Sommerfeld, who had a profound theoretical foundation, quickly saw the accuracy of Chen Muwu's theoretical derivation. In addition, he and Einstein were very close, so Sommerfeld not only promoted this idea of using momentum with momentum in his lectures After the lecture, I met Perlee Ross, a professor of experimental physics in the Department of Physics at Stanford University, who was in the audience.
As an experimental physicist, Ross always insisted that experiment was the foundation of physics. In fact, he did not look down on people like Sommerfeld who could only study theory.
But after all, he is a European professor hired by the school at a large price, so he still has to show some respect on the surface: "Professor Sommerfeld, congratulations on the success of your lecture at Stanford today! May I ask, what do you want to see me for? ?"
Sommerfeld got straight to the point: "Professor Ross, my intuition tells me that this paper in the "Annals of Physics" is probably the reason why gamma rays become soft after scattering. I think you might as well consider designing an experiment to test this Let’s verify the theory..."
Before the European colleague could finish speaking, Ross interrupted him rudely: "Sorry, Professor Sommerfeld, I listened to your speech and read the article, but I don't have that much time. , can be wasted on designing experiments for a ridiculous theory proposed by a Chinese."
After that, Professor Ross turned around and left the venue, leaving Sommerfeld behind.
…
The "Annals of Physics" published on January 20th, except that Compton, who had found a Chinese confidant, was "ecstatic with poetry and books", actually did not make much splash in the physics community.
Although Planck and Einstein endorsed it, the "Annals of Physics" is famous for its policy of just publishing without reviewing it. What's more, the author of this paper is still Chinese, and his job is not specialized. Study physics, but be an engineer.
The combination of various debuffs caused most people who saw this issue of the magazine to regard this paper as a complete joke, just like Professor Ross from Stanford University.
I never thought that Germans, who are always known for their rigidity, also have such a humorous side!
However, ten days later, when the Royal Society's "Transactions of the Natural Sciences" in February was published, the trend in the physics community changed again.
"Transactions of the Natural Science" not only published the English version of Chen Muwu's paper in its entirety, but also followed this paper with an experimental report that recorded the design and conduct of experiments based on the theory of this paper and the preliminary results obtained.
The conclusion of the Express shows that the theory in Chen Muwu’s paper made completely correct predictions of experimental phenomena!
Not only that, the first author of this letter is George Thomson. He is the son of Joseph Thomson, the former president of the Royal Society and current dean of Trinity College, Cambridge University. He is currently working in the Cavendish Laboratory. .
The corresponding author is Rutherford, director of the famous Cavendish Laboratory of Cambridge University.
In these last few years, when physics still insists on experimentation being king, the experimental results of the Cavendish Laboratory are undoubtedly like an edict.
And Rutherford's signature on the Express was tantamount to stamping the imperial seal with the emperor's seal.
Trains, ships and postmen from various countries are like stagecoaches and postmen in ancient times, delivering the emperor's decree to all parts of the world.
…
McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Half a month ago, Professor Ive, the chairman of the physics department, and his colleagues received a letter sent from Cambridgeshire, England. The person who wrote the letter was none other than their former colleague, Luther, the former chairman of the school's physics department. blessing.
In the letter, Rutherford told his colleagues at McGill University that the experiment on gamma ray scattering and absorption that they started doing twenty years ago may finally have a method that can reasonably explain its experimental results in the near future. physics theory.
He also asked them to pay attention to the February issue of "Proceedings of the Natural Science", which might contain the answer he had been dreaming of for so many years.
Today, the "Transactions of the Natural Science" that I have longed for finally arrived at the school across the ocean. Yves, Gray, and other staff members who have participated in gamma ray scattering experiments to a greater or lesser extent can't wait.
After reading this theoretical explanation, everyone has a different expression on their face.
"I originally thought that the theory contained in it would be so complicated that it would not be within the reach of my shallow knowledge, so I was satisfied with making the experiment perfect. But who knows, he only used classical physics A few theorems in it can solve this problem easily!"
Yves quickly comforted Professor Gray who looked regretful: "Joseph, you have done your best, we have all done our best.
"If this paper hadn't linked Einstein's quantum theory of light to gamma rays, who among us would have thought of this?
“Don’t you still regard gamma rays as electromagnetic waves and solve Maxwell’s equations in vain over and over again every day?
“But that damn set of equations just tells you over and over again that the wavelength of electromagnetic waves doesn’t change due to scattering!
"I suggest that we build instruments again and redo the experiment from twenty years ago to celebrate the birth of this simple and wonderful theory!"
…
This scene in the McGill University physics laboratory is just a microcosm of thousands of laboratories that have the conditions to conduct experiments.
After reading this issue of "Transactions of the Natural Sciences", physicists from all over the world have to take the theory mentioned in Chen Muwu's paper seriously.
They moved out gamma ray sources or X-ray sources one after another, or followed the experimental design given in the paper, or designed new experiments by themselves to verify whether this theory was correct.
Only Compton, who had just translated the paper into German and sent it to Berlin's "Annals of Physics," wailed: How come someone has taken the lead again! I can’t always collect the wool by myself!
But he didn't dare to complain too much, because Rutherford was also his teacher.
After receiving his doctorate from Princeton University, Compton became one of the first students to receive funding from the National Science Research Council to study abroad in 1919, and went to the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge for further study.
It was precisely because he and Thomson came into contact with and studied the subject of gamma ray scattering and absorption during the years of further study at the Cavendish Laboratory that Compton was able to further design the experiment after returning to China and put it into practice. The gamma rays were changed to X-rays.
Compton, who was about to cry without tears, thought for a while, and decided to make amends again. He could only seize the time and send an English version of the paper with detailed experimental results to "Proceedings of the Natural Science".
I don’t expect to eat the meat, but I have to take a sip of the soup, right?
