1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 669 Experimental Liver King! Terrifying! Slow Neutron Method! Another Atomic Bomb Core! Shoc

Chapter 669 Experimental Liver King! Terrifying! Slow Neutron Method! Another Core of the Atomic Bomb! Shocking the Entire Audience!
Bohr's droplet model amazed many of the big names present.

With this model, the properties of the atomic nucleus can be studied theoretically.

Nuclear physics has developed to this point, with experimental results being the main driver of progress. Today, we finally have some theoretical results.

However, Bohr also emphasized at the end:

"At present, the droplet model is still a relatively crude representational theory."

"It is a macroscopic theory for studying the atomic nucleus."

"The precise relationship between it and the strong and weak forces still needs further study."

Everyone nodded after hearing this.

This does not affect the use of the droplet model.

It's like a small slider, composed of countless atoms and molecules, but its overall structure can be described using Newton's laws of motion.

The three consecutive theoretical achievements greatly excited everyone.

There is still a vast space for research in the field of theoretical physics.

After answering a few questions, Bohr brought the morning session to a close.

At this moment, Langevin said with a smile:

"The following is the lunch and rest time."

Please make yourselves at home and enjoy the food. The meeting will continue this afternoon.

The bigwigs exchanged smiles and got up to move around freely.

"Let's go see what delicious food Bruce has prepared for us."

The meeting room was very large, so even when people gathered in small groups, it didn't feel crowded.

It was incredibly pleasant to enjoy the beautiful seaside scenery while discussing scientific issues.

Fermi stood alone by the window, holding a glass of Chinese liquor, gazing into the distance.

He wasn't savoring the baijiu he was seeing for the first time; he was contemplating the content of his afternoon report.

He will be the first to speak in the afternoon, and also the first to give a report on experimental physics.

His hands even trembled slightly as he thought about the smallest details.

The reports by Pauli, Heisenberg, and Bohr in the morning were extremely brilliant, showcasing the brilliance of theoretical physics.

Fermi wasn't worried that his report would be inferior.

On the contrary, his achievements can be described as "shocking".

But it was precisely because it was so shocking that Fermi still couldn't decide whether or not to announce it at the meeting.

He is not entirely confident at the moment.

Once it's announced, there's no going back.

"So this is what it feels like to publish groundbreaking findings."

At this moment, Fermi finally understood Professor Bruce's deeper level of strength.

That's mindset!
Fermi himself was already a top genius in the field of physics, but he was still apprehensive about the groundbreaking conjecture he was about to share.

However, Professor Bruce published countless such results throughout his life, yet he remained nonchalant about them.

This is the gap.

Just as Fermi was lost in thought and extremely conflicted...

Elena walked over with a smile.

"Hey, Fermi, how's your research going lately?"

Upon hearing this, Fermi immediately came to his senses.

Upon seeing that the visitor was Elena, he smiled happily:

"Hello, Elena."

The two already knew each other.

Elena was overjoyed to receive Li Qiwei's invitation to attend the meeting.

After listening to the theoretical reports by Bohr and others in the morning, Elena's competitive spirit resurfaced.

She felt that experimental physics should not be inferior to theoretical physics.

So she went to Fermi to ask about his progress.

"I saw you standing there lost in thought just now. What were you thinking about?"

Fermi was familiar with Elena's outgoing personality and liked her straightforwardness.

"Oh, I'm thinking about the details of my report."

Irena asked:
"How are your lab's neutron bombardment experiments going?"

When this topic came up, Fermi immediately became very enthusiastic.

“It’s going relatively smoothly.”

"We have now bombarded all the elements in the periodic table."

"I will provide the detailed results in my report this afternoon."

Elena nodded, then added with a complaint:

"Were there any groundbreaking results?"

"Even if it's uncertain, is that okay?"

“Look at Pauli, that chubby kid. Neutrinos are still just a hypothesis, but he’s already wagging his tail like crazy.”

"He just patted me on the shoulder and said, 'Sister Na, the important task of finding neutrinos is now entrusted to you.'"

Even with his high level of self-control, Fermi couldn't help but chuckle at this moment.

This Pauli, the Scourge of God, is hilarious.

Elena feigned anger and said:

"So you must bring glory to our experimental physics! Suppress Pauli's arrogance!"

