Chapter 1320 - Two Thousand Physics Problems

Shanghai.

Maglev train station.

Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou coming out of the exit terminal. He couldn’t help but complain.

“I waited all day at the train station yesterday!”

“You should have given me a call.”

“I called! At three o’clock in the afternoon and five o’clock again! But it said that you’re not in the service area? What were you doing at that time?”

Lu Zhou remembered that he seemed to be at the third underground floor of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. Because the protection measures were very strict, no signal from the outside world could be received or sent from there.

As for the missed calls...

Perhaps because all of his attention was on the memory of the old universe, Lu Zhou didn’t even notice.

“This was my negligence... Let’s put these things aside for the time being.” Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and asked, “Have all the invitations been sent out?”

“Yes! So far, eight major particle physics research institutes in the world have sent back letters, expressing support for our joint initiative with CERN. CERN has already arrived in Shanghai. Do you want to see them?”

Lu Zhou: “I will go later... You’ll have to take care of them for now.”

Luo Wenxuan spoke with a sigh.

“I knew you would say that.”

Lu Zhou smiled and gave a thumbs up.

“You know me too well.”

The pick-up vehicle parked at the exit of the station. Wang Peng, who was walking in front, opened the door for the two of them. He then sat in the front passenger seat.

Lu Zhou asked Luo Wenxuan during the ride about the progress of the conference.

“The preparations for the conference are done. We have booked the main venue at the International Convention and Exhibition Center. The hotel has been set at Yi Hao hotel. The duration is seven days. The Shanghai government is supportive of our work and has already prepared traffic control in advance. The plan for the security of the venue...”

Lu Zhou: “What about the physics community?”

Luo Wenxuan: “The response from the physics community is quite strong, and the mainstream is very supportive of this conference. So far, the number of applicants from all channels has reached 100,000. The number of applications for poster display space is 6,731... The venue may not be large enough. We plan to conduct a round of pre-review on the posters before arranging academic booths.”

A hint of surprise appeared on his face. Lu Zhou frowned and asked, “That many people?”

100,000 people...

Is the entire physics community coming to Shanghai?

Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou’s hesitant expression. A bitter smile appeared on his face.

“Yeah, I wonder why...”

From the Z particle to the Void theory to the hyperspace theory, the series of achievements ILHCRC had accomplished in two years had become the focus of the entire physics community.

Especially the particle physics field.

In terms of scientific research strength alone, even CERN and Brookhaven National Laboratory combined, which were second and third respectively, was not comparable to ILHCRC.

After all, almost two-thirds of the world’s particle physics research results were born from the Lunar Hadron Collider or at least indirectly related to it.

The most outstanding scholar in physics issued an initiative to explore the future of physics. If the entire physics community was not interested, then it would be hopeless.

Lu Zhou looked at the expression on Luo Wenxuan’s face. He smiled awkwardly.

“... This must have been a lot of work.”

“It’s not a lot. Even though this is the first time for a conference of this size, we have held several high-level international academic conferences.” After a pause, Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou and continued, “Also, I’m afraid you’ll be the one doing the most work.”

“Like what?”

“Have you forgotten what to discuss at this conference?” Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, “Anyway, we’re almost there. I’ll show it to you soon.”

While they were talking, the car had already entered the underground parking lot of the ILHCRC headquarters building.

After getting out of the car, Lu Zhou followed in the footsteps of Luo Wenxuan and got on the elevator. They came to the file room on the third floor and walked to the nearest long table.

A thick book was sitting on the table.

On the cover of this book, there was only a number.

[2000]

“Two thousand physics problems that cover all branches and research directions of physics.” Luo Wenxuan looked at this thick book and said, “We took recommendations from the other eight physics research institutions and top scholars in each research branch. Based on their opinions, the most representative or main problems were selected.

“What we have to do now... or what you have to do is to select one hundred of the most representative problems from these two thousand problems.”

Lu Zhou looked at the book that was as thick as a dictionary. He reached out his hand and picked it up from the table before flipping through it quickly.

This thing was really similar to an exercise book. The questions were labeled according to the categories they belonged to, and it even included the names of those who wrote the problems, the “sources”, and the earliest documentation of the problems.

Of course, the most important thing was the descriptions of the problems.

It was like a rigorous essay, describing what each problem was and what physics background it had.

Some of these problems could be clarified in a few words, such as “can the pairing of two Fermi atoms form superfluidity in quantum chromodynamics”...

There were also questions such as “Yangian Representation Theory and Solving Nonlinear Models” or “can the spectrum of one-dimensional Hubbard model and HS model be solved with the aid of Yangian Representation Theory”. The problems must be described clearly, and they even had certain requirements for the readers’ mathematical skills.

This was definitely the most difficult “exercise book” in the world.

Even solving one of the questions was enough to become an expert in a certain area of physics, and be recognized by the entire physics community...

Lu Zhou looked at this book of puzzles that condensed almost all of the wisdom of physicists in human civilization. Lu Zhou felt his brain go numb.

“I think this is a masterpiece...”

“I think so too.” Luo Wenxuan nodded his head and said, “I spent two weeks going through it roughly. Many of the questions in it are not simple. It also includes the thoughts of the authors. This is more valuable than the questions themselves.”

“Basically, let’s wait for the representatives from other institutes to arrive. The selection is not something I can complete alone.” Lu Zhou put down this book and looked at Luo Wenxuan. He said, “This book stays here for the time being. I plan to spend a few days going through it briefly.”

Luo Wenxuan: “That’s what I had in mind... By the way, as an independent research institution, the ILHCRC should also send a representative to participate in the selection of the 100 physics problems. Who do you think is a good choice?”

“Don’t ask me about such trivial matters.”

Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and said in a half-joking tone, “You’re the next chairman of the board. If you can’t even handle this, then I don’t know what to say.”