At the same time, while the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was conducting experiments on "acoustic luminescence" and "acoustic fusion", a seminar on mass clearance was also being held at CERN's headquarters in Switzerland.

The attendance of this conference is small, but it is basically the top and well-known scholars in the field of physics today, and more than half of them have won the Nobel Prize.

It is no exaggeration to say that if anyone were to remain a bomb here, the development of world physics would have to stagnate for at least fifty years......

After entering the lecture hall, Witten sat down in an inconspicuous position, and with some surprise, he looked at another scholar at the conference table.

Peter Higgs!

Discoverer of the God Particle!

Since returning to the UK from CERN 13 years later, he has rarely been seen in the public eye. Now that he is 91 years old, Witten never expected to see him at this meeting.

But think about it, this kind of conference that is about to determine the future of physics, but anyone who is still concerned about this discipline that has poured their youth and sweat into will not easily miss such a meeting.

Taking advantage of the gap before the start of the conference, Witten took the time to look around the scholars in the venue, and found that not only Peter Higgs had appeared here for the first time, but also many physicists who were withdrawn and hardly traveled far away, were also sitting in this staircase conference room at the moment, quietly waiting for the conference to start.

"It's really surprising," Jaffe smiled as he sat next to Witten, "I didn't expect to see so many old friends here that I don't usually see." ”

"yes." Witten nodded with some emotion, and just as he was about to say something, the sound of a microphone audition came from the front of the staircase room.

I saw the chairman of CERN standing on the stage clear his throat and announce the start of the meeting.

"We've been talking about quality clearance for a long enough time, and we've been delaying it for a long time."

"Now that the entire theoretical physics community is waiting for our conclusions, I think that rather than let the controversy continue, it is better for the physics community to know our views from our voices for the time being...... It doesn't matter if it's correct or not. ”

Speaking of which, the chairman paused and continued.

"Therefore, I propose that a show of hands be used to express views for or against."

Whispers rang out in the room.

Looking at the commotion in the audience, the chairman coughed, raised his voice and continued.

"Those who agree, please raise your hand."

Whew-

At least 70% of the people in the conference room raised their right hands one after another.

The staff sitting in the background counted the votes by show of hands and fed back the data on the screen in front of the stage.

After glancing at the voting data on the screen, the chairman nodded, motioned for everyone to put their hands down, and paused for a moment before continuing to speak.

"Raise your hand if you object."

Whew—

As before, many people raised their hands.

It's just that compared to those who raised their hands, there were not many people who opposed it, only about 15%. In addition, many of the hands seem to be swaying when they are raised, and it can be seen that even those who oppose them are unable to hold their own opinions.

His eyes fell on the old man in the first row of the conference room, and the chairman said in a respectful tone.

"Mr. Higgs, I noticed that you raised your hand twice, may I ask you why?"

Professor Higgs, who was sitting in the front row, stood up tremblingly.

Glancing at the chairman standing on the stage, he spoke slowly.

"Mr. President, the reason why I raised my hand for the first time is because I can't find fault with that paper for the time being. And I raised my hand a second time because I was against such a hasty decision. ”

The chairman nodded and said, "I understand what you mean, but we've been discussing it long enough. It's not just me, a lot of people think it's time for a final vote. ”

"I don't think it's enough," Mr. Higgs continued, after a pause, "and above all, it is his duty to be the author of this theory, to make his point of view clearer to us, and to answer the questions of those who question it." During this time, I have been paying attention to the news published on the official website of Jinling University, but Professor Lu does not seem to have any plans to hold a report meeting. ”

This sentence has received a lot of echo recognition.

At least more than half of the opponents agree with Old Man Higgs.

In particular, Professor Wilzek, another Nobel laureate, also nodded in agreement and complained to the chairman of the board of directors in annoyance.

"My requirements are not high, even if he can't come by himself, I can send a student or assistant to explain it to us for him!"

It is not uncommon for some professors to send their own students to give presentations on their behalf, and some professors occasionally send their own students to attend presentations on their behalf when they are busy with research or simply not interested in crowded places.

For example, Shinichi Mochizuki, who proposed the "inter-universe theory", almost all of the presentations on the ABC conjecture were carried out by two of his students, and he himself "controlled the scene" through video link.

Professor Yilu's current situation is indeed not suitable for going abroad, and most of the scholars sitting here understand this situation.

But even if he doesn't want to go out, why don't you send a student to report for him?

Hearing Professor Wilzek's statement, the CER chairman was silent for a while and spoke.

"I will convey your suggestion to Professor Lu."

"For the time being, we will not discuss the matter of the report meeting, but only the content of the article itself. Regarding the theory expounded by Professor Lu Zhou on the problem of mass clearance, does anyone else have doubtful views or opposing opinions? ”

This time, no one raised their hand.

Even Mr. Higgs had no opinion.

And Witten, who never raised his hand once from beginning to end.

Glancing around the conference room, the chairman breathed a sigh of relief and a smile appeared on his face.

Since these bulls have no opinions, I don't think there will be any serious problems.

"It seems that we have reached a consensus on this issue."

"History will remember this day that we have taken a big step in the direction of the Great Unification Theory!"

After a pause, he continued.

"That's the end of the discussion about quality clearance."

"In addition, according to the proposal of Edward Witten and other professors, regarding the experimental arrangement from the second half of the year to the first half of next year, we will arrange the exploration plan for M particles on the experimental plan, and test the energy region predicted by Professor Lu in his paper......"

"Regardless of whether we can find it in the end, I believe that the experimental data obtained from it will have a great impact on our efforts to improve the Standard Model!"

The CERN meeting came to an end.

On the day of the end of the conference, the world-famous temple of physics issued a public statement, announcing the approval of Lu Zhou's paper on mass gap research, and announcing the agenda of next month's meeting and the adjusted experimental schedule on the official website.

One after another bursting news followed.

For a while, all the scholars and melon-eating people who were concerned about this matter were boiling because of the CERN voting result......