Chapter 172 Frank Wilczek

The discovery of the pentaquark particle is exciting news for the entire theoretical physics community.

However, for Frank Wilczek, his recent mood is not very good.

Of course, his good mood was not spoiled by the hadron collider, but because of a bet made six years ago.

Six years ago, at a physics conference in the Azores, he made a bet with a gentleman named Garrett Reese.

Mr. Reese, who got the invitation letter from nowhere, stood up and made trouble when he was talking about the Standard Model, insisting that supersymmetric particles do not exist at all, because you can’t find supersymmetric particles at all, and Mr. Frank naturally firmly defends the theory Physics, and predicted that the Hadron Collider (LHC) will detect supersymmetric particles within 6 years!

Then they made a bet in front of everyone.

The arbitrator of this bet was the moderator of the meeting at the time, Max Tegmark, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

And the bet is $1,000.

Now, 6 years have passed, and after more than two years of rest, the LHC finally successfully raised the energy to 13TeV after restarting the experiment on June 3. But even with the discovery of pentaquarks, no sign of supersymmetric particles has been found.

Although the standard model was tested correctly again, it didn't work, and he lost the bet.

As for the reason, he overestimated the capabilities of CERN and was too optimistic about the upgraded performance of LHC.

In fact, betting is not uncommon in the physics world.

And for the gambler Frank Wilczek himself, this is not the first time he has placed a bet.

In 2005, he made a bet with Jenny Conrad, a "beautiful scientist" at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, that he was sure that the LHC would detect the Higgs particle, while the latter believed that the LHC would not be able to detect it.

The bet at the time was the gold coin chocolates served at the Nobel Prize award ceremony. The final result was obvious. Frank won the bet and got 10 gold coin chocolates.

It's just that this time it seems that he is not so lucky, he unfortunately lost the bet.

In fact, it doesn't matter whether you win or lose. For these scholars, betting is at best a break from work.

But here comes the problem, Mr. Garrett Reese, who bet with him, this guy is not a fuel-efficient lamp.

First of all, this Mr. Reese is not a physicist at all, but a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of California, Los Angeles, and is now a bridge construction worker.

Secondly, the greatest "achievement" of this doctor of philosophy is to use the Lie group E8 structure that has only recently been analyzed by mathematicians to construct the legendary Grand Unification Theorem, and predict more than 20 particles...

Einstein's unfinished feat has always been a treasure hunted by theoretical physicists. However, it is obvious that not only theoretical physicists are coveting this treasure, but also countless folk scientists who do not understand physics at all.

Mr. Garrett Reese is probably the most educated person in civil science, at least he is higher than those idiots in North America who stubbornly believe that the earth is flat and send themselves into the stratosphere with homemade rockets went.

It is precisely because of this that many people dubbed him the "King of Minke"...

Although his set of mathematical theories integrated with philosophical thoughts, both mathematicians and physicists scoffed at them, but they are quite popular in some places, and even published a book.

It is precisely because of this that it would be embarrassing for Wilczek to lose this bet.

A majestic Nobel Prize winner in physics lost to the "King of Civil Sciences".

Although he frankly admitted on his personal Twitter that he lost and fulfilled the gentleman's agreement of $1,000, it is obvious that he is not as calm as he appears on social platforms.

It's not the $1,000 thing, it's that Reese guy is pretty sleazy and shows it off online all day long.

Recently, many people teased him about this matter as soon as they met. He couldn't help but slap himself twice. Why did he have a brain twitch and bet with this hot chicken?

What a shame!

Sitting in the office prepared for him by CERN, Mr. Frank browsed the latest papers on the pentaquark state particle on the arXiv website while drinking coffee.

At this moment, his assistant knocked on the door and walked in.

"Mr. Frank, someone asked me to bring you something."

"What?" returned Mr. Frank casually.

"Looks like a paper," replied the assistant.

Although he was not in a good mood recently, he still spoke.

"Let me take a look."

"Good sir."

After receiving the printed paper from his assistant, Frank took it over and flipped through it, before casually asking, "There's no name on it? Who brought it?"

Assistant: "According to the man's self-introduction, he is an intern."

"Intern?" Frank frowned slightly, but he didn't throw the paper aside because of his status, but continued to read it with his expression unchanged.

To be able to do an internship at CERN, you must have the ability...at least not civil science. In fact, what many people lack is not knowledge, but just an opportunity. If this paper is interesting, he doesn't mind pointing out this intern.

And that's why he's so popular here.

Originally, he just glanced casually, but as he continued to read the thesis, Frank, who was originally expressionless, gradually showed a hint of interest on his face.

When he saw a certain word in the paper, his expression suddenly paused, and his interested expression gradually became serious.

Putting down the paper in his hand, Frank looked at his assistant.

"What's the contact information for this person?"

The assistant was slightly stunned, and then said: "He didn't leave a phone number, but he left an address, which is in a hotel near the CERN building. If you want to see him, I can find him for you."

"Go and help me find him, this paper is still interesting." Frank threw the paper on the upper left corner of the table.

Generally speaking, the papers placed here are interesting to him, at least worth his time.

As for the pile on the right, most of them end up in the office shredder...

...

After handing over the thesis to Mr. Frank's assistant, Lu Zhou originally thought that he would have to wait a few days for the results, but he didn't expect happiness to come so suddenly.

On the morning of the next day, Mr. Frank Wilczek's assistant came to the hotel to find him and took him to the office on the R1 floor.

And the old gentleman's first words after seeing him were.

"What do you think that might be?"

Lu Zhou said without hesitation: "Supersymmetric particles!"

In fact, this possibility is very small, and even he himself does not believe that the thing may be a supersymmetric particle, but he has to say so.

It's a gimmick, like pulling investment.

However, Mr. Frank was obviously not that easy to fool, he laughed and shook his head.

"That's not realistic."

"But there is this possibility, maybe it is something else, but no matter what it is, it has value worthy of our research, right?" Lu Zhou continued, "Would you like to bet? I will offer a hundred dollars, and the bet will definitely be there." There is something."

Hearing the bet, the old man's eyebrows twitched violently, coughed dryly and said, "There's no need to bet."

Lu Zhou froze slightly.

He had known beforehand that the old man's favorite thing to do was to bet with others. Why did he suddenly change his temper?

After a pause, Frank continued.

"I'm a little interested in your discovery, but only a little bit. And whether I'm interested or not, there's no way CERN would start the LHC for an unfinished theory, and you haven't succeeded in convincing me."

"However, I can give you a chance. Before the end of the month, you can improve your theory a little bit. Then at the CERN conference at the end of the month, I will recommend you to give a report to the participating physicists. Scientists report your findings. If you can convince me with your theory at that time, I may consider helping you convince others."

When he said this, Frank kept staring at Lu Zhou's eyes.

Lu Zhou knew what the old man was waiting for.

Taking a deep breath, Lu Zhou responded to the old man's expectation with affirmative eyes.

And his answer was only one word.

"it is good!"