Aftermath of the War of the Gods

Speaking of Niels Bohr, one had to mention the 1927 Solvay Conference.

That had been the most brutal and star-studded war of the gods in the history of physics.

The world's brightest minds had gathered together and fought fiercely over the right to interpret Quantum Mechanics.

And the aftermath of that conference was now continuing to play out in the "Azure Dragon Study Group."

[Niels Bohr]: @Albert Einstein, my position is already very clear. Measurement results in the microscopic world follow the laws of probability and statistics! Quantum transitions are random as well.

So accept reality, Albert. Classical mechanical determinism has already failed at the quantum scale!

[Albert Einstein]: Absurd! Bohr, your Copenhagen Interpretation is practically blasphemy against the rigor of physics! God does not play dice! There must be hidden variables that we have yet to discover!

[Werner Heisenberg]: Mr. Einstein, please respect mathematics.

My Matrix Mechanics and Uncertainty Principle have already produced an impeccable conclusion mathematically.

[Erwin Schrödinger]: Heisenberg, do not get too arrogant.

Although my Wave Mechanics and your Matrix Mechanics are mathematically equivalent, I still support Einstein's view.

These so-called quantum transitions are fundamentally mystical nonsense that violates the continuity of Classical Mechanics! This is simply the greatest absurdity in the history of physics!

The group had already descended into chaos, with all sorts of profound concepts and equations flying everywhere.

Watching the chat, Li Dong could only think that these big shots were terrifying beyond belief.

When they argued, who would dare interrupt?

But as the group owner, how could Li Dong let them form cliques in the chat?

And if he did not fleece them now, when would he?

Li Dong bit his finger as his mind raced.

Join their discussion?

Give him a break.

After all, once these gods had laid down the two pillars of modern physics—Relativity and Quantum Mechanics—in 1927, humanity would not produce another ultimate breakthrough capable of overturning the foundations of physics and rivaling those two theories for nearly a hundred years.

Modern physicists were really just patching and refining the framework these people had written a century ago.

What did Li Dong amount to before them? A paramecium?

But Li Dong had one advantage: he stood on the shoulders of the future.

"Since I cannot settle your dispute, then I'll give you a theory that leaves both sides dumbfounded!"

He needed a theory that could explain the randomness of Quantum Mechanics, satisfy Einstein's longing for a Unified Field Theory, and yet be so mysterious that they could not work it out anytime soon.

String Theory.

A theory that could neither be falsified nor proven.

Li Dong did not need to provide rigorous mathematical proof. Naturally, he could not provide it anyway. He only needed to throw out a concept.

After pondering for a moment...

[Currently Grinding Senior-Year Problems]: Gentlemen, whether particles or waves, whether deterministic or random, have you ever considered that perhaps what you see is only the surface?

Li Dong's hands had trembled as he typed that sentence.

He was telling Einstein and Bohr that they were looking at things too superficially...

[Currently Grinding Senior-Year Problems]: Think about it. If we narrow our view to the Planck Scale, trillions upon trillions of times smaller than an atomic nucleus, would electrons and photons still exist?

Would there be some new kind of thing there instead? I call it a "string."

Different vibrational frequencies and modes correspond to different particles.

An electron is one kind of vibration, a photon is another, and gravity comes from the vibrational modes of closed strings.

[Currently Grinding Senior-Year Problems]: God indeed does not play dice, but perhaps God plays the violin?

Li Dong had directly transformed the problem of particle physics into a purely geometric and Topology problem.

Yet after a brief silence in the group, even fiercer condemnation erupted.

These big shots were not so easy to fool.

[Wolfgang Pauli]: Complete nonsense! It does not even qualify as being wrong! Building physics upon such an empty assumption with neither observational basis nor a complete Mathematical Models is nothing more than a regression to Ancient Greek metaphysics! Where is the Lagrangian of your strings? Where are their equations of motion? In how many dimensions do they vibrate?

[Niels Bohr]: An interesting imagination, but it lacks observational basis.

If things are as you say, then how many dimensions would we need to accommodate these vibrations?

[Albert Einstein]: Although this unified line of thought is captivating and carries something of Spinoza's God, that is precisely why it is merely poetry, not physics.

Watching the big shots refute him in the group, Li Dong knew they had taken the bait.

Because these lofty big shots would never be content with merely arguing verbally.

They would definitely try to verify the calculations in private, attempting to use mathematics to humiliate this "fallacy."

Just then, an ID suddenly appeared.

[John von Neumann]: Setting observability aside, the mathematical structure of this theory is rather interesting.

Seeing that name, Li Dong froze. He had not expected to draw out von Neumann.

John von Neumann, the father of modern computers and one of the greatest polymaths of the twentieth century!

[Von Neumann]: I just tried constructing a simple topological model in my mind. If there were five-dimensional spacetime like the one proposed by Mr. Kaluza last year, or even more dimensions, then the vibrational equations of these strings could be made self-consistent.

[Von Neumann]: But the problem is... verifying this theory's self-consistency would require calculating the topological structures and compactification methods of high-dimensional manifolds. That would require an astronomical amount of computation.

