Chapter 435: Magical Key

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

It turned out that supercomputers were not invincible. When the calculations were complex enough, it would also get a “headache”.

Although the laws of motion involved in microfluid dynamics were under the framework of classical mechanics, when the number of microfluids reached a certain limit, it transformed into a non-classical chaotic state.

As per what Professor Green said, classical computers might not be fit for this kind of work. Controlled nuclear fusion simulation required a quantum computer. In addition, all precise numerical fluid simulations required sophisticated quantum computing technology.

Fortunately, with the help of Fields Medal winner Lu Zhou and countless hours of hard work, Professor Green’s team finally completed the numerical simulation of the model.

The moment the calculations were completed, the people inside the supercomputer control room began to cheer. People were giving out high fives to celebrate this hard-won victory.

Half a minute ago, they used the von Neumann computer to confirm a plasma physicist’s hypothesis of a chaotic system. Whether from the perspective of massive parallel computing or from the perspective of physics, this was undoubtedly a great achievement.

They were the only ones that knew how difficult this was.

Of course, most of the work was accomplished by the person who was able to create a mathematical model of this chaotic system…

Lu Zhou stood next to Professor Green as he asked in an uncertain tone, “We did it?”

“Seems like it… although I don’t know if this is the result you’re looking for,” Green said as he placed the USB into Lu Zhou’s palm and smiled. He said, “Honestly, I didn’t think we could succeed.”

“Thank you.”

Lu Zhou looked at the USB in his hand and smirked.

“You’re welcome.” Green patted Lu Zhou’s arm and said, “Remember to add the John von Neumann Center in the list of research centers. We haven’t produced a result like this in a long time.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I will, definitely.”

…

After receiving the experimental data, Lu Zhou began to write his thesis.

Actually two weeks ago, before the John Neumann project began, Lu Zhou had been writing the main part of the thesis. Right now, he only had to add the data and images generated from the supercomputer into the thesis.

Once Lu Zhou finished writing the thesis, he leaned back against his chair as he looked at the thesis on the computer screen. He then felt a sense of accomplishment.

Suddenly, his eyebrows twitched.

In the midst of happiness, he couldn’t help but feel a little anxious.

If I continue researching… will it become a little dangerous?

Nuclear fusion is undoubtedly a dangerous piece of technology.

Especially when it becomes “controllable”.

Lu Zhou stared at the screen while thinking.

“Should I think of adding a backup plan?”

However, they were still a long way from implementing this technology. Countries didn’t want to spend money on funding while ITER’s budget requirements grew every year.

But what if one day the technology was implemented?

In other words, if the world’s nuclear fusion scientific researchers finally created a controllable nuclear fusion technology, then ITER would have fulfilled its mission statement. They could finally show the governments all across the world some results.

Lu Zhou didn’t know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

Lu Zhou suddenly felt like he had the key to all this.

It could lead to a better future, or it could open a box of curses that would completely destroy humanity…

He frowned and switched off his computer. He then stood up from his chair.

Vera noticed that Lu Zhou looked a bit weird, so she tilted her head and asked, “What’s wrong, Professor?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “Nothing, I’m going out for a bit.”

The sun was setting outside the research center.

Lu Zhou ran two laps around Lake Carnegie and felt a lot better.

As a scholar, he didn’t have to worry about the impact a piece of technology would bring.

As civilizations got more and more advanced, no matter how complicated the process might be, history would push humanity forward and build a better future.

Whatever was in the box…

Lu Zhou would open it.

This was the mission of a scholar.

When Lu Zhou went back to his house, he went upstairs into his study room and switched on his laptop.

As he looked at his thesis, he tapped his finger on the desk and began to think.

Where should I submit it?

Nature?

Science?

These two journals don’t seem to be suitable for this type of heavy academic, data-driven thesis. After all, the application of L Manifold and various differential geometry methods in the thesis greatly increases the reading difficulty.

Lu Zhou’s eyes suddenly lit up; he thought of a suitable journal.

PRX!

You’re the chosen one!

…

PRL and PRX were journals of the American Physical Society; the former had a 4-page, 3,750-word limit. After all, the PRL’s full name is Physical Review Letters. The latter didn’t have a word limit, nor did it limit the number of submissions per journal issue.

The only unfortunate thing was that a thesis publication had a base fee of US$1,500 with additional fees based on the number of pages in the thesis. For most theoretical physicists, this was a huge expense.

However, for scholars that were slightly well-known, this fee could be waived.

Because of this rule, PRX’s first issue in 2011 published 38 theses; all of them were long papers.

That was until 2013 when the American Physical Society’s meeting in March decided to strictly control the number of theses published in PRX. Each month’s issue was restricted to between 6 to 8 theses. Each thesis was also required to solve a certain type of problem conclusively, thus eliminating sub-par theses.

After all, inconclusive in-progress results produced too many sub-par theses…

Therefore, all theses published in PRX were screened and filtered.

PRL had a bigger influence in the China academic community than PRL, but in the international stage, PRX’s influence was way beyond that of PRL’s…

The thesis was submitted and arrived at the editorial department of PRX.

PRX editor Frank opened his work email and saw this thesis.

“Plasma turbulence?” Frank raised his eyebrows. He finished reading the abstract of the theses and continued to read the thesis body.

But soon, he began to frown.

It wasn’t because the thesis was badly written, but because he couldn’t understand the mathematical formulas at all…

Frank double-checked the author’s name and research institute of the thesis and began to start teasing.

“The author is a mathematics professor from Princeton… Interesting, he might have intended to submit to a mathematics journal instead?”

Normally, other than really nutty journal editors-in-chief, most journal editors didn’t have the ability to review journals. They might have a little research experience in the relevant fields, but most of the time, they only had basic academic qualifications.

Therefore, not being able to understand the thesis was normal.

Lancent was standing next to Frank by the coffee machine. He took a sip of coffee and looked at the thesis contributor’s name on the screen. Suddenly, he had a surprised look on his face.

“Lu Zhou? I know this guy. He’s this year’s Fields Medal winner.”

Frank looked at his co-worker and said, “You follow mathematics?”

Lancent smiled and said, “Why not? Physics and mathematics are closely related. Not to mention, he solved the Navier–Stokes equation at the International Congress of Mathematicians.”

Frank had heard of the Navier–Stokes equation. He had even read the New York Times report. He heard the lucky guy rejected million-dollar prize money… Even though the scholar was famous, Frank still had to treat the thesis with caution.

Frank thought for a long time before he finally decided to let a reviewer determine the content and quality of the thesis.

“Which reviewer do you think is appropriate?”

Lancent rubbed his chin and spoke.

“Experts in plasma physics… Let me think… I know! Professor Keriber from Germany should be a good choice. I remember he was the head of the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics.

“I think he has the most amount of say in this field!”

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