Fortunately, as Wittgenstein said, he really only encountered some physics problems in the process of studying "Lectures on Quantum Mechanics", and did not diverge today's Q&A work after class into some discussion of philosophical issues again.

And his questions were limited to the lecture notes written by Chen Muwu and Dirac, and the knowledge involved was not very profound, so Chen Muwu was able to deal with them calmly and easily.

It didn't take long for him to explain Wittgenstein's questions one by one.

If Wittgenstein were himself, after Chen Muwu's explanation, his first reaction would have been to blurt out a sentence: "Si Guoyi!" ”。

But it's a pity that he is only an Austrian, and he has never been exposed to himself and the culture of Ben in his life, so he will not do what Chen Muwu imagined.

However, after explaining all the questions he raised, Wittgenstein did not hesitate to praise himself.

"Dr. Chen, there is still a big difference between physics and mathematics, I studied Professor Russell's Principia Mathematica by myself, and the book was much thicker than the current book "Lectures on Quantum Mechanics", but at that time I encountered fewer problems than now.

Of course, it may not be because of the difference between mathematics and physics, but because my foundation in physics is so weak, that forcibly learning quantum mechanics is like building a castle in the sky without a foundation.

"I am fortunate to have met such a smart person as you at Cambridge University who can explain the problem in simple terms, and it only takes a few words to make me suddenly understand a problem that I have been struggling with for a long time.

"The point is that you not only know how to explain, but you are also the inventor of this new discipline of physics, and I feel that your achievements in physics, if you use mathematical analogy, are Okerid who pioneered geometry, Sir Newton who wrote "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" in physics, and Professor Einstein who invented the theory of relativity."

Wittgenstein's words made Chen Muwu feel a little untrue.

Doesn't it mean that this person's personality is very withdrawn? Why do you talk about rainbow farts, you can actually do it one by one?

Prior to this, thanks to the British newspapers that were not too busy to read the excitement, Chen Muwu had become accustomed to people comparing him with Einstein.

Today, in Wittgenstein's temporary residence in Cambridge, he heard for the first time that someone had drawn an analogy between himself and Newton.

Chen Muwu hurriedly excused himself modestly: "Mr. Wittgenstein, you are too prestigious, you are really too prestigious. Whether it is Sir Newton or Professor Einstein, I can't compare to the pinnacle of physics. ”

"I don't think so," Wittgenstein shook his head with a watery expression on his face, "if you were born in Newton's day, then probably you came up with his three laws of kinematics;

"And if you had been born twenty years earlier, you might even have the theory of relativity bearing your name."

Wittgenstein's words became more and more outrageous, and even Chen Muwu couldn't help but smile bitterly and shake his head after hearing it.

Can you invent the theory of relativity twenty years earlier? How easy is it?

I'm afraid that's a bit unrealistic.

Even if he Chen Muwu traveled back in time not in 1922, but in 1902.

When Einstein, who had just graduated from college, was still stuck in Milan and was submitting resumes everywhere looking for a job, he appeared in the 28th year of Guangxu in a Tatar country in the East with his braided hair, not to mention whether he proposed or not to put forward the theory of relativity, and whether he could survive in the troubled times when Guangxu and Cixi had just returned to Shaojing after the western hunt.

Even if he had come up with the theory of relativity, written this theory into a paper, put it in an envelope, and traveled across the ocean to the editorial office of a European journal of professional physics, if Einstein had not sent a telegram in advance to introduce him, it would have been a question whether the editorial editor would have opened the envelope and read the paper.

And taking a step back, even if this paper is successfully published, will Westerners recognize the academic achievements of a backward country in the East?

Even Albert Einstein, a white man, was attacked for many years, until Eddington led a team to observe the eclipse, and finally proved his theory right more than a dozen years later.

If Chen Muwu had proposed the theory of relativity in 1902, no one would have been willing to spend a lot of money to form an astronomical observation expedition to travel thousands of miles across the ocean to Africa and South America to observe the solar eclipse.

As for traveling back to the seventeenth century, before Lord Newton, he randomly found an apple tree full of fruit, sat down on the dragon field to enlighten himself, watched the apple fall and smashed it on his head, and then stumbled upon the "law of gravitation", and then discovered the three laws of kinematics?

That's more or less putting the cart before the horse.

At that time in the seventeenth century, it was either the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, or Dolgon had just entered the customs with Xiao Shunzhi, or Kang Mazi had not long been on the throne, and he had not yet had time to solve the problem of worshipping the powerful ministers in the court.

If Chen Muwu travels to this time, the first problem he has to face is how to survive in that era of war and chaos, and then whether to keep his head or hair, and then, as a traverser, his mission is to think about how to make a Tartar rebellion, drive out the Tartars and restore China, and think not about where to find an apple tree.

Even if he takes 10,000 steps back, Chen Muwu is willing to be a submissive citizen, after discovering the law of gravitation and the three laws of kinematics, he reported his research results to Kangxi, the wisest emperor of the most powerful country in the world at that time, it is estimated that he will not be able to get back any reward, and if he is unlucky, he may be refuted by the emperor, saying that it is a strange trick and a ridiculous one.

At that time, there was no International Postal Union, so Chen Muwu could not pass on his theories to Europe through letters, and the only way he could get in touch with Europe was through the few poor missionaries in the Qing Dynasty and ask them to send a letter on his behalf.

Again, however, the problem arises that the missionaries represent the Holy See, one of the most reactionary and at the same time the least science-respecting theological centers.

Even if this letter reaches Europe, I am afraid that its ultimate fate will still be more than lucky.