"Whether it's a guess or not, let's bring it up first."

"Anyway, everyone here today is a big shot, so it doesn't matter if I make a mistake."

Upon hearing this, a glint of light flashed in Fermi's eyes!
At this moment, he had made up his mind.

Then, he downed the glass of baijiu in one gulp.

"Cough cough~"

He was immediately choked and his face turned red.

"Holy crap, what kind of wine is this?!"

"How could it taste so awful!"
-
2 pm.

After everyone had eaten, drunk their fill, and rested well, the meeting continued.

The host, Langevin, said:

"The morning's report focused on theoretical physics."

"The afternoon session will focus on experimental physics."

"Please welcome our first speaker, Professor Fermi from the University of Rome, Italy."

Fermi took a deep breath and walked forward.

The big shots were in high spirits.

Fermi's innovative neutron bombardment method last year had a profound impact, directly changing the traditional process of nuclear physics.

Nowadays, most experimental physicists are using neutrons in their experiments.

Therefore, the bigwigs are also very curious to know how far Fermi, as the inventor, has progressed.

At this moment, Fermi said:
"My report today is about neutron bombardment experiments."

"To date, my team has bombarded every single element on the periodic table."

"A total of 22 different artificial radioactive isotopes were obtained."

"The details are as follows."

Wow!
The audience was immediately taken aback!
Everyone was stunned and speechless.

"My God!"

"Fermi is just too awesome."

"22 kinds of radioactive isotopes were found in his liver at once."

"All the experimental physicists in the world combined have made more discoveries than he has."

"Young people these days are too exaggerated."

Even Rutherford had to sigh:
"Young people have more energy."

Although the bombardment experiment itself is not complicated, each radioactive element has extremely high research value.

This is why Chadwick didn't want to do it, but Elena really wanted to.

Because of her mother Marie Curie's example of using radium in medicine, she naturally valued the application of radioactive elements.

Therefore, she would carefully test the properties of each radioactive element to see if there was anything special about it.

Fermi discovered 22 different radioactive isotopes in just over a year, which really startled her.

Because this is simply unreasonable!
She and her husband, Joliot, are also conducting similar neutron bombardment experiments. However, only two radioactive isotopes have been discovered so far.

Even if Fermi's neutron source was very powerful, there shouldn't be such a big difference.

So, after reviewing the experimental results, Elena couldn't help but ask:
"Fermi, how can your experiments be so efficient?"

"This is incredible!"

Rutherford added:

“One of my groups has only discovered three radioactive isotopes, and they are using the same method as Fermi.”

Wow!
Everyone was shocked!

How is this going?

Given Fermi's character, it's absolutely impossible for him to have fabricated anything.

Pauli, Heisenberg, and others watched with great interest.

Fermi's abilities truly exceeded their expectations.

Using the same experiment and the same method, your results are more than ten times that of others, which is simply unbelievable.

Those present were all top-notch researchers.

Fermi smiled slightly at the surprise of the crowd.

Today, his radon-beryllium hybrid neutron source method no longer needs to be kept secret.

"Everyone, please take a look."

"This is the method I use to generate neutrons, which involves using alpha rays emitted by radon to bombard beryllium."

The specific parameters are as follows.

"But neutron sources alone cannot answer Dr. Elena's question."

"My team is able to produce artificial radioactivity so efficiently because of another condition."

"I call it the 'slow neutron method'."

Wow!
Everyone was shocked!
Sure enough, Fermi possessed a unique skill that was unknown to most.

"More than 10 months ago, a graduate student named Pontikov joined my team."

"He discovered while working in the lab that the radioactivity produced by experiments on wooden tabletops was much stronger than that produced by experiments on marble tabletops."

"At the time, I found it very strange, but I couldn't think of a good explanation, so I put the question aside."

"Until one day, while I was studying the effects of lead on incident neutrons, I had a sudden thought: what would happen if I replaced lead with paraffin?"

"After all, Professor Yu Yin discovered the neutron precisely because he used paraffin."

"Perhaps I can have this good luck too."

Everyone smiled knowingly upon hearing this.

Fermi smiled and gestured towards Yu Yin.

"It turns out that paraffin wax really does bring good luck."

