In low-temperature physics, human exploration of temperature is basically a V-shaped process.
From dry ice to liquid oxygen, to liquid nitrogen, to liquid hydrogen, the main reason why the British have been at the forefront of low-temperature physics must be attributed to the former director of David Faraday Laboratory, Sir Sir Dewar.
Unfortunately, due to various reasons, when the temperature was just shy of the lowest temperature, Dewar was overtaken by others.
At the same time around the time Dewar successfully liquefied hydrogen, the "solar element "helium", which was previously thought to only exist in the universe, and was found in the solar spectrum, was also successfully found and separated from the earth.
As the last gas on Earth that has not yet been liquefied, liquid helium has become the end point of this low-temperature race.
Whoever can find liquid helium first will win the final victory.
Professor Onnes from Leiden University in the Netherlands became the one who had the last laugh.
He first liquefied the helium and planned to continue to move to lower temperatures based on liquid helium.
Then he accidentally discovered the superconducting phenomenon of mercury during experiments.
As a result, humankind's exploration of low-temperature physics took a turning point.
Before, everyone just wanted to compete to see who could achieve a lower temperature.
However, due to limitations of equipment and other factors, and the lower the temperature, the more difficult it is to conduct experiments, most scientists began to change their minds and look for materials that can exceed the critical temperature higher.
But what was different from the original low-temperature competition was that this time a goal was given to see who could liquefy helium first.
But this time, it was purely about who had better luck. In a periodic table composed of so many elements, if you want to find the one with the highest superconducting critical temperature, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
When Onnes discovered the superconducting effect in 1911, he had already found mercury with a critical temperature of 4.2 Kelvin.
Two years later, in 1913, he found lead with a critical temperature of 7.2 Kelvin.
But more than ten years have passed since then, and the element with the highest superconducting critical temperature that humans can find is still lead at 7.2 Kelvin.
However, in the past ten years, people's exploration of superconducting materials has always achieved results around element 80 mercury and element 82 lead. Within the scope of these main group elements, tin has been found one after another. , cadmium, zinc superconducting critical temperature.
However, some common metals, such as gold, silver, copper, iron, sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, etc., have never found superconducting effects in them under normal pressure.
Chen Muwu previously suggested that Nishina Yoshio explore the superconducting effect of thallium element sandwiched between mercury and lead, which is also in line with the logic of current physicists exploring the critical temperature of superconductivity.
Perhaps because it is difficult to find less common materials, no one has yet turned their attention to transition metals for superconductivity, so Chen Muwu was the first to try it and asked Old Bragg to help him find a bunch of transition metals. Metal is back.
Although five of the six metal materials found through various trust relationships and with great pains were not found to have superconducting effects at 3 Kelvin in the experimental environment, Old Prague was still delighted. tip of brow.
Because the one who stayed in the David Ferrari Laboratory to do low-temperature superconductivity research was none other than Dr. Chen.
Not to mention his various wild and whimsical ideas in theoretical physics, he proposed various bizarre theories, some of which have been verified by experiments, while others are still under debate.
It is only said that in the past three years since Dr. Chen came to the UK, as long as he participated in the physics experiment, no matter which branch of discipline the experiment was in, it would definitely succeed without failure.
This is still the case for research on the superconducting effect of materials.
Even though five of the six materials failed, Dr. Chen and his colleagues successfully discovered the existence of the superconducting effect on the only remaining niobium element.
Moreover, the superconducting critical temperature of niobium has successfully surpassed the 7.2 Kelvin of lead element, breaking its record that has been maintained for more than ten years. The "high temperature" of 9.2 Kelvin is very close to the 10 Kelvin mark.
Niobe, who had always remained sad, finally smiled this time.
Old Bragg always felt that since Dr. Chen came to the David Ferrari Laboratory, luck has returned here.
He not only brought enough funds to support the reconstruction of the laboratory, but also seemed to have wrested the world's center of low-temperature physics research back from the Dutch.
If Sir Dewar could live a few more years, he would be happy to see this situation.
Not long ago, Dr. Chen discovered hydrogen isotope hydrogen-2 in the laboratory, which shocked most physicists and chemists in the world.
