"...This sounds interesting!"
Helium 3 atoms passing through the plasma will collide with particles in the system. The electromagnetic waves generated in the collision are heard as "sound" by the observation equipment connected to the outside of the device. Based on these data, the macroscopic and microscopic parameters.
"What about the theoretical model of electrochemical interface structure?" Seeing Professor Razelson subconsciously planning to refute, Lu Zhou immediately jumped in front of him and said, "I know what you want to say, this at most proves my expertise in computational chemistry and theoretical chemistry. Strength doesn’t mean it’s also suitable for plasma research, right?”
After that, the helium 3 atoms passing through the plasma will collide with the target material, feedback the impact data, and break away from the entire system at the same time.
Regardless of the scientific research resources that are difficult to buy with money, a few hundred million dollars is definitely not enough.
By observing the particle, the system is observed indirectly.
"He-3"
The paper he submitted to the "Annals of Mathematics" also officially met with colleagues in the field of partial differential equations.
In short, the answer he got was not "that sounds unrealistic."
Obviously, the end of theoretical research did not give Lu Zhou much leisure. The new work that followed made him even busier.
If Professor Razelson is still unwilling in the end, Lu Zhou will have no choice but to send a letter to the Max Planck Society and try to become a visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics.
Just when Lu Zhou's shoulders relaxed and he was about to give up persuasion and turn to others for cooperation, Professor Razelson suddenly put on his glasses again.
This time, Professor Razelson did not speak, but fell into silence, seeming to be thinking.
Professor Razelson did not speak, but his eyes showed his thoughts.
"Is Goldbach's conjecture enough?"
excited!
In fact, Lu Zhou came up with this experimental idea largely due to his earlier work experience at CERN.
Establishing a mathematical model and solving the mathematical model are two different concepts. Although this variable seems to be extremely large, in fact, those are things that require supercomputing to deal with headaches.
Regarding the publication of results at this stage, Lu Zhou did not pay much attention to the reaction of the mathematics community.
The Nobel Prize not only rewards great theoretical discoveries, but also rewards major inventions that have changed human civilization.
"... We only need to set up a palm-sized target material on the first wall of the stellarator to capture the helium-3 particles emitted from the atomic gun, and then record the particles emitted by the collision of helium-3 and tritium atoms during the emission cycle. The electromagnetic wave signal, and finally the data such as the energy carried by helium 3 when it hits the target, the impact angular momentum, etc., indirectly analyze the data carried by the plasma under high temperature and pressure!"
The stone he casually threw into the lake did not sink. Instead, it floated on the calm lake...
With a positive tone, Lu Zhou answered Professor Razelson's question: "I'm not sure whether others know, but I'm more than 90% sure."
Theoretically, this idea seems to be feasible, but only if Lu Zhou can complete what was promised to him, and establish a theoretical model of the entire system based on the electromagnetic wave excitation data of helium 3 atoms.
Data that cannot be used is no better than "noise" in experiments.
"I'm not going to say whether this can be done or not," Professor Razelson said seriously while staring at Lu Zhou, "Are you sure you have these data and can process them? If we launch N particles, the variables involved Not only will it exceed N raised to the power of N! But we also have to consider that the plasma itself is disturbed by the magnetic field... "
At least in his opinion, this is not a particularly outstanding research result. At most, it just adds a brick to the previous research.
"But what I want to tell you is that the things I study are ultimately the processing of data, and the scale of the data I have processed is not much smaller than the amount of data we are about to face!"
First of all, its atomic diameter is small enough. It consists of two protons and one neutron. It is close to the atomic mass of tritium, and its nuclear structure is more stable! Not only does it avoid indistinguishable polyatomic collisions as much as possible in a probabilistic sense, but it also makes it easier to pass through the plasma.
If he was just building a theoretical model, Lu Zhou would still be quite confident in his abilities.
As Mr. Qiu joked, if a certain observation method can be established to directly observe various macroscopic and microscopic parameters of the plasma system under high temperature and pressure, it will have a huge promotion effect on the entire plasma physics.
After reaching a cooperative research agreement with Professor Razelson, Lu Zhou referred to the suggestions of other experts at the institute and named this still-infancy technology "He3 atom probe" to facilitate discussion.
The lenses became brighter and brighter as they were polished, and the pupils reflected in the lenses became more and more excited.
