Back at the Cavendish Laboratory, Rutherford and Owen Richardson were sorting through the data, along with other Cavendish researchers.
Although Rutherford is not the director yet, everyone can see Thomson's attitude towards him, and Rutherford has gained quite a reputation now, so once he takes action, many people will help.
Moreover, the research is in the very popular field of rays, and there are super scientific stars like Li Yu. Everyone wants to see what they are doing.
A researcher named Harold even brought his daughter Lillian, who loves mathematics and science. Of course he brought her there for a good reason: Lillian was in love with Owen Richardson.
Owen Richardson's entire family was engaged in mathematics, and later his sister also married a physicist.
Rutherford was a relatively open-minded person and did not reject this phenomenon. Instead, he joked with him: "I hope your energy at work will not be attracted by things other than research."
Owen Richardson laughed loudly: "You didn't see the good things that Li Yu and the beautiful Bicheng girl did in the sky yesterday."
"What good thing?" Lillian asked curiously at first.
Owen Richardson said proudly: "I think this matter could be published in the Daily Mail. It will definitely be a popular news."
"Oh? So interesting?" Rutherford didn't want to sort out the data anymore and urged, "Tell us quickly."
Owen Richardson sat down swaggeringly: "I have always heard that Eastern women have a charm that is different from our Western women. It seems that it is called 'shy' in Chinese. Oh, when I saw it yesterday, it was true! It is so beautiful that it is indescribable. I am now I really envy Li Yu to death!"
Lilian pouted: "Then find an Oriental girl."
Owen Richardson felt that he had let something slip, and he quickly went over to coax his girlfriend: "Hey, I'm not an Oriental, of course I still like you like this!"
Lilian was still dissatisfied: "I'm angry, you can do whatever you want!"
He actually left as soon as he finished speaking.
"That's so direct!" Owen Richardson spread his hands helplessly, "I envy Li Yu even more now."
"Why do you envy me?" Li Yu also walked into the Cavendish Laboratory at this time.
Rutherford smiled and said: "Now he is eager to find more oriental books for Lillian to read, like the "Dream of Red Mansions"."
"A Dream of Red Mansions?" Li Yu asked in surprise, "Is there an English translation already?"
Rutherford said: "It should be just an excerpt. The translator, Mr. Davis, said it was from the first meeting of the hero and heroine in the third chapter, and he translated one of the poems."
Li Yu had read "A Dream of Red Mansions" and immediately remembered that it was the first time Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu met.
However, the translator Davis himself admitted: "My understanding of "Dream of Red Mansions" is limited, and I can only try to preserve the original appearance of the work."
Due to national strength and cultural penetration, it is actually easy for Chinese people to understand many literary classics written by foreigners, but it is too difficult for foreigners to understand Chinese classics.
Li Yu smiled and said: "If you want to know more about the East, it would be more appropriate to go and live there in person for a year or two."
Owen Richardson said: "No, just let Lilian have more contact with Miss Bicheng in the future. After all, she is also a popular female writer and knows English. It is not surprising to participate in cultural salons."
Rutherford knew what Richardson was thinking and joked: "I'm afraid you also want Miss Lillian to learn more about the oriental flavor you dream of from Miss Bicheng."
Owen Richardson was poked at the central point, but he didn't hide it: "If I tell the truth, it's better to be an oriental woman."
Li Yu was amused: "I know why Miss Lilian ran away. It seems that your ability to deal with girls is not as good as dealing with mathematics and physics."
Owen Richardson smiled and countered: "Both each other! But I am serious about the cultural salon. Lillian knows many celebrities in the industry. I will invite Miss Bicheng in a few days when she gets better."
Nowadays, many cultural salons really want to invite Lu Bicheng, because a best-selling female writer is so rare, and the British can't help but think of the three Brontë sisters who dominated the entire European literary world.
Although strictly speaking, the Star Wars series is just science fiction, it can’t help but be liked by everyone.
There are many benefits to letting Lu Bicheng communicate more with people in the cultural circles. In terms of Chinese culture, Lu Bicheng, as the first of the four talented women in the Republic of China, is much higher than Li Yu.
At best, Li Yu can recite some ancient poems and essays he learned in school. He can't even write the most basic calligraphy well. He can only rely on the hard-pen calligraphy he accumulated from the exam-oriented education. After all, not many literati can use pens nowadays. , there is a time difference.
