"Build a fully HTSC-1 high-temperature superconducting Tokamak device..."
After listening to Li Jiangan's story, Xiao Yi started thinking.
Finally, he said, "If this kind of thing happens, you don't need to come to me, right?"
Li Jiangan shook his head and said helplessly, "Currently, the state is relatively conservative in funding the field of controllable nuclear fusion. After all, if we want to truly realize commercial reactors with controllable nuclear fusion... even the demonstration reactor is still many years away."
"And we are not as easy to produce results as a particle collider. The data from one collision is enough for them to study for several years, and then we can produce countless "Science", "Nature", PRL and so on."
"We started it once and burned money. Even if it was successful, the most we can do is tell people how many seconds we burned."
"Look at our previous news that it can continuously burn for one hundred seconds and one thousand meters. It sounds very exciting, but in fact we all know that it is still thousands or tens of thousands of times away from being truly practical."
"Those news are just telling everyone that we are making progress."
Li Jiangan sighed, "Controllable nuclear fusion is too difficult."
Looking at the helpless expression of the old academician, Xiao Yi nodded slightly to express his understanding.
The difficulty of controllable nuclear fusion is well known.
What is needed is not just a breakthrough in one field, but a common breakthrough in many fields.
And this kind of breakthrough even needs to be a breakthrough in the sense of various science fiction works.
Superconductors are one of them.
The most ideal superconductor for controllable nuclear fusion is room-temperature superconductor. Controllable nuclear fusion under room-temperature superconductors does not require a series of complex cooling devices, and can maximize the use of the huge magnetic field provided by room-temperature superconductors.
Of course, for now, with the performance of HTSC-1, this problem is almost solved.
But beyond superconductors, there's one biggest problem: the first wall material.
The first wall material refers to the material that directly contacts the high-temperature plasma of hundreds of millions of degrees in nuclear fusion.
Any nuclear fusion device has a first wall material.
Of course, as far as current technology is concerned, what the first wall material mainly faces is not high-temperature plasmas of hundreds of millions of degrees. Because these plasmas are coordinated by huge magnetic fields, high temperature is basically not a problem at all. In fact, the first wall material only needs to be able to withstand high temperatures of about 1000 degrees Celsius, and the maximum is only about 3000 degrees Celsius.
The greatest damage to the first wall material actually comes from neutron irradiation.
Currently, humans mainly use the deuterium-tritium fusion reaction in nuclear fusion research, which generates neutrons carrying an energy of about 14.1 MeV.
Because neutrons do not carry charge, even a huge magnetic field cannot control neutrons. Therefore, these neutrons will directly hit the first wall material at such a high energy.
According to calculations, the speed of neutrons at 14.1 MeV reaches approximately 16.83% of the speed of light.
Naturally, the ordinary first wall material cannot withstand such a terrible neutron impact. It will easily become pitted and even extremely fragile in this environment. In extreme cases, even an extremely hard material like tungsten metal may be broken by a person's pinch.
As for how to develop such materials, scientists around the world have been working hard for who knows how long, but they have yet to find the ideal material.
Probably only the strong interaction materials in science fiction novels can be immune to neutron irradiation.
Therefore, for research institutes like Plasma Institute that study controllable nuclear fusion, they are not as popular as research institutes that study other fields.
It's hard to produce results, and it's even more difficult to achieve the ultimate goal, like a castle in the air.
"So, we want to reach a cooperation with you, Professor Xiao. If your reputation helps, maybe the superiors will be willing to allocate us the equipment to build another nuclear fusion device."
Li Jiangan said, "And there will be a share of HTSC-1 by then. I heard that the HTSC-1 factory will be built soon. If you want HTSC-1 units, it will be a lot. Those of you USTC who are engaged in quantum computing, and the people of Institute of High Energy Physics, and..."
"And the military, they are so open-mouthed that they really don't give us research institutes any way to survive."
Zhao Zhanyou, who was next to him, also said at this time, "That's right, we are engaged in nuclear fusion, and at least we are making contributions to the future of mankind. Whether human civilization can be upgraded from level 0.7 to level 1 depends on us. Other research and other studies are of no use! How big is our role?"
Everyone present burst into laughter.