"After I replaced the lead with paraffin, I found that the radioactivity of the target material increased by more than a hundred times!"

"It was unbelievable; everyone in the lab was stunned."

"At first, I thought there was something wrong with the equipment."

"After checking the equipment and repeating the experiment several times, the result was still the same."

"This shows that what we are seeing is the real phenomenon."

"I spent the whole day thinking about the reasons behind this."

"When evening came, I remembered the strange phenomenon that Pontikov had discovered: the difference in radioactivity between wooden and marble tabletops."

These two things seem to be comparable.

"Lead and paraffin, marble tabletops and wooden tabletops."

Suddenly! A lightbulb went off in my head! I finally discovered the difference between the two!

"Both paraffin wax and wood contain a large number of hydrogen atoms, and the hydrogen nucleus can slow down neutrons!"

"Lead and marble do not contain hydrogen atoms, so they cannot slow down neutrons."

"The neutron rays produced by the radon-beryllium method have a very high speed, so the probability of them being captured by atomic nuclei is relatively small."

"But by slowing down neutrons, the probability of them being captured by atomic nuclei increases, so more radioactive products can be detected."

"This also explains the phenomenon discovered by Pontikov."

"When conducting experiments on a wooden tabletop, the neutrons are slowed down by the hydrogen nuclei in the wood as they bounce back, resulting in stronger radioactivity when bombarding the target."

“When conducting experiments on a marble tabletop, neutrons are not slowed down, resulting in lower radioactivity.”

"Then, I let my thinking wander. Since paraffin can slow down neutrons, water, which has a higher hydrogen content, must be able to as well."

"I conducted the experiment overnight and found that it was indeed the case."

"Therefore, in all the neutron bombardment experiments we will conduct next, we will use water as a moderator to reduce the neutron velocity and improve the bombardment efficiency."

"That's why my team was able to produce 22 radioactive isotopes in just one year."

"I call this method the 'slow neutron method'."

hiss!
quiet!
Deathly silence!

Everyone was amazed by Fermi's incredible experimental talent.

"My God!"

"They actually came up with the idea of using slowing neutrons to improve the efficiency of bombardment experiments."

"Fermi is just too awesome."

"He's simply a born experimental genius!"

Rutherford smiled with satisfaction.

Fermi was definitely the most brilliant experimental genius he had ever seen.

At least in the neutron field, the other party is already the absolute authority.

Elena was stunned and her mouth dropped open after hearing this.

At that moment, she was deeply impressed by Fermi.

The other person's experimental talent is visibly strong, surpassing hers.

"So that's the real reason."

With the decelerated neutrons, Fermi's efficiency far surpassed that of others.

The key issue is that nobody even knows this phenomenon exists.

In real history, Fermi's discovery of the slow neutron method was absolutely a landmark discovery in the field of nuclear physics.

In the process of making an atomic bomb, moderators are of paramount importance.

Otherwise, the neutrons would fly away too fast to react with the uranium nuclei.

The moderator used in the atomic bomb was also water, but not ordinary water; it was heavy water (DO).

Heavy water refers to water formed by deuterium oxide molecules, which are formed by the hydrogen isotope deuterium and oxygen atoms.

Its slowing effect on neutrons is many times that of ordinary water.

At this moment, Fermi had no idea what kind of impact his accidental discovery would have on the future.

Everyone was completely absorbed in Fermi's experiment.

People kept asking all sorts of questions.

For example, what would happen if other hydrogen-containing materials were used as the decelerator?
Fermi answered everyone's questions without reservation.

Irene looked at Pauli, her meaning clear.

"See, our experimental physics isn't bad either."

Pauli made a funny face, meaning, "It's alright."

Irene scoffed, thinking Pauli was being stubborn.

Fermi's discovery of the slow neutron method was an absolutely groundbreaking and extremely important achievement.

At this point, the host, Langevin, prepared to step forward and introduce the next speaker.

However, at this moment.

Fermi suddenly looked at him and said:
"Professor Langevin, please wait a moment."

"There's one more thing I haven't finished saying."

Everyone was shocked!
Is there anything else I haven't mentioned?

Young man, you're aiming for the heavens!

Fermi took a deep breath and mustered up immense courage.