Hot Wavelength

Chapter 50 (Silicon Carbide 2): Shortcomings
In November 2031, Liangguo Rocket City

Michael and Daphne received Eileen at their home. As soon as they met, Daphne asked with concern, "Andek is seriously ill. Why did you come back to Liang Kingdom? Is he feeling any better?"

“My condition was quite serious at one point, but it has improved and stabilized now. I returned to Liangguo because the research project here needs to be completed,” Eileen said. “Andek is also very concerned about his letter to Michael and asked me to listen to Michael’s thoughts on his behalf.”

Michael was slightly embarrassed, thinking to himself: Could Eileen be here to issue an ultimatum on behalf of the media mogul?

He said, "I am very grateful for Andre's concern. I was very touched by his letter, and I know that he did it not for himself."

Eileen looked up at Michael, waiting for him to continue. Daphne stepped in with a smile to smooth things over, saying, "I know Michael's answer. Guess what? His answer is related to another letter you gave him."

“Another letter? You mean Mirov’s Mayan notes?” Eileen asked.

Daphne enthusiastically recounted the contents of the Mayan notebook to Eileen. Captain Mirov, through in-depth research into the Mayan calendar and its corresponding planetary synodic cycles, arrived at a startling conclusion.

玛雅人除了日常使用的二十进位制以外，特别偏爱以三进制表示的具有对称美的特殊数值，比如13=(111)3，金字塔台阶总数364=(111111)3，地球的公转周期以及水星、金星、火星和土星与地球的会合周期的最小公倍数7174440=(111111111111000)3。

金星与地球的会合周期是584天，这个数值与365的公约数是73，584/73=8。玛雅人认为这个巧合很神奇，他们把8当做金星的贡献数，并记录在石板上。在三进制中，8=(22)3=(1.0-1)3=(10T)3，具有对称性。

米罗夫从8这个数字中得到启发，他猜想，玛雅人之所以认为8是一个神奇而特殊的数值，很可能是他们发现8用三进制表示呈现出的对称美甚至超过3个1、6个1、12个1等等的重复对称性。

Is two 2s more elegant in logical form than three 1s? Obviously not, because they are both simple repetitions and are logically the same.

那8到底特殊在哪呢？因为在三进制中，只有1、0、-1（记作T）三个表示符，而8正好占全了这三个表示符，并且是中心对称形式，8=(10T)3。

Any integer n can be represented in any base. Generally, the base is a positive integer, represented by b, and the number of digits in n is represented by m. Then, n = ∑a*b^m, where a ranges from 0 to (b-1) and m ranges from 0 to m-1.

因为b-1模b等于-1，所以十进制中的9可以规定为-1，二十进位制中的-1则是19。b=3，也即三进制时，b-1=2，2就被规定为-1。

This type of ternary number, which uses only 1, 0, and -1, is called a symmetric (balanced) ternary number. In computers, when using symmetric ternary, -1 is conventionally represented by the letter "T" because it consists of two characters.

8=(22)3=(1.0-1)3=(10T)3，由此能够看出8在三进制中既是最全面，又是最简洁的更高级的对称形式，它包含了1、0、-1全部三个表示符。

Eileen was a little confused. This was so complicated! Aren't binary 0 and 1 simpler? Why introduce -1?

Michael suddenly asked, seemingly out of the blue, "Eileen, we're having a party next Wednesday night, can you come?"

Eileen was momentarily at a loss for words when asked the question. She thought back to her schedule and realized that it was only Tuesday and she hadn't even made plans for next week yet.

As she thought about it, she replied, "I would love to attend your party, but I'm not sure if I can."

Michael and Daphne exchanged a smile. He said to Eileen, "My question and your answer are extremely common in daily life. It stems from the human brain's thinking habits. When you input a question into the brain, the answer is not just yes or no. In many cases, there is a third answer, an uncertain one."

Eileen suddenly realized: "In symmetrical ternary, 1 represents yes, T represents no, and 0 represents uncertainty. This way of judging is obviously more compatible with the human brain. In fact, there are too many uncertain cases in my genetic engineering research, but I just didn't think of using ternary before."

Daphne answered the question that Eileen had asked during her visit for Michael: "Men with dreams are always very persistent. I was initially worried that Michael would give a negative answer when Andrei tried to persuade him to give up the Mars terraforming project, but thankfully, his answer now is uncertain."

Eileen pressed on: "Whether I can attend the party next Wednesday is uncertain right now, but I'll give you a definite yes or no answer in a few days. You can't keep uncertain about whether you'll continue or abandon the Mars terraforming project, can you?"

Michael said with a slightly serious tone, "Transforming Mars into a 'backup plan' for Earth would be a monumental feat for humanity, bringing immeasurable benefits, but also fraught with risks. I plan to upgrade the computer with ternary computing power and conduct a simulation experiment. Once the results are in, I will be able to confirm it."

Eileen remembered Andre's instructions before she left and said, "We only have one Earth. Andre reminds you, even if there's only a one in a million chance of risk, we can't build a so-called superluminal power station. No matter how good the simulation is, it's impossible to draw a zero-risk conclusion, right?"

