宇宙深处之旅

Academic paper

"Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Library.

Several stacks of books were placed on He Zhiyong's desk. These were all related to nuclear physics and materials science books and scientific journals. He was going to write a paper on the controllable nuclear fusion technology based on the technology tree diagram.

This technology tree diagram provided a lot of relevant materials for controllable nuclear fusion. What He Zhiyong needed to do was to organize these materials into a systematic article and then send it to Professor Sun Xiaodong at Huazhong University.

Huazhong University is one of the world's top research institutions in cutting-edge science. Its research capabilities are even comparable to many well-known schools in the United States. The world's most advanced superconducting tokamak device, "EAST," is located in Huazhong University's Institute of Plasma Physics! Tokamak is a device for achieving controlled nuclear fusion. Its shape resembles a donut, and the entire outer wall is wound with wires, forming a helical magnetic field inside to constrain the plasma with a temperature as high as one hundred million degrees.

Due to the high temperature required for nuclear fusion, ensuring that the inner wall of the tokamak device is not damaged by the high temperature and the neutron reaction from deuterium-tritium reaction has become a global challenge. The high temperature of one hundred million degrees is several times that of the sun! Therefore, the tokamak device is also called the "artificial sun"!

The library at Huazhong University of Science and Technology is usually open all night.

He Zhiyong stayed up all night and finally organized the nuclear fusion technology into a standard paper. He entered Professor Sun Xiaodong's private email, marked the sender's name and school, clicked, and sent!

Done!

...

Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Institute of Plasma Physics.

Sun Xiaodong arrived at the "EAST" laboratory early in the morning. There are dozens of experts in nuclear physics here, and they work every day to run the "artificial sun" and find the safest magnetic confinement method.

The experiment has not started yet, and Sun Xiaodong, who rarely has a quiet moment, brewed a cup of coffee, preparing to spend this pleasant morning. He opened his personal computer, ready to see if his old buddy had anything to share.

"Ding ding!"

An urgent sound came from the computer, and the email icon in the window kept shaking.

"Hmm? Who sent the email?"

There are not many people who know his private email. With curiosity, Sun Xiaodong still clicked on the email sent by the other party.

"Demonstration of Controllable Nuclear Fusion Technology - He Zhiyong"

"......??"

"What is this?"

Sun Xiaodong was surprised when he saw it was a paper on controllable nuclear fusion technology. It was like showing off in front of Guan Gong, or making a big axe in front of Lu Ban's gate.

"Who is this He... He Zhiyong? How does he know my private email?"

With various doubts, out of curiosity, Sun Xiaodong still opened the file sent by the other party.

The first thing that caught his eye was the introduction of nuclear fusion with citations, which seemed to be a standard paper.

"It seems that he is not joking with me. Let me read the paper before settling the score."

Seeing a well-formatted paper, Sun Xiaodong continued scrolling down with the mouse wheel, looking at the content below.

As rows of formulas and simple diagrams appeared, Sun Xiaodong's brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

Indeed, this was related to nuclear fusion knowledge, but there was a sudden change towards the end.

This is..."

Sun Xiaodong's pupils slightly contracted.

This is a completely new material composition!

Subconsciously, Sun Xiaodong searched his memory for relevant information.

However, after searching through his entire mind, he had no impression of this material."This material can withstand the instantaneous high temperature generated during nuclear fusion ignition!""More importantly, its structure can 'absorb' the large number of neutrons produced by the deuterium-tritium reaction!"As Sun Xiaodong read the description in the paper, his head buzzed!The ability to withstand the temperature during fusion ignition and, moreover, 'absorb' neutrons—what kind of extraordinary material is this?Currently, all the tokamak devices or stellarators on Earth are just a part of the nuclear fusion device.If the controllable nuclear fusion device is likened to a furnace, the tokamak and stellarator are only the furnace walls controlling the furnace!They cannot truly achieve fusion ignition!To achieve instantaneous ignition, lasers must be used to instantly heat deuterium and tritium to one hundred million degrees Celsius!No known material can withstand temperatures as high as one hundred million degrees!One hundred million degrees, this is seven times the temperature of the sun's core!However, the material described in this paper dares to claim that it can withstand such temperatures.Sun Xiaodong remained non-committal and chose to continue reading."Did this really come from this person, He Zhiyong?"As he reached the detailed retrofitting plans for existing tokamaks and the methods for achieving true fusion ignition, Sun Xiaodong took a deep breath.So comprehensive, so perfect in argumentation! Coupled with the precise description of plasma in high-temperature states, Sun Xiaodong, upon finishing the paper, believed in most of its content!"Who is this He Zhiyong?!"Sun Xiaodong felt a sense of doubt and uncertainty. When did China have such a giant in the field of nuclear physics?"Ding ding ding!"Suddenly, a rapid ringing of the telephone echoed.It was Zhang Minsheng. Why did he suddenly think of calling me?Sun Xiaodong couldn't quite understand Zhang Minsheng's character. Although they were originally alumni, they rarely communicated with each other.Why did he decide to call me today?"Hello, Lao Zhang, what's up?""Oh, something! One of your students asked for my personal email!"Upon hearing that one of Zhang Minsheng's students had requested his personal email, a sense of unease instantly flashed in Sun Xiaodong's mind.The next moment, he licked his lips and asked with some disbelief, "The student you're talking about wouldn't be named He Zhiyong, right?""That's right! Did he find you? What did he ask?"Hearing Sun Xiaodong immediately mention He Zhiyong's name, Zhang Minsheng knew this guy had already approached him.I didn't expect this guy to act so quickly!"Oh, nothing much. That He Zhiyong is a graduate student, interested in switching to the nuclear physics major?"Thinking about the high-quality paper, Sun Xiaodong boldly speculated.A student who could write such a paper must have delved deep into nuclear physics!"It's not that. He is a sophomore in our department. I'm afraid he might say something wrong, so I asked you to take care of it.""A sophomore?!"Are you telling me that a sophomore wrote this paper?Is Zhang Minsheng trying to deceive me?How is that possible!Given the quality of this paper, even he would take quite some time to complete it.Zhang Minsheng is the dean of which department at the neighboring Huake University of Science and Technology? "Are you saying that this He Zhiyong is a sophomore in your Department of Biochemistry?"Sun Xiaodong finally came to his senses and typed three question marks.