Xiao Yi also smiled and shook his head, but after pondering for a moment, he still shook his head and said, "Academician Li, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be able to agree to this now."
Li Jiangan's expression remained unchanged, but there was still a hint of disappointment and helplessness in his eyes.
He sighed and said, "Okay, I also know that this request is a bit embarrassing for Professor Xiao."
After all, Xiao Yi is not studying their nuclear fusion. If they drag Xiao Yi over, if it is really built, it seems to be jointly owned by Science Island Laboratory and their Plasma Institute, but in fact, only they, Plasma Institute, have talents in this field.
Even Xiao Yi itself has not studied nuclear fusion or nuclear physics.
What's more, he just thought about expanding Science Island Laboratory, which also requires money. If he asks for money now because of Plasma Institute, although he is an important talent now, it is obvious that the superiors will not let him ask for money. This is not a matter of millions or tens of millions, but a matter of hundreds of millions.
However, Xiao Yi is not too indifferent. After all, people have spoken up for him.
So, he then said, "However, apart from this matter, I can agree to the other conditions."
"For example, regarding the share of HTSC-1, I can help you get more."
"Although we can't build a new controllable nuclear fusion facility for the time being, HTSC-1 will definitely be able to help you conduct some simulation experiments. It should be no problem to publish a few top journals by then."
Hearing what Xiao Yi said, Li Jiangan's eyes lit up slightly, and then they all nodded.
Indeed.
Even if they can't build a new Tokamak device, if they can have HTSC-1 to help them conduct some simulation experiments, it will be very easy to publish a few top publications at will.
For example, if you list the significance of the excellent performance of HTSC-1 for the realization of nuclear fusion, you can casually publish a few papers in nature and science journals. This kind of seemingly gimmicky paper is their favorite paper in nature and science.
And it's not just about nuclear fusion. Although Plasma Institute mainly studies controllable nuclear fusion, they also study other plasma-related issues.
Among these other issues, research related to superconductors is more or less involved.
Using superconductors with superior properties such as HTSC-1 can also help them develop some results that can be published in top publications.
The reason why other research institutes and laboratories want to win the share of HTSC-1 is basically for this reason.
Anyway, being able to produce results and publish papers is the biggest good thing for scientific researchers.
Then, Xiao Yi continued, "In addition, in addition to this matter, if you have any theoretical issues that need help, I can also try to research them. If it is solved, it should also bring a lot of help to your research."
Hearing his words, Li Jiangan they couldn't help but look at each other for a moment.
Xiao Yi's words are really full of confidence.
Xiao Yi thinks he can solve the problem they haven't solved yet?
At this time, Zhao Zhanyou said, "I just have a question here. Theoretically speaking, is Greenwald limit unable to improve anymore?"
"Greenwald limit?"
Xiao Yi thought for a moment and said, "Are you referring to a physical parameter in Tokamak device?"
"Yes." Zhao Zhanyou said, "Greenwald limit defines the maximum average density of the plasma in the tokamak. If this upper limit is exceeded in the tokamak, the plasma will become unstable, thus affecting the maintenance and efficiency of the nuclear fusion reaction."
"Originally, Greenwald limit was considered to be the result of Greenwald's analysis in 1988. However, in 2022, Greenwald limit was upgraded to nearly twice the level."
"In other words, in Tokamak device, we can add more fuel to run at higher power and generate higher energy with the same level of safety."
"So can this limit continue to be raised?"
After hearing this question, Xiao Yi became interested.
Well, the classic limit problem.
Although when it comes to controllable nuclear fusion, this problem is quite difficult.
"I understand. I will study this issue after I go back. If I have the results, I will tell you."
"Okay." Zhao Zhanyou nodded.
Next, Xiao Yi walked around their place again. As for witnessing the kind of thing that EAST ignited, we can only wait until we have the opportunity to come again.
People can't just build an artificial sun just because he comes to visit.
What's more, once this thing is turned on, subsequent maintenance will be a hassle.
In addition, Xiao Yi also visited their canteen and observed the specifications of their canteen.
They Science Island Laboratory are in urgent need of a canteen now. Otherwise, they would have to run outside if they want to eat or anything else, which is very inconvenient.