Michael thought for a moment and gave an example: "History has witnessed the harm that atomic bombs have caused to mankind, but nuclear power is a clean energy source. Should we build nuclear power plants? The risks of nuclear power plants not only exist in theory, but nuclear disasters have also occurred in reality. Yet, even today, there are still hundreds of nuclear power plants operating on Earth."

All three fell silent, realizing that persuading each other was not easy, and the topic naturally shifted to ternary computers. In the 1970s, the Soviet Union stopped the research and development of ternary computers because it lacked both funds and a complete industrial chain. Most importantly, the Soviet Union was not subject to any blockade on the equipment and applications of binary computers by the United States and Europe.

The Soviets realized that since they could buy it whenever they wanted, and the cost and expenses were far lower than the huge investment required to develop their own ternary system, why not?
At the same time, the binary-based computer industry developed rapidly, transistors replaced vacuum tubes, the density of integrated circuits per unit area increased, computing speed increased exponentially, and Moore's Law, which uses a year or even half a year as the unit of time, continued for decades in an incredible way.

Storage, computing, transmission, and packaging technologies are advancing rapidly, with new materials and processes emerging in endless succession. Various intelligent devices, represented by the Internet, mobile Internet, artificial intelligence (AI), AGI, and intelligent robots, are constantly emerging, creating an ever-increasing demand for computing power.

Moore's Law has finally approached its physical limits. After the width of integrated circuits decreased from tens of nanometers to a few nanometers, the existing processes could no longer support denser arrangements.

The large artificial model is like a gaping maw, devouring humanity's already scarce electricity resources.

Low-energy and power-saving computing solutions have been put on the agenda, and ternary architecture has once again become a hot topic in research and development.

In theory, to achieve the same computing power per unit area, the integrated circuit density of a ternary architecture is lower than that of a binary architecture, resulting in a significant advantage in low power consumption. Conversely, under the same integrated circuit density, the computing speed of a ternary architecture is higher than that of a binary architecture.

However, the ternary architecture had to be built from scratch, which required a huge additional investment and encountered many difficulties. The first shortcoming of the ternary architecture was the issue of component materials.

The technology routes for ternary components are quite diverse, but they can be summarized into two main categories.

One type utilizes carbon nanotubes, which, under nanoscale manipulation, can output three stable voltages—high, medium, and low—with different layer diameters, representing the states 1, 0, and -1, respectively. This is known as the "tube diameter method."

Another technical approach involves stacking three different metals and oxides, such as lithium metal, lithium phosphate, and nickel metal, each outputting a different voltage to represent three different states; this is called the "stacking method".

Both of these methods can significantly reduce power consumption and improve computing speed. The conversion between the three input and output voltages is reversible and repeatable, which is also a necessary condition for ternary computer components.

The ternary architecture has a clear advantage in low power consumption, achieving the goal of saving electricity. However, in addition to consuming a lot of electricity, the artificial large model also consumes a lot of water.

In many countries and regions, water resources are scarcer than electricity resources.

As integrated circuits become denser at the atomic scale, heat dissipation has become a major problem during the production and operation of nanoscale integrated circuit chips.

Traditional fans can no longer meet the needs, so clever engineers have immersed the entire circuit board in a special "water" and used circulating water to cool it down, which is known as "immersion".

How can we save water?
In the wave of electronic information, transistor technology has continued to advance. The first generation of transistors was silicon, the second generation was gallium arsenide, and the third generation was silicon carbide.

New technological demands and new materials often complement and reinforce each other. Sometimes, it can be embarrassing to invent a new material but find no application need, while for other applications, no suitable material can be found.

For a long period of time in the development of the computer industry, the demand for high-temperature resistant materials and components was not very strong.

This is both a cost issue and a question of the necessity of the application scenario. Nobody puts a computer on a fire to bake it, so what's the use of heat resistance?
In the decades following the mid-20th century, the Soviet Union made more than twenty attempts to send probes to land on Venus, almost none of which successfully transmitted signals back. This was because the surface of Venus is extremely hot and under high pressure, with temperatures exceeding 400 degrees Celsius, which would burn out any existing electrical equipment on Earth and render it unusable.

New demands call for new materials. Silicon carbide is a material that is resistant to high temperatures, has low resistance, high hardness, and strong stability. Components made of silicon carbide can withstand temperatures of 500 degrees Celsius.

The National Space Agency has replaced almost all the electrical equipment used on its upcoming Venus probe with silicon carbide components.

Daphne, who knew about some of the new Venus probes, said to Michael, "Your idea is not just to use silicon carbide components extensively in the production and operation of computers, but also to withstand high temperatures, reduce the need for heat dissipation, and achieve the goal of water conservation."

Michael smiled mysteriously and said, "If the components can withstand high temperatures, we can switch back to air cooling from water cooling. That would not only save water, but we would not need to use water at all."

"Wow! How did you come up with that? It seems that on the road to innovation, we need not only scientists, but also strategists who can lead the way!" Daphne exclaimed.

&
The poem composed of collected verses at the end of the chapter:
"No labor is more beautiful than plain silk," by Du Fu (Tang Dynasty).
This stone is fortunate to have won. (Song Dynasty, Xin Qiji)
Before I created it, Song Dynasty, Huang Shumei

The key to success lies in acting at the right time. — Jiang Zaiheng (Qing Dynasty)
(End of this chapter)