This is something that other research institutions do not possess.
Princeton's Plasma Physics Laboratory has world-class standards and has relevant research agreements with controllable nuclear fusion research units in many countries around the world. It has considerable advantages in terms of resources and talents.
"If we succeed..."
As for the particle that is used as a "white ball", there is no more suitable particle than helium 3.
In the cutting-edge research field of theoretical physics, for an unpredictable chaotic system, a common approach is to throw a particle into it to explore the path.
As for spending your own money to build a laboratory that is comparable to PPPL in terms of research and development capabilities...
The name of the project team is even more concise and clear with only three characters—
Moreover, this technology will undoubtedly promote the development of the entire controllable nuclear fusion project!
Lu Zhou's experimental idea is to use helium 3 particles as the light injected into the plasma!
However, Professor Razelson's words did not intimidate Lu Zhou.
When he looked at Lu Zhou again, there was no look of contempt in his cloudy eyes.
…
To reach the temperature at which the fusion reaction between helium 3 and deuterium occurs, the existing temperature and electromagnetic field must be increased at least a hundred times. Therefore, even if it is eventually used in a stellarator, the participation of helium 3 in fusion can basically be ignored. react to this situation.
"Believe me, it sounds difficult, but it is not unsolvable! All we did was insert a probe called helium 3 into the plasma. The only thing that sounds incredible is that it The size is only as small as an atom."
However, sometimes fate is so wonderful.
In the next few days, Lu Zhou basically spent his time traveling between the Institute for Advanced Study and the Plasma Physics Laboratory, either reading literature related to plasma research, or talking to Professor Razelson and "He-3 "Plasma physics experts and engineers from the project team sat together for a meeting to exchange opinions on the specific experimental design.
Professor Razelson said flatly: "Not enough! That only means that you are an expert in the field of number theory, and it means nothing to me!"
If the entire system where the plasma is located is regarded as a billiard table locked in a black box, and the plasma is regarded as a billiard ball on the table, then there is nothing more suitable for touching than "hitting a shot out" in a fixed direction. Clear the table.
For example, just this year, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, announced in October 2017, was awarded to three scholars who invented cryo-electron microscopy, because biologists have really won many papers with their inventions.
"It's nice to hear that answer."
As long as he continuously fires helium-3 atoms as "detectors" into the plasma, and then collects electromagnetic wave data generated by the collision, as well as impact data collected on the target material, Lu Zhou is confident that he can indirectly analyze helium through mathematical methods. 3 The disturbance received in the plasma system can indirectly deduce various properties of the system itself.
"…Give me a reason to believe you can do it."
What Lu Zhou didn't expect was that things developed exactly opposite to what he expected.
If the data collected cannot be effectively used, even if they ultimately succeed, it will be in vain.
After waiting for nearly ten minutes, Lu Zhou looked at his watch.
Lu Zhou was not discouraged and continued.
When the variables of a physical model are large enough, it will be a calculation that even a supercomputer cannot complete.
"This sounds..."
While Lu Zhou was busy with the "He-3" project, it was unknowingly the time for the publication of a new edition of the "Annals of Mathematics".
replaced by…
After convincing Professor Razelson, Lu Zhou was saved a lot of trouble.
After hearing this, Lu Zhou finally breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appeared on his face, and he stretched out his right hand.
Therefore, it is perfect to use helium 3 for this experiment!
Taking off the glasses from the bridge of his nose, Professor Razelson took out the glasses cloth from his pocket with trembling fingers and kept rubbing it on the lenses.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Lu Zhou continued beside him.
However, he has been undecided about this idea.
Considering the number of particles in the entire plasma system, the disturbance of one helium 3 atom to the entire system is almost negligible. After all, throwing an atom in has a much smaller impact on the entire system than inserting a probe!
We measure the refractive index of water. If the water itself is directly used as the research object, the entire experiment will undoubtedly be complicated. But if you shoot a beam of light into water and calculate the refractive index by observing the change in the angle between the light and the interface, the entire experiment will become much simpler.
If this is too abstract, you can make a simple analogy.
After a pause, Lu Zhou stared into his eyes and said seriously, "This is undoubtedly a Nobel Prize-level invention."
There was a trace of hesitation in his eyes, and Professor Razelson still couldn't believe the decision.