Wittgenstein's statement is really too whimsical, but he is indeed boasting about himself, making Chen Muwu embarrassed to say what he really thinks in his heart.

But the other party still didn't mean to stop, and continued to blow Chen Muwu's rainbow fart: "Although you were not born twenty years earlier, you discovered the theory of relativity earlier than Professor Einstein.

"But in the face of various papers and experimental results that have long been published, Dr. Chen, you invented quantum mechanics earlier than Professor Estein, doesn't this mean that you are better than him?"

It can only be said that philosophers are worthy of being philosophers, and the way they think about problems and their conclusions are different from ordinary people.

Let Einstein invent quantum mechanics?

He was originally the biggest opponent of quantum mechanics, and he felt that many theories in it were incorrect all his life, and he has been on the road of falsifying quantum mechanics, so how could he have invented quantum mechanics?

The more Wittgenstein talked, the more interested he became, and finally he couldn't help but think: "Dr. Chen, do you think that if Sir Newton had lived in our time, would he have invented quantum mechanics?" ”

Chen Muwu has been a listener since the beginning, but it is not appropriate not to answer a question, so he chose to answer Wittgenstein's questions as soon as possible, so that he should stop asking wild questions.

"Mr. Wittgenstein, I don't know if Sir Newton would have invented quantum mechanics in our time, but I do know another thing, and that is that he would have been half angry."

Where does this phrase come from? Could it be that the development of physics today is completely different from what Sir Newton originally envisioned? Or is Britain not as prosperous today as it was then, or is it that he is not satisfied with the xenophobic policies of Cambridge University today? ”

Wittgenstein's last question apparently refers to the affair between the current school supervisor, Belfort and Chen Muwu, which even an outsider who has lived in seclusion in the Austrian countryside for many years.

"No, no, no, it's not what you imagined," Chen Muwu shook his head, "If we imagine that Sir Newton suddenly appeared in Cambridgeshire again, although after hundreds of years of development, the Cambridge University located on this land has continued to expand in size, but the location of several major ancient colleges has not changed, but the robe he wears is not much different from the robe style that has been preserved according to the tradition now.

"Except for the long golden curls on Sir Newton's head, which were a little conspicuous, no one who saw him would find him out of place here.

Listening to the Cambridge students who had passed him by, speaking English with a slightly awkward accent, Sir Newton probably understood what time it was, hundreds of years later than the time in which he lived.

He must have wondered what the level of science had developed in this era, so he followed the memory in his brain and walked along the banks of the River Cam back to Trinity College, where he had studied and worked.

Sir Newton went to the library of the College, and, in alphabetical order, took a random copy of the textbook of calculus on the bookshelf marked with the letter C, which was his proud work in mathematics.

As a result, when he opened the book, Sir Newton was half angry at the contents of the book, because the calculus notation used in it was actually the symbology of his old rival Leibniz.

"But fortunately, before he died, he opened a random mechanics book from the bookshelf marked with the letter D next to him, and saw the 'flow number' symbol in the book, still using his own method, so he breathed a sigh of relief."

Newton and Leibniz, one in England and the other in Germany, invented calculus as a mathematical tool in about the same time, using different symbols.

For the derivative, or flow number as Newton named it, the notation he used was to add a dot to the letter of the "flow" (which in Newton's expression means function) of the derivative.

As for the integral, it is a "'" symbol at the top of the integrand, which can easily be confused with the derivative symbol of adding dots to the letters.

Leibniz's calculus notation system is undoubtedly much simpler, with derivatives written as dx/dt and integrals ∫xdt, which is clear at a glance.

The dispute between Newton and Leibniz over the invention of calculus has always been a well-known academic joke, and after Chen Muwu finished speaking, Wittgenstein, the owner of the room, only smiled, and then he continued: "I think not only that, maybe Sir Newton will go to the row of shelves marked with the letter O and take down a book on optics." When he saw that it said, 'Light is a wave,' he would be so angry that he threw the book on the ground again, right?

"Or that he will take another paper from the bookshelf that has been published in recent years, and after reading it, he will start to ask all over the campus, who is this doctor named Chen Muwu from Trinity College, who can actually set things right by himself and turn light into a particle again, which is really a great contribution!"

As he spoke, Wittgenstein turned the joke on Chen Muwu again.

But the party Chen Muwu felt that the scene arranged by the other party for Newton did not seem to fit the character of the lord.

According to the character of Lord Niu, after reading the current calculus symbols, he was very angry with Leibniz, his opponent at that time, and he would definitely vent his anger on others.

He probably wouldn't have bypassed a large row of bookshelves, from C and D to O's optical bookshelf, as Wittgenstein said.

As soon as he passed the row of bookshelves with the letter E, Lord Niu would see a set of tomes called "Encyclopedia Britannica" on them.

He would certainly have taken the book off the shelf, and then began to search for his name from it, to see what posterity had to say about him as a person, and to admire his own beauty on the portrait next to the entry.

After reading his entry, Lord Niu estimated that he would search through the names of other scientists, mathematicians, theologians, enemies, and political enemies of his time, and found that these names either did not appear in the encyclopedia, or only a few lines of text, far less than the rainbow fart in his entry.

Especially that Robert Hooke, the number of words in the entry is not an order of magnitude with himself, and there is not even a portrait next to him, which makes Lord Niu slap his thigh with joy.

Thinking of this, Lord Chen, not the lord of Daiying, but the lord of the people, couldn't help but smile on his face.

However, he did not express his inner thoughts to Wittgenstein, and only wanted to end the conversation for the day, for fear that the conversation would change to philosophy again.

(End of chapter)