Chen Zhou borrowed Li Li's computer again, and found UPC's official website through online searches.

The interface of the official website is very simple, only an English introduction, and some basic information about previous events.

Chen Zhou glanced at it and muttered to himself: "It seems that the English level needs to be improved a little more..."

Although he can understand it improvised, there are many professional terms and vocabulary that he does not recognize.

From this introduction, Chen Zhou learned the basic information of this event.

Before the competition, all participating teams must be officially registered on the website by a faculty member.

Instructors will also act as advisors to their teams and will be responsible for verifying that the participants are complying with the rules of the competition and paying the team registration fee.

All entries must be submitted at least 6 hours prior to the official start of the competition.

At the start of the competition, each team chooses one of the two questions that appear on the website and answers them.

The problem itself can be understood by a student with at least one year of university physics experience, but the design concept of the problem is open-ended.

Therefore, this competition is mainly aimed at the challenge of senior students.

Moreover, the information that these questions may contain is incomplete, and participating students must conduct background research.

Make some reasonable assumptions based on the context.

On the basis of these assumptions, an analysis is carried out.

In other words, there is no clear and correct solution to the competition problem.

This information alone made Chen Zhou affirm the challenge of this event.

After all, open questions are the hardest to solve.

In the competition, the team members have access to books, periodicals, computers, the Internet, and programs they have written or any other non-biological resources.

However, no consultation with anyone other than the team will be allowed.

This requirement also corresponds to the above, that the design of the question is open.

The organizing committee is completely confident that you will not be able to find the right solution to the problem from any source.

Then, there is the requirement for the results of the final question.

Participating teams must conduct a theoretical analysis of the proposed scheme using physical principles and write a formal paper in English detailing their work.

Each essay must begin with a 300-word abstract that provides key details and results of the work done.

This article may not be so comfortable for Chen Zhou, except that writing in English may not be so comfortable.

The experience he had gained from his last research was enough to ensure that he could complete the task.

Therefore, when Chen Zhou saw this request, he said in his heart that there was no big problem.

At the end of the competition, the official requirements of the competition must be sent to the designated official email address.

There is a specific time for sending and must be sent within 48 hours of the official start of the competition.

After the competition, the organizing committee will evaluate and rank all the papers, and about 2% of the best papers will be awarded the gold medalist.

Then 15-20% for silver, 25-30% for bronze, and 50-60% for the best players.

As for the remaining at least 40% of the entries, they will only be awarded the Participation Award.

In short, Chen Zhou's first feeling after watching the introduction of the whole competition was that there was something in this competition, which could be regarded as a small research project.

The difficulty of this competition lies in how to accurately analyze the problem and propose a solution from the open questions within 48 hours.

And the theoretical analysis of the scheme, the whole project was successfully completed, and an English paper was completed.

The allocation of time and the division of labor must be reasonable.

For Chen Zhou, it was the first time to participate in this kind of competition, and the challenge was self-evident.

After learning about the information of the entire competition, Chen Zhou immediately searched for the topics of previous competitions.

Looking at the information searched, Chen Zhou couldn't help but feel that the openness of this topic is really not ordinary, from small to large, there are all kinds of questions.

It sounds like a microspacecraft that launches light pressure to Proxima Centauri, a laser-propelled nanomodel to Alpha Centauri, and the protection of a Mars exploration spacecraft.

The topic itself is not only highly open-ended, but also a practical problem in the current research field of aerospace.

Thinking that the sponsor of the event is the Astronomical Society of the United States, Chen Zhou can understand why there is such a competition.

And there are also problems that sound like life, such as "the design of the roller coaster", "the size of the compost of the dumper", and so on.

Although it doesn't sound so lofty, the physical theory knowledge involved in it is no less than the above.

Because it is closer to life, the difficulty of the topic is not simpler than that of astronomy, but it will be more difficult.

Chen Zhou wrote down these competition questions on the scratch paper, and the pen in his hand kept pointing at the scratch paper.

Looking at the information and requirements of the problem of [Microspacecraft Powered by Light Pressure Launching to Proxima Centauri], Chen Zhou tried to think about how he would solve the problem if it were him.

"Models, we need to build reasonable models..."

Chen Zhou thought about it, and the pen in his hand fell on the scratch paper, and he wrote quickly.

The difficulty of this problem lies in estimating the motion of objects on a cosmic scale.

Only by constructing a reasonable model, and the physical theory involved in the model, needs to be able to justify itself.

Then, on the basis of the model, the associated physical phenomena are quantitatively analyzed.

One thing, only when it is done, can you know its actual difficulty.

Looking at the scratch paper that was quickly filled up by himself as he wrote and painted, Chen Zhou sighed slightly, this thing is really troublesome...

"Chen Zhou, what are you writing here?" When Chen Zhou stopped writing, Li Li turned his head over.

"Look at it. Chen Zhou pushed the computer in front of Li Li.

Li Li glanced at it: ", you don't read math and start doing physics?"

Li Li's voice successfully attracted the other two friends who were immersed in reading.

Zhao Qiqi and Zhu Mingli got up and came behind Chen Zhou.

Zhao Qiqi: "Tut-tut, International Collegiate Physics Competition..."

"Huh, do you know this?" Chen Zhou looked back at Zhao Qiqi.

Zhao Qiqi nodded and said: "I have understood, the mathematical modeling competition known as physics is comparable to the beauty competition of digital modeling, but it is more inclined to practical problems, and it is said that the problem is extremely open and difficult to solve." ”

Zhu Mingli said strangely: "Chen Zhou, the middle school exam season is about to expire, why do you look like this? You are going to participate? But this seems to need to be organized by the school, right?"

Chen Zhou replied: "It was organized by the Institute of Things, and I joined because I wanted to participate." ”

After a pause, Chen Zhou asked, "Do you want to participate?" Their institute is pulling people, you want to participate, I'll help you ask." ”

Zhao Qiqi shook his head, and Zhu Mingli also shook his head, their plan was to overcome the pressure inside the dormitory first, and then participate in the mathematics competition next year.

Li Li said, "Chen Zhou, can I participate?"

"Tut-tut, IMO gold medal, are you going to make a move?" Zhao Qiqi quipped.

Li Li: "Read a book." ”

Hearing this, Chen Zhou smiled and said, "I'll help you ask." ”

Before the words fell, Chen Zhou's mobile phone rang.

The caller ID is [Professor Wu Xiping].