It's just that the credit for that time was overshadowed by the group of people who came from Cambridge.
It was obviously a result discovered in David Ferrari's laboratory, but at the meeting of the Royal Society, Sir Rutherford announced it to all the attendees, and it was confirmed and endorsed by Professor Aston, and the deuterium The discoverer, Dr. Chen, was also known as Rusev's top student.
After being tricked by this group of people, many people who did not know the truth thought that heavy hydrogen was discovered by Dr. Chen in the Cavendish Laboratory of Cambridge University.
"If you gather flowers and make honey, it will be sweet to whomever you work hard for." Old Prague has been busy for so long, but the results of his experiments were snatched away by others, which makes everyone feel bad.
Fortunately, this time, Rutherford and the others seemed not to pay much attention to the superconducting critical temperature of niobium. Old Bragg decided to make a big fuss on this topic to help raise the profile of David Ferrari Laboratory, and maybe he could also use it to This brings in more sponsorships.
But what should be done?
Instead of racking your brains to figure it out yourself, you might as well ask the smartest person in the entire lab.
So Old Prague took advantage of the inspection work and walked into Chen Muwu's low-temperature physics laboratory again.
Chen Muwu's laboratory career has been very fulfilling. After all, it has just been renovated after receiving funding. The windows in David Faraday's laboratory are bright and clean. It is much better than the conference room where he huddled all day long, which makes him feel a little bit better. The children are happy and not stuck.
The discovery of niobium, which has a superconducting critical temperature of 9.2 Kelvin, is also something worth writing about, so now they are writing a new paper.
At the same time, the types of frozen fruits in the laboratory are also much richer than before.
In addition to the liquid nitrogen frozen strawberries that Old Prague has tasted before, they have recently developed liquid nitrogen frozen bananas and lotus leaf egg frozen pineapples.
The British mainland, which is located in the temperate zone, cannot produce two tropical fruits, bananas and pineapples.
Although you can occasionally buy them on the market, they are imported fruits that the United Fruit Company has gone through all kinds of hardships to harvest from plantations in South America and then transport them to the UK by sea. The prices are very high.
Although Chen Muwu is already very rich, he will not pay high prices to be taken advantage of.
This is just because when he used liquid nitrogen to freeze strawberries, he occasionally mentioned that bananas frozen in liquid nitrogen are more delicious, and Oppenheimer took it to heart.
Oppenheimer, who was born as the son of a wealthy businessman, was definitely not short of money. He remembered what Chen Muwu said before, so he ran to the market to buy bananas and picked a few pineapples, just to thank the teacher for taking him with him. deuterium and a higher superconducting critical temperature.
When Old Bragg came in, Shi Ruwei and Oppenheimer were studying how to write a new paper together, and Chen Muwu did not continue to be his hands-off shopkeeper. He also bent over the table and typed on the typewriter. Hit something.
“It was just a fluke that I discovered the superconductivity of niobium with a critical temperature of 9.2 Kelvin.
“But even so, whether it is low-temperature physics or superconducting effects, it is still an unknown sea for us, waiting for us to conquer.
"I am very much looking forward to the day when Nishina will achieve results in its superconductivity research. I hope that you and I will work hand in hand to benefit mankind and bring glory to East Asia!"
After typing the last exclamation point, Chen Muwu raised his head and pretended to have just noticed the old Bragg who had come in a long time ago: "Sir, why are you here? Eat fruit, eat fruit!"
Ovenheimer also quickly cooperated with his teacher, pouring liquid nitrogen from the thermos bottle and pouring it on the bananas that had been prepared.
As people age, it is inevitable that their teeth will not be in good condition.
Old Prague was put off by the frozen hard bananas.
He declined Dr. Chen's kindness and directly stated his recent troubles to him.
"Dr. Chen, I would like to invite a few reporters to interview you in the laboratory to help promote our David Ferrari Laboratory. Isn't it convenient for you? When will you have time recently?"
After listening to Old Prague describing the problem, Chen Muwu was surprised that he had such a mind and could think of marketing a hundred years ago.
It's just that he's going the wrong way. What's the point of interviewing himself?
