In December 2023, the Xinghai Research Institute and NASA had a "cordial and friendly conversation" on the repair of the Webb Outer Space Telescope with the help of the Space Shuttle Xinghai, and the two sides 'fully exchanged views' and finally reached a perfect agreement and cooperation goals.

Cough.

After finishing the video call with NASA, Xu Chuan hung up the phone, and a bright smile instantly appeared on his originally expressionless and even somewhat irritated face, and he clenched his fists and waved them vigorously.

"Well done!"

If this wave of performances can score himself, he will give himself a score of 99 out of 100!

One point less is afraid that you will be proud and go directly to the showbiz!

After all, he is handsome and has acting skills, as well as fame, who is not popular if he is not popular?

At present, although both sides of this video conference and cooperation have their own 'ghosts', it is clear that he is the one who makes more money.

After all, as long as there is no hijacking, even if NASA engineers wander around and watch casually on the Xinghai, they will earn it.

After all, small controllable nuclear fusion reactor technology and aerospace engines are hidden inside the body, and a second glance is at most a confirmation of something.

In addition to these two core technologies, the other technologies on the space shuttle are, to be honest, basically of little value.

Of course, this is of little value for space powers like China and Mimi.

As for most of the other countries, whether it is the life support system, or the internal circulation system, or even the design of the wings, the materials used, etc., it can be described as a treasure.

At present, there are only two countries that have the ability to send astronauts to the moon alone, no, even if they are united, and they are currently capable of sending astronauts to the moon, right?

Even the European Union, even Tsarist Russia, which inherited the background of the Red Soviet astronauts, is far behind them in this regard.

After the relevant general cooperation is determined, the remaining specific matters can be handed over to the Xinghai Research Institute.

Xu Chuan is not good at diplomatic work, and he doesn't like it very much.

His main passions are still academia and R&D.

Time has passed, more than a month has passed in the blink of an eye, and it will be the first month of the lunar month in 2023, and in one more week, the annual winter vacation will come again.

This season, Jinling has already entered the cold winter. On the campus of NTU, countless students come and go wrapped in down jackets, preparing for the last few days of classes and winter vacation.

Sitting in his office, Xu Chuan first brewed himself a cup of steaming coffee, and then took out from the drawer the manuscript that had been quantized and mathematically sorted out for electrochemical microscopic reactions during this time.

A Quantum Theoretical Model of Microscopic Solid Reaction Processes in Electrochemistry! 》

Looking at the title on the manuscript, Xu Chuan gently blew the foam floating on the coffee and took a sip.

Electrochemistry is the science that studies the phenomenon of charged interfaces formed by two types of conductors and the changes that occur on them, which is an important branch of traditional chemistry and the core pillar theory of the battery industry today.

He chose this field to start because electrochemistry is only a branch, and this branch is relatively simple enough compared to the large and complex field of traditional chemistry.

That's right, traditional chemistry is too complex, and the material structure of various atoms, molecules, and ions (clusters) interact with chemical bonds and intermolecular forces, and it is definitely an incomparably huge project to establish a unified theory and model.

Electrochemistry, on the other hand, is only the study of the charged interface phenomenon and the associated changes formed by the two types of conductors.

On the other hand, he has enough experimental data in his hands to support it.

Whether it is the lithium-ion battery brought by the artificial SEI thin film or the experimental data related to the lithium-sulfur battery, it can support him to complete the research work in this area.

It is a good choice to start with electrochemistry, tear a hole in traditional chemistry, establish a theoretical model, and then continue its direction to go deeper.

However, for electrochemistry, since the development of the last century in the eighties, there is still no one who can provide a theoretical model that can be relied on to provide a perfect explanation of the chemical changes in the process.

For example, how to detect or simulate the dynamic structural changes of complex electrochemical interfaces under in-situ/operating conditions at the microscopic level, and establish their relationship with macroscopic electrochemical performance?

For example, how to construct the three-phase interface of high-efficiency gas diffusion electrodes, understand the mechanism of mass and load transfer and its process intensification?

These questions sound simple and not difficult to describe, but they are still world-class problems.

It can even be said that most chemistry students, even if they have reached the master's and doctoral levels, have not heard of these problems in the textbooks or the mouths of their supervisors.

In fact, not only electrochemistry, but also many fields of traditional chemistry are also facing this dilemma, that is, it is difficult for the development of theory to catch up with practical application.

Quite simply, because chemistry is an experimental science compared to mathematics.

Experiments are the foundation, and all theoretical calculations are based on experimental results. Without experimental data, theoretical calculations would not be possible.

However, up to now, most of the experimental data in the field of chemistry have theoretically been enough for chemists to complete the theorization work.

As for why these problems have not been solved so far, on the one hand, it is because for electrochemistry, practical applications are more valuable than theoretical.

Many research institutions are more willing to invest funds in a specific problem of the battery, obtaining patents and benefits, rather than dissecting those extremely difficult theoretical problems.

On the other hand, the difficulty of these problems is extremely high in itself.

