Chapter 72
At the latest "low-temperature optical tweezers" group discussion, Deng, whose hair part had widened by 0.01cm, opened his lifeless eyes and proposed a wildly imaginative new solution.
"Could we simply abandon lasers and introduce 'anti-gravity' technology?"
Liang Zi laughed heartily: "Good heavens, you're going all out in one go, planning to build a flying saucer right away!"
In science fiction movies, flying saucers and spaceships without engine nozzles can take off easily thanks to the principle of "anti-gravity." "Anti-gravity" is based on the scientific hypothesis that there exists a type of "antiparticle" in the world that is the same as ordinary particles in many ways, but has a gravitational field opposite to that of ordinary particles.
All material entities are composed of elementary particles, and "anti-gravity" technology uses the repulsive force between antiparticles and ordinary particles to obtain a kind of power "out of thin air".
However, although scientists have successively discovered the antiparticles of other particles such as protons, neutrons, mesons, and hyperons, they are still not captured with the current level of science. Therefore, "anti-gravity" technology still exists only in science fiction.
Ye Shi also complained, "Marvel has been using this technology very well. Why don't you ask Stark Industries if they can tell us the specific technical solutions?"
The only solution he could come up with after racking his brains was rejected. In despair, Deng collapsed to the ground, writhing, screaming, and crawling in the shadows...
Ji Zhixing's heart skipped a beat. In fact, since returning from that pointless academic conference, he had had some vague ideas, but they had remained elusive and hard to grasp. Deng's suggestion of "discarding lasers" gave him an instant spark of inspiration.
Completely eliminating lasers is virtually impossible, because only lasers can focus light into an extremely small spot—a characteristic that ordinary light sources lack. However, it might be possible to mitigate the thermal effects of a highly focused beam by reducing the laser intensity.
"Do you think it's feasible to introduce a vortex beam?" Ji Zhixing asked.
“We’ve tried vortex beams before, but the intensity wasn’t enough to form a three-dimensional optical potential well,” Ye Shi said.
Optical tweezers technology uses a focused laser beam to create a trap-like structure that binds particles within it, allowing manipulation of the particles by moving the focused beam. However, the intensity of a vortex beam is insufficient to effectively create such a trap.
Ji Zhixing shook his head and explained, "No, what I mean is, let's not set any 'traps' at all."
No "traps"? Ye Shi and the others exchanged bewildered glances. That essentially meant completely overturning the traditional technical principles of optical tweezers. However, overturning tradition was a good thing! All three of them showed eager expressions.
"Tell me quickly! Tell me quickly!" Deng Ji urged, "What exactly is the principle behind it?"
Ji Zhixing hadn't actually formed a complete thought yet. As he explored in his mind, he carefully said, "Light has wave-particle duality, right?"
Liang Zi nodded vigorously. He knew that Ji Zhixing wasn't asking a well-known question, but rather exploring his thinking. So, he cooperated and described, "Yes! Light particles or quanta not only possess the concept and properties of 'waves,' but also the concept and properties of 'particles.'"
Because it possesses "particle properties," light, which doesn't appear substantial to people, is actually a "physical object." However, the reason people aren't overwhelmed by the sunlight and lamplight we see everywhere in life is that the pressure of light is only on the order of one part per billion to one part per ten billion (N), which is imperceptible to the human body.
Ye Shi also tried to help Ji Zhixing gather the inspiration that was scattered in his mind: "Are you going to make a point by using the particle properties of light?"
“Yes!” Ji Zhixing nodded. At this moment, his mind was clear and he had fully grasped the specific ideas. “In essence, the objects we want to capture, whether small or large, are particles, and light is also a kind of particle.”
"I get it!" Deng Yi jumped up from the ground and shouted, "The crow drinks water! No! The reverse of the crow drinks water!"
“That’s right!” Ji Zhixing excitedly gave him a high five.
Ye Shi also realized: "In other words, the object we are trying to capture is like a stone, and the light is like water."
Liang Zi continued, "The crow brings a stone, making the water rise. So, the reverse is to pour water to make the stone rise?"
Ji Zhixing was pulled around several times by the excited Deng Yi. He was still a little dizzy when he sat back down in his chair. He shook his head and shook his brain to clear his head.
He summarized: "In general, it's about using the density difference between light and the particles of an object, like water lifting a stone, to control the movement of the object. On a microscopic scale, it's about controlling the quantum eddies of vortex beams to manipulate swarms of particles!"
Quantum vortex!
If Deng had heard this term last year, he would have been filled with despair. Quantum eddies, like vortices and turbulence, are unpredictable and constantly changing; how could they be so easily controlled? But now, fluid dynamics experts are sitting right in front of him!
Ye Shi and Liang Zi were also staring intently at Ji Zhixing.
Ji Zhixing never expected that he would go around in circles and end up back in his old profession.
In essence, the behavior of quantum eddies is remarkably similar to that of fluids. Theoretically, the Navier-Stokes equations can be used to effectively control quantum eddies and make them change in countless ways according to their needs.
Deng was eager to begin, but he needed to supplement his knowledge before conducting any experiments. After all, their understanding and mastery of fluid mechanics were still insufficient to handle the realm of quantum eddy currents.
