Voyage of the Stars.

Chapter 1430 The Long Road of Exploration

Over the past 10,000 years, human civilization has made some progress in the study of vacuum zero-point energy. First, it verified past theories, and then it developed new theories based on the original theories. On the basis of the new theories, human civilization has taken a small step forward in the study of vacuum zero-point energy.

While we are far from mastering vacuum zero-point energy, our understanding of its generation mechanism is much greater than before. It can be said that the knowledge humanity gained from exploring vacuum zero-point energy over the long period from Earth's time to reaching our destination is less than the knowledge gained through the collective efforts of the past ten thousand years.

This is the result of the joint efforts of 84 civilizations from two major voyages, though the contributions varied in degree.

Today, Yue Yuan arrived at a research base as usual.

This is one of the research bases for studying vacuum zero-point energy. It is equipped with a full range of auxiliary research equipment. Things like consciousness linking devices are already standard equipment in human civilization's research institutions, and of course, they are also available here.

When Yue Yuan arrived, the director of this research base, Long Xinglu, who was also a leading scientist in one of the research fields, was discussing some research-related matters with other scientists.

Upon seeing Yue Yuan arrive, Long Xinglv stopped his discussion and, after a brief greeting, continued speaking about what he hadn't finished saying.

Long Xinglu pointed to a series of neat formulas and simulated animations floating on a holographic screen and said, "Look, this is how strings split, and this is how gravitons split. When a graviton splits into two, we can determine the time and location of the split. We can 'see' this using third-person observation mode; it happens here."

“We only need to import the observed parameters into these formulas, and then let the supercomputer calculate the results to find the corresponding observed coordinates. They are located in the third type of Calabichus flow. We can see that this split is very sudden.”

"But when a string splits, it's like a branching tube. At the branching point, the tube wall doesn't break; it's a perfectly smooth Y-shaped tube, tightly sealed. And this kind of smooth and gentle event is easier to handle with quantum mechanics, which is also the starting point of our research."

After a pause, Long Xinglv changed the displayed holographic image into a series of Feynman diagrams, and then continued, "Our approach is simple: to study the mechanism of zero-point energy in the vacuum through the vibration of strings or combinations of strings. To understand its mechanism, we first need to find a way to manipulate different combinations of strings. You see, these are strings in spacetime. Hmm, they can be observed in the Kalabichu phenomenon. I have confirmed with the Awakener civilization that we 'see' the same thing, although our descriptions are different from theirs. Perhaps this is just a deviation in the understanding of things by intelligence."

"Alright, let's get back to the main topic. You see, this is a string in spacetime. It's like the overtone vibration of a piano string. The description of the electron cloud of a hydrogen atom is related to the standing wave generated when it vibrates under tension. So the quantum mechanical motion of an electron around a proton can also be described as a standing wave."

"And this standing wave is inextricably linked to the mass effect. In the quantum world, the existence of matter is a superimposed standing wave, which contains the secret of the Higgs mechanism. Of course, this is another research direction. Relativistic strings are the foundation of these two branches."

"We are now studying another direction. You see, this is the D0-membrane. It's like the background of a musical instrument. We often say that the strings vibrate on the membrane, just like the strings and the body of the instrument. Of course, this analogy is not entirely accurate, but it will help you find the observation target when you enter the third-person observation mode."

The Dragon Star Brigade showed no sign of stopping, and Yue Yuan simply listened.

After listening to Long Xinglv for several tens of minutes, Yue Yuan understood.

The Longxing team is going to study vacuum zero-point energy from the perspective of strings. What he is talking about now is finding the way the vacuum zero-point energy phenomenon affects the vibration of strings.

The reason why everyone is encouraged to search for that string vibration is, of course, because the research requires more observational data.

With Yue Yuan's level of knowledge, he quickly got into the zone, and he also planned to observe it for himself. Who knows, as he watched, his mind might suddenly awaken.

"Look!"

