Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

Dense atomic materials.

According to the scheme proposed by Lü Yongchang, its principle is similar to that of dense neutron materials, but its strength is certainly not as good as that of dense neutron materials that are linked to the strong interaction force.

First of all.

The strong interaction force is a short-range force.

当它的作用範围在1.5*10^(-15)米之内。当距离大于0.8*10^(-15)米时，强相互作用力表现为吸引力，且随距离增大而减小，超过1.5*10^(-15)米时，强相互作用力急速下降几乎消失；而在距离小于0.8*10^(-15)米时，它的表现为斥力。

Therefore, to manufacture dense materials, it is necessary to overcome the strong interaction forces that exhibit repulsion when the interparticle spacing is less than 0.8*10^(-15) meters.

Secondly, even inside a neutron star, there are gaps between neutrons.

The spacing between these neutrons decreases as the density of the neutron star increases.

Undoubtedly, the smaller the spacing, the higher the strength of the material.

Normally, atoms are too far apart to interact with each other, so only electromagnetic forces exist between them.

But dense atomic materials are different.

To make a material exhibit unprecedented strength, it is necessary to compress the spacing between atoms as much as possible.

At this point, the strong interaction force begins to act as a barrier.

Therefore, both dense atomic materials and dense neutron materials are actually strong interaction materials.

The biggest difference between the two is actually just the type and spacing of the particles.

Compared to dense neutron materials, dense atomic materials have much larger interparticle gaps, and correspondingly, much lower material strength.

Therefore, in Lü Yongchang's view, dense atomic materials are actually a transitional technology towards strong interaction materials.

But regardless, the fact that it's described as "dense" means it's a high-strength material that exceeds the normal range of materials.

That being said, choosing which atoms to use as raw materials is another daunting problem.

Compared to the monotonous neutron, atoms have a much wider variety of possibilities.

Different atoms will inevitably produce different results.

Besides considering the properties of the atoms themselves, there is another crucial issue.

The weight of an atom.

The weight of a single atom is negligible and can be largely ignored.

However, if the spacing is very fine, or even if the atoms are completely close together.

Imagine the density and mass of a neutron star.

While dense atoms may not reach such an exaggerated level, their combined mass is by no means negligible!

……

The screening of target atoms took a considerable amount of time.

Initially, based on a large amount of experimental, testing and simulation data, Lü Yongchang decided to use helium atoms as the raw material for the dense armor.

There are several considerations involved.

Helium atoms are relatively stable and are also a relatively abundant substance in the universe.

In addition, its light weight means that manufacturing it into dense atomic armor would not place too much burden on the starship.

As for what metal atoms...

Due to their own quality issues, they didn't even survive the first round of initial screening and were directly eliminated from the shortlist by Lü Yongchang.

As for why helium was chosen instead of the lighter hydrogen atom...

Unlike helium atoms, hydrogen atoms are not chemically stable.

Unless it becomes a hydrogen ion or combines with other atoms.

Of course, this can be solved through technical means.

This problem can be solved by using a sufficiently strong grand unified field to lock these hydrogen atoms in place.

That's where the problem lies; it requires even higher operational precision.

Judging from the strong interaction forces and grand unified field manipulation technology previously demonstrated by the Materials Research Center, this level of difficulty is clearly beyond expectations.

Simply put, the output is sufficient, but the operation cannot keep up.

Therefore, according to Lü Yongchang's original plan, the dense material constructed with hydrogen atoms was the next generation of armor material in Lü Yongchang's mind—lighter and stronger.

Going further up, that would be Lü Yongchang's ultimate goal.

Dense neutron armor.

……

Plans can't keep up with changes.

This statement is particularly evident in the field of materials research.

Just as the first batch of dense helium materials was successfully produced in the laboratory, good news came from Ding Chengwang.

Following Lü Yongchang's guidance, Ding Chengwang successfully improved the device for making strong interaction force materials.

Perhaps it was due to luck, or perhaps it was a combination of talent and hard work.

Ding Chengwang's final results far exceeded Lü Yongchang's expectations—the control precision of both the strong interaction force control device and the grand unified field control device was greatly improved.

Although the ultimate size of dense neutron materials is still limited to ten centimeters square by the Grand Unified Field strength, as predicted by Lü Yongchang, the Grand Unified Field control device with improved control precision has reached the manufacturing threshold of dense hydrogen materials.

then……

Dense helium became the shortest-lived high-strength material in the history of the Human Union.

Retirement at birth.

……

With the accumulation of abundant resources, the dense helium production facility in the No. 3 Materials Laboratory was transformed into a dense hydrogen production facility in just one month.

A month later.

Lü Yongchang stood in front of the main control console of Laboratory No. 3 of the Materials Research and Development Center.

In the holographic projection, the "light panel" constructed of materialized light was bright and dazzling, reflecting the tense expressions of everyone around—except Lü Yongchang.

He had full confidence in his calculations.

The experiment officially began.

Hydrogen atom nozzles slowly extend from above the "light plate," spraying a large number of hydrogen atoms toward the "light plate."

These high-speed hydrogen atoms, just before colliding with the "light plate," are firmly locked onto the "light plate" by the surrounding unified field.

At this point, if observed from a microscopic perspective, it is easy to see that there is still a considerable distance between these hydrogen atoms.

However, as the experiment entered its second phase, the spacing between hydrogen atoms rapidly decreased under the influence of the Grand Unified Field Control Device.

When their distance is less than 1.5*10^(-15) meters, the strong interaction force appears, and a gradually increasing force pulls them closer to each other.

As the spacing continues to decrease, when the spacing is less than 0.8*10^(-15) meters, the strong interaction force transforms into a repulsive force, attempting to push away the surrounding hydrogen atoms.

The strong interaction force control device is activated at this time.

The strong interaction force is directly interfered with through the grand unified field.

The compression process only ends when the spacing between these hydrogen atoms is reduced to the limit that humans can control.

As the area of ​​the dense hydrogen material on the "plain plate" gradually increases,

One square micrometer, one square centimeter, one square meter...

Inside the laboratory, the tension on everyone's faces gradually dissipated.

The applause celebrating the victory finally rang out.