A few people chatted for a while and began to sort out the experimental data.
The high-altitude data alone is already very revealing, and it can basically be concluded that the rays come from the universe; the underwater test is also important evidence and shows that the intensity of the rays is extremely high.
The correspondence between the two is an excellent theoretical result.
They finished the paper quickly.
Rutherford and Owen Richardson must have insisted on Li Yu being the first author.
In fact, given the current situation in the scientific community, papers basically only have one author, so many people who have done a lot of auxiliary work have been ignored.
Li Yu is not a stingy person, and the two of them have been very helpful. Li Yu also knew that his strength was in theoretical ability, and in terms of experiments, these big guys from the Cavendish Laboratory were definitely better at it.
Another key point is that the current experimental equipment is too crude. It is not like when I was in college, and all the experimental equipment had to be built by hand.
Although this result on cosmic rays is still relatively preliminary, it only verified the existence of cosmic rays, and did not derive its energy, source, classification and other parameters. But it is still something extraordinary when it is published, and it instantly broadens human horizons, because it shows that there are so many mysteries outside the universe that are unimaginable.
Rutherford discussed with Li Yu privately: "I don't know much about astronomy, but I have read your astronomy paper and learned about the existence of extragalactic galaxies. Could they come from these distant galaxies?"
Li Yu said: "It is possible, or even more distant. Most of the rays with less energy may come from within the Milky Way. Our research is just the beginning. When there are solar eclipses and solar flares, we will have to do more Doing a lot of follow-up testing.”
Later generations discovered that the particles with the highest energy among cosmic rays have reached an unimaginable level: the energy of a particle is as high as 3×1020 eV.
eV is electron volt, which is a very small unit. After Thomson discovered the electron, he found that its energy was very small, so he used this unit.
But when it reaches the level of 10 to the 20th power eV, Joule (J) can be used. After all, they are all energy units.
Almost 50 joules. What is this concept: It is equivalent to the kinetic energy of a 1kg weight dropped from 5 meters!
Oh my god, this is just the energy of a microscopic particle!
The name of this particle is also very loud: oh my god particle. My god particles.
Physicists sometimes have fun naming names.
The small team of Li Yu, Rutherford, and Owen Richardson completed a very meaningful achievement, and after it was published, it really attracted the attention of the entire scientific community.
But the first thing Li Yu has to do is complete his doctoral defense in Cambridge.
The examiners of the defense were all old acquaintances: Thomson, Sir Rayleigh, Wilson, etc.
The process was almost like a lecture, because they had already tacitly agreed to give Li Yu a doctorate title, even if he just brought something out, let alone such a real result.
As for the question period, several people only asked some general questions.
For example, Thomson asked: "Why did you choose this topic?"
This is a very casual question, Li Yu said: "Because it will have great enlightenment significance for modern physics, especially in the field of particles."
Thomson himself is engaged in particle physics and asked again: "Are you saying that there is a lot of room for discovery in particle physics?"
Li Yu replied: "Yes, in addition to the known particles, there are many different particles in the microstate, just like there are many kinds of organs that make up human beings. Since the world is so rich and colorful, the basic particles that make up the world must also be rich. Colorful.”
Thomson was very satisfied with Li Yu's answer: "Your answer has reflected profound physical philosophy. I have no other questions."
Lord Rayleigh, on the other hand, didn't look like asking a question, but just chatting: "Do you think you are a physicist, a mathematician, an astronomer, or even an engineer? By the way, a writer?"
Li Yu smiled and said: "It doesn't matter how I answer this question. The most important thing is how others view me."
Riley also smiled and said: "We are considering what kind of doctorate title to grant you. It seems that any one is suitable. Now it seems that we can only make do with the theme of the thesis and set it as a doctorate in mathematical physics."
If it were later generations, they would definitely not put mathematics and physics together, but there were indeed many such titles at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Because many current physicists originally studied mathematics, there is one in front of them: Thomson.
Li Yu continued to chat with them for a while, and the defense meeting ended in a very relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.
Li Yu received a doctorate from Cambridge University. Although the order is a bit strange, he has already had multiple academician titles, but he has many certificates and will not reject anyone who comes.