Long Xinglu continued to explain to his research team using a combination of text and images: "When a relativistic string is in an excited state, it will vibrate at a fundamental frequency or a harmonic frequency, just like the strings of a violin. You can 'see' them as long as you see that its vibration conforms to the formula £******."

"But just as electrons in a hydrogen atom cannot move in any way, relativistic strings cannot vibrate in any way. We know that an electron must choose one energy level from a series of separate energy levels, and a string must also choose from different vibrational states."

“Different vibrational states have different energies, and energy and mass are closely related, so different vibrational states of a string will have different masses. First, we can clarify that a string has a rest mass, which is related to the tension of the string between D0 and the membrane.”

"Secondly, each overtone frequency also has vibrational energy, which also contributes to mass. However, it seems to be somewhat different from the force that gravity causes spacetime distortion as we know it. It is more like a manifestation of the Pauli exclusionary force, but we do not know exactly what it is at present."

"Finally, there is the lowest energy allowed by the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics. This energy is what we are going to study. It is the quantum fluctuation of atoms, which we call the zero-point energy."

"We usually think that strings vibrate in spacetime, or better yet, because that would mean there would be other principles besides dynamics that could control the shape of the string, but unfortunately it turns out that there are none."

"In the string world-plane approximation, spacetime is merely a series of markers describing how motion occurs. After processing with quantum mechanics, we know that these markers exhibit small fluctuations, which are the vacuum zero-point energies. We need to find the patterns in their behavior and extract the energy of these fluctuations."

Upon hearing this, Yue Yuan nodded secretly, and he roughly understood the research approach of the research team led by Longxing Brigade.

He connected zero-point energy, string vibration energy, and rest mass, and then, through the research and analysis of the other two of the three, he obtained the formula for the large-scale application of zero-point energy.

However, the theories regarding string vibration modes and zero-point energy here contradict common sense.

It tells all those who study it that if only one vibration mode on the string is considered, then the zero-point energy is positive, and higher string overtones contribute more positively to the zero-point energy, but when they are all added together in a proper way, a negative number is obtained.

This is as strange as a positive positive equaling a negative.

To this end, Long Xinglv also obtained a mathematical formula from a mathematician that he didn't know what it expressed. He used that formula to successfully add an imaginary mass to the equation "positive equals negative".

This seems like a forced application to make the explanation seem reasonable, but in any case, it does seem quite reasonable now, because after being subjected to this kind of explanation by Longxinglv, it can still continue to make calculations that conform to mathematical logic.

Yue Yuan even asked Long Xinglv about it, and the reply was: "I don't know why, I just felt they were a good match, so I put them together, and I didn't expect that it would actually fit mathematical logic." Okay, is this what they call scientific intuition?

Although it seems far-fetched, at least it hasn't gone wrong yet, right? Let's just use it for now. Maybe it's one of the pieces of the puzzle to master the zero-point energy of the vacuum?
Yes, it's one piece of the puzzle, not the whole thing.

If zero-point vacuum energy were so easily grasped, so many civilizations wouldn't have disappeared without a trace after entering the Great Void, and there wouldn't have been that civilization tomb we encountered back then.

Humanity is not so arrogant as to believe that a research team led by a scientist in its own civilization can break through the vacuum zero-point energy barrier, nor is it so arrogant as to believe that its approach based on string and superstring theory is necessarily correct.

Any scientific progress is gradual, which aligns with both the logical system of knowledge and the laws of human cognition.

Human cognitive abilities follow a developmental pattern from superficial to profound and from partial to comprehensive.

In fact, this applies not only to humans but also to other extraterrestrials. However, due to differences in life forms, the concepts of "shallow" and "deep" held by different intelligent life forms in different civilizations are not the same, and sometimes they are even reversed.

Putting aside other things, let's just talk about human civilization itself. Simply because of language differences, a person can have different perceptions of the same world. To put it simply, the entry points to understanding the world are different. Native Chinese speakers can easily learn multiplication tables, while native English speakers find them very difficult.