Many people in the laboratory have reported this problem to him.
Until after lunch, Xiao Yi's visit ended here.
Back to Science Island Laboratory.
Xiao Yi turned on the computer in his office. First, he checked the density of states of the electron-interface reaction migration model and the calculation progress of the exact solution of Schrödinger equation. He took a look at it.
Hmm...
I guess I can calculate it tonight.
Then he stopped looking at it and thought back to the question Zhao Zhanyou told him.
"Greenwald limit... why not call him Grindelwald?"
While complaining in his mind, he began to collect relevant information.
Soon, he found the 2022 paper.
""Tokamak density limit scaling based on edge turbulent transport and its impact on ITER"... uses the first principles method, so the results obtained by the calculation method are also used."
"Hmm... so it turns out to be a more complex optimization problem?"
Xiao Yi thought for a moment.
"Plasma turbulence... the paper uses a simplified drift-simplified Braginskii fluid model to describe the physical processes of the tokamak edge plasma."
"Although the degree of simplification is relatively high, in terms of results, it is still relatively accurate."
"But what if we could use better fluid models to make inferences?"
Xiao Yi shook his head slightly, "I really didn't expect that this result actually waited until 2022. It is probably because there were too few people studying nuclear fusion before."
Just like ITER, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor planning organization started making proposals in 1985, but it was not until 2001 that the final design was completed, and then it was not until 2007 that construction officially started.
Then he stopped thinking about it and began to collect various information. Since he wanted to solve a problem, he had to start by understanding the problem first.
Just like that, time passed quietly.
Three days later, as the relevant calculations of the electron-interface reaction migration model were officially completed, Xiao Yi also integrated these calculation results into this model. At this point, this model used to describe the electron migration behavior during the interface reaction process has finally been completely completed.
"Done."
Looking at the model on the computer, the corners of Xiao Yi's lips curled up.
"The next thing to do is to verify its accuracy."
He immediately called four people from the research team and held an impromptu team meeting.
"In the past few days, our purpose is to verify this model."
Standing at the front of the small conference room, Xiao Yi opened the PPT and displayed the electron-interface reaction migration model.
Liu Xiaodong The four of them looked confused.
Model?
What model?
What Professor Xiao has been busy with these days is this model?
"I named it the electron-interface reaction migration model, or EIRM for short."
"It mainly uses the reaction-diffusion equation, and by optimizing it, it integrates Schrödinger equation and interface state density in order to describe the electron migration behavior during the interface reaction process."
"If it can achieve accurate description, it can help us optimize lithium phosphorus, sulfur and chlorine to a certain extent."
Upon hearing Xiao Yi's introduction, the four people's eyes suddenly widened.
What?!
Describe electromigration behavior? And is it specifically for the process that happens on the interface?
God, their Professor Xiao is really just a man who doesn't take action, and when he does, he will scare everyone to death.
"Okay, I will send this model to you first. You can understand it and ask me if you have any questions. Then we will start experimental verification."
Subsequently, Xiao Yi sent the model to them.
The four people immediately looked at it with great curiosity.
And the more they watched, the more excited they became.
"Wonderful!"
"We can actually find the solution for electrons at the interface Schrödinger equation. This electron wave function... is too precise!"
"The density of states at the interface is a key factor affecting electron migration. This model also appropriately accommodates the discretization effect of electron energy levels at the interface."
"And..."
The four people were amazed.
And what they can see is not profound enough. What this model involves is far deeper than they imagined.
But no matter what, they all came to a conclusion.
That is - it can be done!
"Professor, we're done."
"No problem?"
"No more."
Xiao Yi nodded. "Okay, that's it. Now go to the laboratory and conduct verification experiments."
"Yes!"
In this way, they came to various laboratories and began to verify.
Advanced technologies such as scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy are used to directly observe the migration paths of electrons on the interface and compare them with theoretical models. In addition to the first time, there are also various verification methods such as electron migration rates and density of states.
Probably in a few days.
With all labs completed.
Looking at the results given in the final report, Liu Xiaodong they were all shocked.
"The maximum difference between the model and experimental errors is less than 15%, and the average error is only 5%..."
"O God!"
They felt as if they were seeing a god who calculated materials.