For someone like Aston, who no longer knows how many elements and their isotopes have been measured, operating a mass spectrometer is a breeze, and it is an exaggeration to say that he can do it with his eyes closed.

As long as there is a source of particles, it will not take long for Aston to be able to measure a relatively accurate mass.

The longer the time elapses, the more accurate the measured mass will be.

After less than a day, Aston gave a relatively preliminary mass data, whether it is hydrogen-deuterium fusion to produce helium-3, or deuterium-deuterium fusion to produce tritium and deuterium, the reaction of these two experiments has a mass loss before and after, that is to say, these two fusion reactions are outwardly releasing energy.

"It's amazing, it's really amazing, the summer in Cambridge is so long, we are all thinking about how to spend the heat, only you, Dr. Chen, can actually make another academic achievement in this hot summer."

Professor Aston complimented from the bottom of his heart.

"How's it going, did you write your paper? If not, how about we write one together? Arthur, do you have any objections? ”

"Of course I didn't, this experiment is completely something that physicists get together to do, and my contribution to the experiment is basically that I didn't interfere anywhere, and I was a bystander cheerleader the whole time, cheering you on. If my name could be added to this paper, I would certainly be grateful for this gift. ”

There was still some yin and yang in Eddington's words, and it was clear that he was still suspicious of Chen Muwu for inviting Aston to the front of the particle lab instead of inviting himself.

"What about you, Chen?"

"Whatever you want, Professor Aston. I hadn't thought much of publishing this as a paper before, but I used the experiment as part of studying the sun's energy sources.

"The mystery of the sun has not yet been solved, but a preliminary result has been reached, so I didn't write a paper, but just sent a newsletter to the journal Nature, which said that the Cavendish laboratory had discovered another isotope of hydrogen and helium.

"If nothing else, I should see this report in the next issue of Nature."

Aston nodded: "It's okay, it's okay, it seems that the success of this experiment is really not worth writing a paper for you."

"Then I'll follow your example and send a text message to the journal Nature, releasing the accurate mass data of the tritium atoms and helium-3 atoms we just measured.

"It seems that my book "Isotopes", published in 1922, is already behind the times in just five years, and the data in it has to be updated again.

"Otherwise, I'll take this opportunity to contact the publisher and talk to them about a reprint.

"Chen, you shouldn't have discovered several other new isotopes when this book was reprinted and deliberately caused me trouble, right?"

Aston smiled and asked, not an accusation, but an affirmation of the young man he loved.

"Of course not, how could it be."

Chen Muwu, who was standing opposite and laughing, said politely, thinking of something else.

He also holds in his hand another isotope that will be of great use in the future, called carbon-14.

Now that Aston has said so, is it necessary to make this isotope public in advance as well?

"Now that the mass of the atom has been measured, I'm going to go back and write that newsletter for Nature.

"You two should also study the sun while don't forget to rest, find time for us to have a drink together!"

Aston took one of his experimental data and politely said goodbye, and the laboratory returned to the state of only Eddington and Chen Muwu.

For Chen Muwu's inconsistent behavior, Eddington certainly had resentment in his heart.

It's just that because Aston has successfully measured the data that the two need, and the atomic mass can show that there is indeed a mass loss before and after the two nuclear reactions, it is able to release energy reactions, which seems to be one step closer to solving the mystery of the source of the sun's energy.

Therefore, Chen Muwu's previous dedication was not ineffective, and the anger in Eddington's heart gradually subsided.

"Chen, now that we have successfully simulated the nuclear reaction in the sun in the laboratory, should we really publish our experiments and conclusions in a paper, as Professor Aston said?

"At the very least, the news should be communicated to the public through the Times or other newspapers, so that people don't panic because the sun may explode."

He hadn't forgotten how the experiment came about in the first place.

Chen Muwu partially agreed with Eddington's view: "I have no objection to finding a journalist friend to pass on the news." It's just that if I'm going to write a thesis, I don't think it's time yet. ”

"Why?"

"Because so far we have done two experiments, one is hydrogen-deuterium fusion to produce helium-3, and the other is the reaction between deuterium and deuterium.

"It's true that both of these reactions release energy outward, but which one is the reaction in the sun?

"There is another thing, in these two reactions, there is a reactant that is inseparable, that is, deuterium.

"But the sun is rich in hydrogen atoms, not deuterium atoms. And we have verified in the laboratory that it is basically impossible to fuse hydrogen atoms into deuterium atoms by bombarding hydrogen atoms. So is there a deuterium atom in the sun? If so, where do these deuterium atoms come from?

"We haven't been able to figure out these questions so far."

"That's right, Chen, you're right,"

Eddington nodded in agreement:

"I've been thinking about this a long time when you and Professor Aston were doing experiments in front of the particle accelerator, but I don't have a clue when I think about it. In our laboratory, we can't do a reaction where two hydrogen atoms fuse into one deuterium, so what is the deuterium in the sun? ”

"Actually, I have a vague idea that the collision between hydrogen atoms and hydrogen atoms may not be because they carry enough energy, but through a quantum effect.

"We call this effect the quantum tunneling effect, and we talked about it in a lecture on quantum mechanics that Dirac and Oppenheimer co-edited with me last year.

"Using this quantum tunneling effect, one hydrogen nucleus can easily break through the barrier of another hydrogen nucleus and thus approach the other nucleus.

"As for whether they can fuse, I don't know very well.

"However, for a star as large as the Sun, there is enough reaction time and enough hydrogen atoms in it, and perhaps a very small number of hydrogen atoms have fused and produced deuterium atoms, right?