Not only that, the Royal Society also awarded Li Yu a Royal Medal.
This is the Royal Society's highest honor, once also known as the "Queen's Medal". Only two are awarded a year, making it very rare. Even in Li Yu's previous life, only about 400 were issued in total, and one-fifth of the winners won the Nobel Prize.
Huggins, President of the Royal Society, presented a silver-plated medal to Li Yu and said, "Congratulations. This is the witness of honor and the starting point of honor."
Lord Kelvin said: "It is indeed just the starting point of honor. I think that in a few years, Li Yu, you are likely to be awarded a knighthood."
The British royal family can also grant knighthoods to foreigners, but it is very rare.
In the evening, Lord Kelvin invited Li Yu to have dinner. The food was very good, basically reaching the level of a British state banquet, but Li Yu had eaten it before, and that was it...
It's just that the way it is done looks more refined, and it has a little more etiquette.
If you have seen some dishes from Michelin restaurants on TV, you will know. In fact, what's cool is the situation and the difficulty of cooking. As for the taste, I can only put it mildly.
Lord Kelvin took a bite of the strawberry meringue pie and praised: "It is very rare to have the chef of Buckingham Palace cook."
After taking a bite of the Windsor Lamb and Vanilla Pie, Li Yu said, "It's really delicious."
Lord Kelvin continued to ask: "I listened carefully to your thesis defense on cosmic rays. It seems that this is a topic with great potential for development."
The chef now served a queen salad.
"Thank you!" Li Yu said to the chef, and then continued to say to Lord Kelvin, "Your Lordship's insight is really good. In fact, we can only do part of the experiment now, and we need to conduct experimental tests all over the world in the future."
Lord Kelvin has lived for such a long time and quickly understood the meaning of Li Yu's words: "That is to say, this research will require a lot of experimental funds in the future?"
Li Yu said: "That's true."
Lord Kelvin said: "Easy to handle! I will ask President Huggins to approve it as soon as possible, but the research ship may have to wait."
Li Yu said: "I have the ships myself."
Kelvin said happily: "The Royal Society has saved a lot of money, but you can quote a higher price for personnel and equipment costs. At least you can save fuel money."
Li Yu understood in his heart: "This is how it should be."
Kelvin took out 10 shillings from his pocket: "I think I still owe you 10 shillings. You can take this money."
This was a bet the two had made before.
Li Yule said: "Sir, do you want to surrender and lose half of it?"
A pound is 20 shillings.
Kelvin also smiled: "You can still surrender and lose half of it? You should have told me earlier."
Li Yu said: "It seems that your Lordship has accepted Mr. Rutherford's view that there is energy inside the radium atom."
Lord Kelvin said: "After I thought about it carefully, it was indeed a more reasonable explanation. Although my method of estimating the age of the earth was not wrong, after thinking about it, it seemed that there was not enough factual basis for assuming that the earth was originally a magma sphere. Science is all about evidence. Yes, I am also reasonable, if it is wrong, it is wrong."
Li Yu praised: "Your Majesty is kind-hearted and generous."
Lord Kelvin said: "It's just that I still can't imagine that the earth is hundreds of millions of years old."
Li Yu smiled and said: "Maybe it's billions of years."
Lord Kelvin said: "Then it is even more unimaginable that God has only existed for so many years. What does this make the Holy See think?"
Li Yu said: "Mr. Rutherford estimated the earth's age of several hundred million years based on the half-life of uranium, but uranium actually has another isotope with a half-life of more than four billion years."
Kelvin was shocked: "More than four billion years?!"
Li Yu said: "Isn't it very exciting?"
"Wait!" Lord Kelvin said, "You just mentioned the word 'isotope'. What is this?"
Li Yu immediately realized that the concept of isotopes had not yet been born.
So he said: "Just one element can have several forms."
"My God!" said Lord Kelvin. "Am I drunk, or are you drunk?"
Li Yu raised his glass: "Everyone gets drunk without being drunk. Your Lord, you must take good care of yourself. There will be many shocking things in the future."
Lord Kelvin clinked glasses with him and said: "I like you more and more, you speak so literately! If it's like you said, you are just the one with the lowest Chinese culture among Chinese intellectuals, then I really want to know the complete Chinese culture in the future. What does it look like?”
(End of chapter)
