Why Did You Bring Up Dark Matter Again?

Professor Qu also had a tablet computer. While operating the tablet, he said, "Academician Shen, please refer to document number A107."

Shen Qi opened the A107 file, and a large number of radio astronomy spectra and related data were displayed before his eyes. These data came from FAST.

The powerful FAST telescope accurately provides the spectra of H2CO masers and H2CO absorption lines in massive star-forming regions. This source contains both H2CO masers and H2CO absorption lines. The peak fluxes of the maser and absorption line components reveal, to some extent, the star formation and chemical evolution within the Milky Way and provide necessary data support for the study of the large-scale structure of the Milky Way.

Professor Qu's team has completed the Doppler calibration, and the values in the spectral mode parameter table are densely packed across more than a dozen pages.

This appears to be the prototype of a research paper. At the end of document A107, Professor Qu's team focused their attention on the Perseus Arm.

More precisely, it is a nebula located in the Perseus Arm.

"A major discovery!" Shen Qi exclaimed, slapping his thigh. He asked Professor Qu, "When was this nebula discovered?"

"This nebula was first detected by FAST in February of this year," Professor Qu said. "We were surprised to find that its hydrogen abundance is much higher than that of a typical supernova remnant, not even in the same order of magnitude. Its shape resembles a butterfly with outstretched wings, so we'll tentatively call it the Butterfly Nebula."

The Butterfly Nebula is more than 6,000 light-years away from Earth. The data Shen Qi sees actually describes the state of the Butterfly Nebula more than 6,000 years ago.

As for Professor Qu's doubts, there was no need for him to waste his breath explaining them to Shen Qi.

A picture is worth a thousand words; Shen Qi could discern the clues simply by looking at the graphs and data.

The Butterfly Nebula floats in the vast, dark void; theoretically, it is a remnant nebula left behind after a stellar explosion.

Through years of research, human scientists have established a mature astrophysical theoretical system. The outer gas of a dead star is blown away, while the core collapses into tiny, dense neutron spheres and a black hole that devours everything.

However, no neutron spheres or black holes have been detected inside the Butterfly Nebula.

Shen Qi fell into deep thought. Why was that?

Professor Qu tentatively offered his opinion. "Academician Shen, do you think it's possible that a large amount of Dark Matter exists inside the Butterfly Nebula? This is the only reasonable explanation we can think of."

Shen Qi trembled slightly but did not reply immediately.

Shen Qi once predicted in his "Physics Framework Model," also known as the "Shen Qi Conjecture," that Dark Matter does not exist in the universe.

Shen Qi once said in public that we should not spend too much energy studying Dark Matter, but rather pay more attention to the research on Antimatter.

What exactly is Dark Matter? Some say it's a particle that hasn't been discovered yet, while others say it's a projection from a higher dimension.

Stubborn physicists are building massive underground tanks, hoping that one day Dark Matter will collide with visible matter. They desperately want to witness the first glimmer of light from this collision.

Unfortunately, Dark Matter has never been observed.

Now, Professor Qu has presented detailed and reliable FAST observation data and, through reasonable logical deduction, predicted the existence of Dark Matter in the Butterfly Nebula in the Perseus Arm, located more than 6,000 light-years away.

If Professor Qu's prediction comes true, Professor Qu will instantly be promoted to "Big Boss Qu".

Shen Qi will be ruthlessly proven wrong.

Of course, if Dark Matter does exist in the Butterfly Nebula, detecting Dark Matter would take an extremely long time. Even if humanity built a spaceship or probe that could travel at the speed of light, it would still take over six thousand years to reach the Butterfly Nebula. And transmitting the information back to Earth would take another six thousand years.

It would take over ten thousand years to slap someone in the face; who the hell could live that long?

Shen Qi handed the tablet back to Professor Qu: "Professor Qu, I need all the raw data."

Professor Qu nodded. "No problem, the original data has been copied and is ready for Academician Shen."

Shen Qi chuckled and playfully punched Professor Qu's chest, "You old Qu, you knew I'd panic like a dog, didn't you?"

Professor Qu waved his hands repeatedly. "No, no, no, we absolutely never had such a thought! We will not disclose any information related to the Butterfly Nebula until Academician Shen answers our questions."

"I don't know when I'll be able to give a conclusion. You can't let my situation interrupt your research plans, Lao Qu. Your research group should just go about their business. I suggest you publish the academic report on FAST's detection of the Butterfly Nebula immediately. This is the culmination of your many years of hard work and achievements. I heard you're not even going home for the Chinese New Year?"

"We take turns going home for the Chinese New Year, but a few people have to stay behind to keep FAST running."

"Old Qu, just publish your articles and report the true data you observed. We are scientists, but we are also ordinary people. Humans make mistakes, and my views may not be entirely correct either."

"Thank you for your understanding and support, Academician Shen." Professor Qu shook hands with Shen Qi sincerely, feeling Shen Qi's personal charm.

Some people care a lot about their reputation. You want to slap me in the face? Laozi 'll cripple you first.

Shen Qi was different; even when his theories were questioned, he would simply smile calmly and remain composed.

Two days later, Shen Qi and his daughter returned to the capital.

After this trip, Shen Nuo Fei and her father became closer. In the past, her mother would bathe Nuofei, but now Nuofei asks her father to bathe her.

After the May Day holiday, Shen Qi returned to his post.

Shen Qi sat alone in his office, took a few deep breaths, and then entered a meditative state.

Various pieces of information surged and converged in Shen Qi's mind: complete and fragmented; the Mathematical Grand Unification, the four fundamental forces, physical framework models, the Riemann Hypothesis, the Hodge conjecture, the Navier-Stokes equations, P versus NP, BSD, quantum entanglement, earthquake prediction, the Butterfly Nebula, Dark Matter, Antimatter, hypothetical matter...

Shen Qi thought of many things: things he had personally experienced, things he hadn't experienced but could foresee, things that were hard to predict and purely wishful thinking; things that were present, things that were future, things that were real, things that were ethereal.

Human progress can never keep up with imagination, but when imagination far surpasses progress, it is often considered an unrealistic delusion.

No imagination can arise from nothing; it always has an origin.

Professor Qu speculated that Dark Matter exists thousands of light-years away because he made a logically reasonable conjecture based on the current situation.

How can we answer Professor Qu's questions?

It's impossible for Shen Qi to fly to the Butterfly Nebula to collect data in person.

What should we do?

Shen Qi his pen and wrote two words on the white paper: cause and effect.

After thinking for a moment, Shen Qi added a few more words, and the content on the white paper became: Operable Causality Model.

In fact, Shen Qi had this idea long ago; it wasn't a chance conversation with Professor Qu that sparked the idea for a causal model.

Can Operable Causality Model explain the strange features of the Butterfly Nebula?

Shen Qi thought it should be possible.

Shen Qi's trip to FAST with his daughter and his encounter with Professor Qu were accidental, but establishing Operable Causality Model is becoming inevitable. Perhaps this is a kind of cause and effect in the grand scheme of things.

In fact, Shen Qi had already tried causal prediction many years ago. He predicted four earthquake points, guessed two correctly, and the other two coordinates remain calm to this day.

At that moment, Shen Qi suddenly realized, "Ten years! A full ten years! I've finally figured out a crucial but overlooked question..."

If you love the right person, every day is Valentine's Day.