"What additional literature do you need to read?" Deng Ji asked.
Ji Zhixing took out his phone and sent the document "Calculation Method and Verification of General Properties of Physical Vortex Turbulence Using Navier-Stokes Equations" from the papers he wrote last year to Deng Zhi and others.
He said, "Read this article first. After reading it, if there are any concepts that need further understanding, I will search for the corresponding literature."
Ye Shi opened the document and quickly skimmed the summary. She then said to Ji Zhixing, "Then take a look at what instruments and materials we need to purchase. Fill out a form first, and we'll apply to the teacher for procurement."
"Do we need to submit the experimental plan first?" Ji Zhixing asked, since this plan completely overturned the technical principles of traditional optical tweezers.
"No need!" Deng Yi waved his hand dismissively. "Our teacher said that as long as we think a plan is feasible, we can go ahead and do it."
The teacher's exact words were: "Even if you plan to dredge materials from the cesspool, I will never stop you."
Ji Zhixing also knew that Professor Gao Xiao always encouraged his students to be bold in thinking and doing. Even when operating instruments worth millions, as long as they did not intentionally cause damage and were within the safety rules, he allowed them to try as much as possible.
Therefore, the lab is always brimming with ingenious ideas. Of course, the equipment also breaks down faster than in other professors' labs. Every quarter, Professor Gao Xiao's lab consistently reports the highest amount of wear and tear and repair costs to the university.
Last week, the finance director came with the reports to complain that the losses and maintenance costs for this quarter had reached a new high, and advised Professor Gao Xiao to restrain his students.
Gao Xiao retorted directly: "Nonsense! What can be used without breaking? Just because it's valuable doesn't mean you have to be timid and hesitant. You might as well just stick two incense sticks in it and worship it like an ancestor!"
The finance director had no choice but to reimburse expenses according to the reports.
So he was just asking politely, and he knew that Professor Gao Xiao wouldn't interfere with their experimental autonomy.
Last month, he even saw the lab next door purchase an alchemical furnace. Their group needed to create a mixed atmosphere of CO2, CO, SO2, NO2, and H2 to heat a silicon structure. However, using a constant-temperature chamber was too inefficient, requiring at least six months of continuous heating. After a meeting, their group decided to return to alchemy.
When Professor Gao Xiao saw the rather un-academic alchemy furnace in the laboratory, he quipped, "The end of science is theology."
Later, the laboratory next door used an alchemical furnace to process materials and surprisingly obtained quite excellent silicon materials. They were planning to write a paper on this new reaction technology.
While Deng Zhixing and others were racing against time to read the paper, Ji Zhixing had also checked all the materials and instruments needed for the experiment and started filling out the form.
Diffraction vortex lenses, transmission electron microscopes (TEM)...
After finishing the calculations, I roughly estimated that it would cost at least two or three million. Wow, physics experiments are truly labor-intensive and expensive, and this project alone is incredibly costly. Professor Gao Xiao's lab does commercial projects for companies, primarily to support the lab's research projects.
After filling out the application form, I handed it to Professor Gao Xiao, who glanced at it briefly and then signed it.
Before the new materials and instruments arrived, Deng Zhi and others took the time to supplement their knowledge of fluid mechanics, while Ji Zhixing focused on designing experimental schemes.
Back in his dormitory, as he was studying his system courses as usual, Ji Zhixing received a message. He opened it and saw that it was from Yu Zhuli.
"The paper has been accepted, thank you!"
Ji Zhixing was about to reply when he saw Yu Zhuli send another picture – a sample copy of the latest issue of "China Science".
Ji Zhixing was overjoyed and typed with both hands: "Your paper was published in 'China Science'?"
"Yes."
"Great!" Ji Zhixing was overjoyed by Yu Zhuli's choice of journal.
Since the Navier-Stokes equations were solved, researchers in various fields such as physics, engineering, astronomy, and meteorology have applied them, resulting in an explosive surge of research achievements.
After learning that there was such a comprehensive paper in "Chinese Science", scholars from all walks of life worked together to get the journal included in the SCI database so that everyone could more easily cite and refer to it when applying the Navier-Stokes equations.
From then on, papers published in "China Science" could also be called SCI papers.
Ji Zhixing's paper was cited tens of thousands of times in just a few months. Because the journal's impact factor is closely related to the number of citations, the impact factor of "Huaxia Science" has continued to grow and is now 12.632, greatly enhancing the journal's influence.
Many domestic scholars who were previously constrained by the evaluation mechanism have greatly increased their willingness to submit articles to "Chinese Science," and the representative journal of the Chinese academic community has shown a prosperous trend.
Ji Zhixing knew that Yu Zhuli's choice to submit to *Huaxia Science* was unrelated to its impact factor. After all, the "clear-sky turbulence" problem solved in that paper was extremely important, and submitting it to journals with higher impact factors like *Science*, *Nature*, or the four top mathematics journals would certainly have resulted in acceptance. His continued choice to submit to *Huaxia Science* demonstrated his enthusiasm for building Chinese academic journals and his willingness to contribute to enhancing China's academic discourse power.
What is a comrade? This is a comrade!
A note from the author:
This chapter's description of anti-gravity is based on "UFO hovering in the air: deciphering the physical essence of gravity".
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