"Of course, these ideas are just my personal speculation, and there is no guarantee that they are correct."

As he spoke, Chen Muwu listed the wave equation on a piece of paper and solved it, giving a reasonable explanation that one hydrogen atom can approach another hydrogen atom without too much energy.

The fusion of hydrogen nuclei and hydrogen nuclei to produce helium-2 and then rapid positive beta decay and deuterium atoms, because there are no experiments in the laboratory, Chen Muwu can't come up with evidence for the time being, so he can only use an ambiguous word to simply point out this reaction.

This cannot be said in too much detail, because neither neutrinos nor positrons have been discovered, and the hydrogen-hydrogen fusion that people understand now is not to let protons and protons react directly, but to "proton-electron-proton" tripartite fusion reaction.

Chen Muwu was afraid that if he continued to speak, he would tell some supernatural knowledge if he was not careful.

Eddington, who carefully read Chen Muwu's step-by-step calculations on the scratch paper and listened carefully to his speech, agreed with him very much.

"Chen, what you said is indeed a solution, and as you said, because there is no experimental evidence, it can only be regarded as a conjecture.

"But don't forget that what we now think of as nuclear fusion in the sun is itself a conjecture.

"What you and I have done in the lab is only to prove that fusion reactions can occur between deuterium and hydrogen and deuterium, but not that these reactions actually exist in the sun.

"But if you have a conjecture, and the content of the conjecture conjectures conform to the rules of physics, it is already a kind of progress.

"Isn't it just a conjecture for those who say that the sun is a burning ball of fire, and that the fuel burned is coal? We can't prove that there is nuclear fusion in the sun, and they can't prove that the sun is a big briquette!

"Chen, the conjecture you put forward is very constructive, and I think we have to write a paper first anyway.

"This will reassure the British people that they will no longer have to worry about the ridiculous fact that the sun might explode; It can also attract the attention of scientists from all over the world, so that everyone can brainstorm and maybe understand the mystery of the energy produced by the sun.

"Do you have any other conjectures? If you have it, you don't need to hide it, just say it in one breath. ”

Other "conjectures"? Absolutely!

For example, the three ways from helium-3 to helium-4, and then the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen cycle, etc., those more mature views on the source of solar energy in later generations, Chen Muwu Men'er Qing.

But these conjectures are even more advanced than the one just now, and Chen Muwu is even more unlikely to say it, so he can only pretend to be helpless and shake his head.

"It doesn't matter if you don't, we've come to a pretty good conclusion.

"Although the sun is the most important star in the universe for us humans. But I don't think this paper should be published in an astronomical journal, but should be submitted as a professional physics paper. Chen, do you think we voted for Nature, or for the Bulletin of the Royal Society? Or do you have something else in mind? ”

"I don't care, everything just goes according to your arrangement."

"Then the next thing we have to do is to write this paper together, and we will continue to work hard for you for a few more days."

"You're welcome, Professor Eddington."

Since the beginning of the experiment just a few days ago, Eddington has played a role in urging it.

When it came time to write the paper, his role had not changed, and it seemed that he wanted to translate the conclusions they had obtained through experiments into lead and publish them in an authoritative physics journal.

Eddington's approach was not for the sake of fame, but out of a desire to make the truth public as soon as possible, so as not to let the people of Britain and even the world continue to panic, and not to let everyone continue to be deceived by the theory of solar briquettes.

While writing his dissertation, Eddington did not forget to call the Times reporter who had previously been to Cornwall to report to him, and convey the new results of the Cavendish laboratory in studying the principles of solar luminescence.

Before the end of the call, he also specially instructed that most of this experiment was completed by Chen Muwu, and he was just a starter, so don't pile the credit on yourself.

At first, the Times reporter felt that he had received Chen Muwu and Eddington's comments on Elvie's view that "the sun could explode at any time", even if he had completed the interview.

He regarded Chen Muwu's previous remark that he would immediately design and conduct experiments in the Cavendish laboratory as a kind of kind words belonging to physicists, but he only made a rough mention in the report, and did not take it to heart at all.

Unexpectedly, in just a few days, he received a call from Eddington, and said that Cambridge University had achieved phased results.

Shocked, the reporter immediately realized that this was a big news, so he once again went back to Cambridge University in the north from Fleet Street in London.

The Times, which carried his interview with Chen and Eddington, and Nature, which published Chen's first news announcing the discovery of two new isotopes, were released on the first day of September.

As we entered September, the people in Cavendis's lab began to end their holidays early and return to Cambridge University to prepare for the wedding of Capitsa and Anna, which will take place in the middle of this month.

Chen Muwu was only halfway through his dissertation, when he was pulled by the groom's official and asked him to help prepare for the wedding.

Eddington said he would continue to write the paper, finalizing the first draft first, and then finalizing it after Capitsa got married.

Or simply don't submit your manuscript to a professional journal and take it directly to the Solvay conference in October to be presented as a conference paper.

Eddington's idea coincided with Chen's idea, after all, Dr. Chen also planned to announce at the conference that he had found tritium and helium-3 with a particle accelerator and completed the first nuclear fusion experiment.

For this reason, he deliberately used vague statements in the journal Nature, only saying that he had found the isotope, but did not say how he found it.

However, before that, Chen Muwu had to move for Kapitsa first.

This guy who loves racing cars saved money for several months, but the money was not sent to the car agent, but he bought a house in Cambridgeshire.

"Peter, when did you become a good man in the Gu family?"

"I always have."

Kapitsa's eyes were filled with pride.

(End of chapter)