Therefore, things that humans find difficult may be basic concepts to intelligent life in other civilizations.

This is why multi-civilization collaborative research is necessary, and why it is important for different civilizations to regularly exchange research progress and conduct technological exchanges.

It turns out that people who study physics are often also good at mathematics.

Yue Yuan then saw Long Xinglu explaining from beginning to end the necessary process of introducing that mathematical formula into the research system. He saw Long Xinglu writing and drawing on the holographic screen with one hand, throwing one derivation process after another onto the holographic screen, and seeing all kinds of mathematical symbols floating in mid-air.

While deriving the mathematical process, Long Xinglv said, "You see, the calculations show that as long as spacetime itself obeys the equations of general relativity, quantum fluctuations will occur. And the real world tells us that quantum fluctuations exist, and the equations of general relativity are also correct. This shows that the formulas developed by our great human civilization's mathematicians are correct. Don't worry about how they came up with them."

That's absolutely right.

In fact, before Yue Yuan came here, he met with that mathematician and asked him in person how Long Xinglu got his mathematical formulas.

At the time, Yue Yuan thought the mathematician would tell a fascinating story about discovering a mathematical formula, but instead he saw a look of utter bewilderment on the mathematician's face.

It's as if it's saying: Huh? What formula? Did I write this mathematical formula? When did this happen? I can't remember.

Good guy.

Yue Yuan remembered that the mathematician had specifically searched online databases to recall when he had come up with such a formula.

He didn't know what the formula was for; he just felt that he had derived a formula that he didn't understand during a period of studying basic mathematics, so he wrote it down, and that was all.

Just as Yue Yuan was daydreaming, he heard Long Xinglv raise his voice slightly and say, "Alright, we have a big mission coming up. We will be observing the second and third types of Kalabichu epidemics over the next thousand years. However, our team of researchers is still too small. We estimate that we will have to stay in the microscopic world for a very long time before we can recruit people from the public and achieve results."

After a pause, Long Xinglu looked at Yue Yuan: "Therefore, Chief of Staff, our team needs the Engineering Department to equip us with another million sets of third-person observation devices based on consciousness linking."

“No problem. I checked before I came. The logistics department still has 700,000 sets of equipment. You can use them for now. They will deliver the new equipment to your team as soon as they can produce it.” Yue Yuan nodded in response. He had obviously come prepared.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Long Xinglv continued, asking about another matter: "Microscopic disorientation is a problem. This time, we need to observe the microscopic world for a long period of time. Unlike before, this problem, which may not seem like a big problem in the past, will become a big problem over time."

Hearing this, Yue Yuan shook his head and sighed, "There's no way to solve this. I've already consulted a psychologist, and it's not a psychological problem. The only thing we can do is let the researchers who are feeling unwell take a break temporarily."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Well, the Awakener's illusion might be one of the manifestations of a strange phenomenon in the real world affecting the spirit and soul. They don't have any good solutions right now, but I think it might be helpful to have the researchers who are involved in long-term observation of the microscopic world train with the Awakener civilization's dream machine."

Microscopic disorientation is something similar to deep space phobia. People who observe the microscopic world for a long time may develop a certain doubt about the real world because of the bizarre and wonderful things in the microscopic world.

It's a feeling somewhat similar to deep space fear and the sense of insignificance in the face of the vastness of the universe, but it seems to be more intense.

Currently, the only way to overcome this is through personal willpower.

This symptom is unique to humans. It's not that intelligent life in other civilizations is stronger, but rather that they cannot "directly see" the microscopic world like humans do.

In the pursuit of zero-point energy in the vacuum, they have inadvertently created a microscopic delusion.

So what is the underlying mechanism of this microscopic disorientation? Is it related to the soul? To cognition? Or to the limits of intelligence?
There are just too many secrets in this universe. This question has not yet been answered, and another question has arisen. And behind this question, who knows how much more unknown awaits.

Science truly has no limits!
(End of this chapter)