Just like mathematics, if it weren't for the love of mathematics, it would be difficult to continue research in the field of pure mathematics.

Because the benefits of purely theoretical research are far less than those of the laboratory.

Theoretical chemistry builds on this.

Sometimes an experiment, if you're lucky, can solve a puzzle.

However, the advancement of theoretical chemistry requires the accumulation of data from countless experiments for calculation and development.

Even if the theory is solved in many cases, it is difficult for you to monetize it, and it benefits all mankind, not a patent that brings wealth to one person.

However, for academic development, if these questions are answered one by one, the impact is definitely more important than solving a practical problem.

If these problems can be solved, it will not be a problem at all to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for several years.

This is also the reason why those members of the selection committee prefer theory and the changes brought about by theory, because the work in the field of theory changes the development of mankind and the process of civilization.

But even with the support of the Nobel Prize, there are still many theoretical problems in the field of chemistry.

Even if Xu Chuan wanted to establish theories and models for the microscopic reaction process of chemistry, it would not be possible to solve all the problems.

If you can't solve these problems, how do you build a theoretical model for them?

This involves the core of theoretical work.

It is also the biggest problem in this theoretical research, and it has been spent on it for more than a month.

"Professor, are you free?"

In the office, just as Xu Chuan was thinking about how to mathematically solve the problem of electrochemical microscopic reaction process, a crisp and pleasant voice sounded in his ears.

Xu Chuan turned his head to see that it was Liu Jiaying, a new primary school student he had only accepted two months ago, who was standing at the door looking at him.

Smiling, he asked, "What's wrong?" ”

Liu Jiaying hurriedly walked over, handed over the question in his hand, and asked, "I don't understand this question, can you tell me about it?" ”

"I'll see." Xu Chuan reached out and took the notebook and looked at it.

"The manifold Cn(R), which is a configuration space composed of all n distinct points in R3, each vector is one phase equivalent., and each n has a continuous mapping fn : Cn(R)→ U(n)/T, and whether it is compatible with the role of Sn."

The question on the notebook came into view, Xu Chuan smiled, and said, "The problem of manifolds, this question is quite interesting." ”

With some sloquby, he stood up, walked to the other side of the office with his notebook, and dragged a blackboard out of the corner.

"Come here, I'll explain it to you."

Hearing this, Liu Jiaying hurriedly came over, Xu Chuan glanced at the notebook in his hand, thought for a while, and then said: "On the surface, this is a problem in the manifold field. ”

"But if you think about it deeply, you can see that it actually involves the concept of not only manifolds but also the field of displacement groups."

"First, construct a mapping of an n-order polynomial about the variable t pi =Yj=i(t tij)"

"Here you need to understand that the number of equivalent classes induced by the permutation group 〈G,·〉 is equal to the average of the invariants under each permutation in the permutation group."

In front of the blackboard, Xu Chuan did not directly give the answer to this question, but broke down the guiding ideas little by little according to his own understanding.

Standing aside, Liu Jiaying nodded with a thoughtful look on her face, as if she understood whether she understood or not.

This question is somewhat beyond the scope of her study, and she has not yet studied the knowledge of group structure and displacement in depth, but under Xu Chuan's explanation, she already has certain ideas and ideas for this kind of problem.

"Solving this problem requires you to have some understanding of group and number theory, and if you go back and read more books, you should be able to solve it." He threw the chalk in his hand into the basket, looked at Liu Jiaying who was standing aside with a smile, and spoke.

"Thank you, Professor."

"You're welcome, go ahead."

Clapping his hands, Xu Chuan smiled and glanced at Liu Jiaying, who walked out with a notebook, and returned to his desk.

This newly admitted elementary school student is worthy of the IMO perfect score, and his talent in mathematics is still quite good.

As for how it compares to her sister, it depends on her own efforts and future luck.

But from now on, she is still quite diligent.

Sitting back at his desk, Xu Chuan picked up the manuscript in his hand again, and just wanted to re-study the theory of quantum chemistry, when a flash of inspiration suddenly flashed in his mind.

Permutation groups, number theory, manifolds.

The mathematical knowledge points that he had just explained to Liu Jiaying suddenly reintroduced into his eyes, which made him stunned for a moment, with some contemplation in his eyes.

"If we construct a space of type Cn(R) by using n points in a manifold, we can solve the problem of continuous mapping by using the permutation group Sn of n elements to act freely on Cn(R)"

"So can this idea be applied to quantum chemistry?"

"You know, the spin statistical theorem of quantum mechanics itself has something to do with this."

Xu Chuan muttered to himself, his out-of-focus eyes staring at the blackboard in front of him, and the feasible theories were quickly assembled into a staircase by him like building blocks.

I don't know how long it has been, but my casual eyes have brightened again

Staring at the blackboard not far away, Xu Chuan's face hooked up a smile. Perhaps, he knew how to solve the mathematical theories that built theories and models for the microscopic reaction processes of chemistry!

PS: There's another chapter later, but it's going to be late, it's the end of the month, ask for a monthly pass.

(End of chapter)