly due to his extraordinary talent in physics and his almost accurate physics intuition.
On the other hand, it is also related to the scientific research environment he is exposed to.
Even without talking about SLAC, Chen Zhou has been involved in the glue ball experiment project since he reported to MIT.
When he was at Yenching University, Friedman also knew Chen Zhou, who started with particle accelerators.
Even the experimental conditions there are not as good as those at SLAC.
But this starting point is already beyond the reach of most graduate students.
Not to mention, when studying at Yanda University, Chen Zhou was just an undergraduate student.
Chen Zhou, who had been staring at the stage, naturally noticed Friedman's seemingly casual glance.
As for Chen Zhou, he is very grateful to this professor.
Take the most recent example, if Friedman had not taken him to the seaside, shown him the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, and shared his "research experience" with him.
If Friedman had not given him a lot of freedom from the beginning, he would have chosen to believe what he said.
Then, this final jelly ball experiment will definitely not succeed.
There's no telling how long this problem of "sexual confinement" will continue to trouble him.
And it continued to bother him after he left SLAC.
Looking away, Friedman began his final speech.
"The discovery of glueballs will be SLAC's last gift to the physics community. Before this conference began, all of SLAC's collider laboratories had been shut down one after another..."
When people in the audience heard that SLAC had shut down all of its collider laboratories one after another, there was still some commotion.
After all, the conference of physicists, which was held mainly because of glueballs, officially began today.
And what Friedman said at the beginning made everyone think that the collider laboratory should be shut down after the conference.
However, he did not expect that the "meritorious person" discovered by Jiaoqiu had been retired before this.
Doesn’t this seem a bit “anxious”?
But this was SLAC's decision, and they could only sigh at how swiftly SLAC acted and how fast the times were changing.
They couldn't say anything else, and it was difficult for them to say anything else.
"I know you're all probably wondering why the collider that just discovered the glue balls is shut down ? Doesn't the discovery of the glue balls prove its value?"
Looking at the audience, Friedman smiled and answered his own question: "In fact, we can think about it the other way around. With the discovery of glueballs, SLAC's mission has basically come to an end."
"Think about us, the researchers who have accompanied the collider, who are now this old, and have gone through an era."
"Just like the discovery of our jelly ball experiment was led by a young man, the future belongs to the young..."
"In the future, there will be a newer era, an era with more young people..."
"I believe that with the cooperation of more and more scholars who are obsessed with 'new physics', the efforts made by our predecessors will also be continued, and this field will also reap a steady stream of results..."
Friedman brought SLAC's collider laboratory to a successful close with the completion of its mission, its hope for the future, and the continuation of the times.
For SLAC, which has achieved more impressive results than CERN, this conference of physicists can indeed be regarded as a perfect farewell.
But at the same time, Friedman actually put pressure on the future, which is put on all collider laboratories.
At this time, there was applause from the audience.
The applause grew louder.
Many big names in the field of physics stood up and applauded.
After a while, everyone in the audience stood up and applauded.
This applause goes to SLAC, which discovered the glueball, as well as to Friedman, Chen Zhou, and all the researchers in the glueball experiment...
I also want to give this to the scientists who have been deeply involved in physics research, and to all the young people present here...
It is also a gift to the past era of struggle and to the future era of greater hope...
After a long while, the applause gradually weakened and finally disappeared.
Immediately afterwards, Friedman announced the highlight of this physicists' conference.
That is, Chen Zhou’s one-hour report meeting.
It will be held at 10:30 a.m. in the lecture hall.
It can be said that more than 80% of the people present came for Chen Zhou’s report.
In addition, Friedman's vague foreshadowing in his opening speech, his hopes for the future and young people, he almost mentioned Chen Zhou's name directly.
It also raised everyone's attention again.
Originally, SLAC planned to arrange a 45-minute report for Chen Zhou.
Chen Zhou himself actually had no objection.
Generally speaking, at a physicists' conference of this level, the best presentation would be about 45 minutes.
After all, this was a physicists' conference unilaterally organized by SLAC, with Stanford University as the venue.
However, Friedman insisted on arranging a one-hour lecture for Chen Zhou, which was also the only one-hour lecture.
The length of time represents the importance of the research.
What is Chen Zhou’s research?
It's a gumball!
It is a new discovery in the field of high energy physics!
It's a new particle that shocked the world!
Not to mention, Chen Zhou also solved the source and mechanism of "color confinement" in the process!
What exactly is the problem of “color confinement”?
In a sense, this is an essential problem in high-energy physics!
Before Chen Zhou came to this, this was a problem that had not even been touched upon!
Although in the "color confinement" problem, where is the critical point of the fade confinement phase transition and where does the phase separation line start.
In every model, there are predictions.
But before Chen Zhou, no theory was reliable or complete.
There is no experimental plan to verify it.
It was not until the inspiration Chen Zhou gained this time that helped him solve some problems in "Color Confinement" and successfully found the rubber ball.
Friedman believed that with these research results, Chen Zhou was fully worthy of a one-hour lecture, and they did not need to worry about whether the level of this physicists' conference was high enough.
As long as their research results are of a high enough level, that's enough.
In other words, the discovery of glue balls and the solution to the "color confinement" problem will invisibly elevate the level of this physicists' conference in terms of content.
After a short break, the time will reach 10:30 as Friedman said.
The lecture hall was crowded with people.
It is no less than what Friedman said in his speech at the opening ceremony just now, and may even be more.
Some young people dressed as students sneaked in "quietly".
Everyone's eyes were focused on the young man on the stage.
This young man can probably be regarded as what Friedman called an outstanding "successor of the era" in the new era of physics.
Of course, this young man is also an outstanding mathematician.
Chen Zhou is communicating with the staff at this moment.
He didn't know if he would need help later...
Although he can use words to explain possible problems.
But if you can write, it’s better not to speak.
After all, it would save him trouble and others would be more intuitive...
