I failed a course, and the system became my study supervisor.

Chapter 86 Is this really an academic conference?
February 15, 2025.

Inside an auditorium at Peking University and Tsinghua University.

A grand academic seminar is about to be held.

Xu Ling and Wang Xueqin followed Zhang Zhongyao to the venue early, and the venue was already bustling with activity.

Looking at the bustling auditorium, Xu Ling was full of anticipation.

Will there be a fierce collision of ideas as imagined?
Xu Ling couldn't help but think.

"Haha, Professor Zhang, I didn't expect you to actually complete this project. This is another milestone. Congratulations."

An old man who looked elegant and easy-going shook Zhang Zhongyao's hand and said with a smile.

"Haha, that's really great! Didn't you guys at Jinling University also do a great project recently? Congratulations to you guys."

Zhang Zhongyao also responded with a smile, and turned to Xu Ling and said, "This is Professor Kong from Jinling University."

Xu Ling immediately greeted Professor Kong tactfully.

"Eh? These two are your favorite students. I didn't see you bring any students to the meeting before."

Professor Kong joked.

"Young man, go see the world."

Zhang Zhongyao waved his hand and responded.

Xu Ling and Wang Xueqin on the side were a little flattered for a moment. They didn't expect Zhang Zhongyao to value them so much.

Afterwards, after countless greetings and flattery, there were the same professors and scholars, as well as the heads of certain companies or school leaders.

After the whole process, Xu Ling felt that his face was almost stiff from smiling, and then the academic discussion officially began.

The previous complacency and anticipation had already been completely exhausted.

Why is this academic conference different from what I imagined?
Xu Ling couldn't help but feel confused.

"The success of this research is inseparable from the hard work of every researcher, and also inseparable from the strong support of Peking University, Tsinghua University and Shanghai University..."

As the co-first author, Zhang Zhongyao delivered an opening speech on the stage.

Afterwards, the researcher representatives from both sides gave a brief report on the content of the research within a very limited time.

After that, Xu Ling never heard anything about academics itself again.

Xu Ling became even more confused.

An academic conference, instead of focusing on academic issues, revolved around endlessly discussing repetitive topics. There wasn't even a hint of a collision of physical ideas within the phenomenon.

Rather than an academic conference, it is more like a social gathering among academic giants.

Because the tea break prepared here is really good, and the various desserts and drinks are extremely exquisite.

This was the only interesting thing Xu Ling thought about the entire meeting.

To make up for his regret over the academic conference, Xu Ling simply ate his fill. If he came across a particularly delicious dessert, Xu Ling would immediately let Wang Xueqin try it too.

When the meeting finally came to an end, Xu Ling could not help but ask Zhang Zhongyao:

“Have academic conferences always been like this?”

"Not all of them, right? What? Don't you think it's interesting?"

Zhang Zhongyao said with a smile.

“Yes, it doesn’t feel like I’m studying academic issues at all.”

Xu Ling expressed his inner feelings truthfully.

"I feel a bit like a group of businessmen and politicians, not like scholars at all."

Wang Xueqin, standing nearby, chimed in. "It's perfectly normal, don't make a fuss. These days, many research projects have investors behind them. This one's relatively okay. If it were a project with good commercial value, it would be a complete business gathering."

Zhang Zhongyao said lightly.

Is that so?
"Will there be any external investment in our next project?"

Xu Ling asked immediately.

Xu Ling couldn't help but feel a little scared when he thought about having to curry favor with others to do an experiment in the laboratory.

"Haha, no, don't worry. That project won't make any money, and the people who invest in it aren't stupid."

Zhang Zhongyao patted Xu Ling on the shoulder and continued, "Someone has to do the research diligently."

After saying this, Zhang Zhongyao gave Xu Ling a meaningful look.

In Zhang Zhongyao's eyes, Xu Ling should be the kind of person who does research steadily.

……

Back in Shanghai, Xu Ling is about to enter the second semester of his sophomore year.

As usual, let me introduce the main courses of this semester.

They are: quantum physics, high-energy particle physics, and the in-depth application of group theory in physics.

There is no need to say much about quantum physics, and high-energy particle physics mainly focuses on studying elementary particles and basic interactions through large-scale experimental equipment and the establishment of large models.

The muon probe and neutrino issues that Zhang Zhongyao's laboratory has been committed to studying are just the tip of the iceberg of high-energy particle physics.

The third course builds on the modern algebra learned in the previous semester by focusing on group theory, which is helpful for the study of quantum physics and particle physics.

Along with the new semester, Zhang Zhongyao's project on muons also began.

Just like when Xu Ling first came to the laboratory, Zhang Zhongyao was not as easy-going as usual when he started working on the project.

The whole person became visibly serious.

"In order to do this project well, research is essential. In the next two days, everyone will try their best to collect existing theoretical and experimental records in this field.

After completion, everyone will make a summary on their own, and I will take a look at it then."

Zhang Zhongyao announced the first task.

This project did not involve any collaboration with other schools or people from other colleges. Zhang Zhongyao had the final say in the entire laboratory.

Can’t Zhang Zhongyao just integrate all the information directly?
Of course he can.

But what he hopes more is that these young people can take the initiative to discover, so as to better stimulate their imagination.

However, the fact is that many people in the research team were not satisfied with this arrangement and they were eager to start the experiment directly.

As for Xu Ling, he certainly had no objection. He had already started doing this before Zhang Zhongyao said anything.

An in-depth understanding of the Standard Model, or a focused analysis of neutrinos, is Xu Ling's first step.

Neutrinos have mass, which has been proven by a series of neutrino oscillation experiments, such as the solar neutrino experiment and the atmospheric neutrino experiment.

This is a challenge to the original model and also the starting point of the entire research.

At the same time, neutrinos are electrically neutral, participate in weak interactions, and are also fermions with a spin of 1/2. Like electrons and quarks, they also follow Fermi-Dirac statistics.

This is something that must be grasped when establishing non-standard models.

In addition, neutrinos come in three different "flavors": electron neutrinos, muon neutrinos, and tau neutrinos.

The oscillation of neutrinos is essentially a change in neutrino flavor.

Only by grasping the basic characteristics of neutrinos and their oscillations can we move forward and understand the establishment of existing models.

(End of this chapter)