It is true that Chen Muwu has achieved many achievements, but in the final analysis he is still a Chinese.
Although those certain achievements cannot be denied, they are not likely to attract the approval of the British.
What's more, when the superconductivity of niobium was discovered this time, the name of the first author of the paper was not Chen Muwu, but Shi Ruwei.
He didn't want to take the credit back to himself just because he accepted an interview with a reporter hired by Old Prague.
If David Faraday Laboratory is to become famous in the UK, it must capture the British pride.
The gold standard had just been restored, and the British still thought they were a kingdom in heaven.
But for such a great country, in the research of low-temperature physics, it was severely lagged behind by the Netherlands, a small country on the European continent, for twenty or thirty years.
How should I write a cool article?
First, let the supporting characters dance and suppress the protagonist, so that the readers' emotions will be suppressed along with it.
Then the protagonist starts to show off and slap in the face, allowing the readers' suppressed emotions to burst out in an instant, which can produce a huge sense of satisfaction.
The Dutch and the British had fought several wars over the past few hundred years, and this was a natural villain.
A small villain, he had been at the top of the list of low-temperature physics for more than thirty years. Then, under the leadership of Sir Sir Bragg, all the colleagues of the David Ferrari Laboratory finally regained the top spot.
If such a report could be published in a British newspaper, the people who read the news would definitely regard Old Prague and the David Ferrari Laboratory as great heroes.
By that time, not to mention attracting more sponsorship for the laboratory, Old Prague might be able to accept the royal canonization and change from a knight to a titled lord, just like his predecessors Rayleigh and Kelvin, so many glory!
A hundred years after his death, Little Prague will also be able to inherit his title and become the second generation.
"Dr. Chen, is the approach you mentioned really okay?"
Although Chen Muwu deceived him very hard, Old Prague still couldn't make up his mind.
"Sir, please believe me. For me to be interviewed, not only is it not helpful to me, but it may also cause some trouble.
“I already have enough halo around me now. The discovery of niobium’s superconductivity was originally dispensable to me.
"And we have a saying in China that 'everything must be reversed'. If I continue to frequently expose myself to the public, not only will I not gain more respect, but I may incur resentment from others.
"Please don't give the example of Ramanujan. The reason why Ramanujan became a good story in the UK is because he unfortunately died young. Although he was famous, his achievements were not outstanding. .
"I hope you will do as I asked and accept interviews from reporters as the director of the laboratory. And I must emphasize that these recent achievements are the result of all the staff of the laboratory, making the UK a good leader in cryogenics." Physics is back on top of the world. As for my trivial achievements, just mention them in one sentence, or even better not mention them at all."
"But isn't it bad to smear the Dutch like this?"
Seeing Old Prague's indecision, Chen Muwu thought to himself, weren't you still cursing those Dutch guys for selling me instruments and gases at a high price just a few days ago? Why are you starting to worry about this again now?
"Sir, how can this be considered a smear? It's just a statement of fact. The Dutch have indeed moved ahead of the British in the past few decades."
The discovery that the superconducting critical temperature of metallic niobium is close to ten Kelvin is not a major discovery in terms of physics.
The paper by Shi Ruwei, Chen Muwu and Oppenheimer only made a small splash in Leiden University and the University of Toronto, two universities that mainly study superconductivity.
Although niobium is the elemental element with the highest critical temperature, this record will be easily broken once people's research goals shift from elements to compounds.
But this incident caused huge repercussions in British public opinion.
The reporters also added a bleak description of Sir Dewar's later life in their reports.
He lost the patent lawsuit with Thermos over the thermos flask. Although Thermos made a lot of money from the production of thermos flasks, as the discoverer of the Dewar flask insulation system, Dewar did not get a penny of the patent. fee.
He said goodbye to low-temperature physics research because he had no money, and finally died in depression.
This description successfully aroused people's empathy. After reading this, many readers cursed this German company for being such a bad thing.
Overnight, Old Bragg, who led the Davy Faraday Laboratory back to the top of the world, became a British national hero.
Even the popularity of low-temperature physics and superconductivity has risen with the tide, no less than Chen Muwu's quantum mechanics and Einstein's theory of relativity.
(End of chapter)