Relying on manpower and pen and paper, even if every mathematician in Europe were gathered together, they could not complete the full verification within their lifetimes.

Yes, yes, yes! You are absolutely right! Li Dong was so excited that he slapped his thigh.

That was why they needed computers.

[Currently Grinding Senior-Year Problems]: Mr. Von Neumann, you are right.

[Currently Grinding Senior-Year Problems]: So we need a tool.

[Von Neumann]: A tool? You mean something like the hand-cranked calculators made by Pascal or Leibniz? Those are far too slow, and they can only perform simple arithmetic.

[Currently Grinding Senior-Year Problems]: No, not that kind of mechanical device.

[Currently Grinding Senior-Year Problems]: I have envisioned an architecture.

Li Dong shamelessly began "copying" von Neumann's future homework.

[Currently Grinding Senior-Year Problems]: This machine should contain five parts:

1. Arithmetic unit: responsible for logical and arithmetic operations.

2. Control unit: directs the execution of programs.

3. Memory unit: this is the key! It must store not only data, but program instructions as well! Programs, like data, can then be modified and read.

4. Input device.

5. Output device.

[Currently Grinding Senior-Year Problems]: Then it should use binary, representing 0 and 1 through the "on" and "off" states of electronic components. Only then can its speed reach the level of electronics and light!

After that message was sent, von Neumann remained silent for a long time.

A full three minutes passed.

[Von Neumann]: !!!

Electronic components controlling switches??

God! This is simply a genius concept!

[Von Neumann]: Sir! Your idea coincides with some of my recent thoughts on mathematical logic and universal computation, but it is even more specific and practical!

If such a machine could be built, it seems it could calculate other things as well.

[Von Neumann]: I must write this down immediately!

Just as von Neumann went off to record it, the group announcement appeared at the top of Li Dong's phone again.

[System Notice: Group member "John von Neumann," inspired by you, established "Modern Electronic Computer Architecture" twenty years ahead of schedule.]

[The concept of "String Theory" has been introduced ahead of schedule. The Quantum Physics school and the Relativity school have begun attempting mathematical unification in higher dimensions.]

[The new technological branch "Information Engineering" has been activated.]

[The technology tree of parallel spacetime Universe No. 1927 has undergone a drastic deviation...]

Immediately afterward, two large red packets appeared.

[A joint gift from the all-star physics lineup of 1927]

Li Dong trembled as he tapped it open.

[You have received the gift of the stars of physics]

[Attribute gained: Logic +0.1 (Permanent)]

[Description: Although they do not completely agree with your "String Theory," the grand and self-consistent mathematical hypothesis you proposed forced them to use the highest level of logical thinking to refute you. This is a sign of respect from your opponents.]

"Only Logic +0.1?"

Li Dong was a little disappointed.

He had originally imagined receiving some impressive skill like "Quantum Intuition" or "Eye of Spacetime."

It seemed that because the big shots had not genuinely accepted String Theory and merely regarded it as a mathematical game, the reward had been discounted.

But on second thought, the Logic attribute was the foundation of all sciences, and +0.1 was still a tangible improvement.

He then opened the second red packet.

[John von Neumann has sent an exclusive red packet]

[You have received John von Neumann's thanks]

[Attribute gained: Memory +0.1 (Permanent)]

[Description: The core of a computer lies in "storage."]

[von Neumann believes that an excellent brain must first be like a computer hard drive, capable of storing vast amounts of information without loss.]

Li Dong's attributes had now become:

[Focus: 0.2]

[Logic: 0.2]

[Memory: 0.2]

[Skills: Physics Perception (Basic), Orbital Calculation (Basic), Chemical Intuition (Basic)]

Although he had not obtained a new skill, Li Dong could clearly feel that his thoughts had become sharper.

"Be content with what you have. Be content with what you have."

Li Dong comforted himself.

"When von Neumann really builds a computer, there will definitely be another huge red packet then."

Li Dong felt that he should be able to sleep well tonight. After all, his chatting in this group had been incredibly worthwhile.

However, just as he was about to close the group chat, he suddenly realized something was wrong.

The system notification just now had said...

[Parallel spacetime Universe No. 1927...]

Universe No. 1927?

Li Dong rapidly swiped across the screen, searching through the previous chat records.

He found it!

[The technology tree of parallel spacetime Universe No. 1666 has undergone a deviation...]

Li Dong's pupils suddenly contracted.

Newton was in Universe No. 1666.

Von Neumann, Einstein, and the others were in Universe No. 1927.

They were not on the same timeline at all!

"No wonder the group was arguing so fiercely just now, talking about both Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, yet Newton did not say a single word."

"Logically speaking, with Newton's temper, if he saw someone discussing the overthrow of his Classical Mechanics, he would have jumped out and started cursing long ago."

"Could it be the group rules..."

"Block information interference between different parallel universes?"

Li Dong felt as though he had touched upon some deeper mechanism of this chat group.

This was not merely a group that crossed time. It was a hub connecting countless parallel universes.

Every big shot represented an independently developing technology tree.

"Then what about Gauss? What about Dmitri Mendeleev?"

"Which universes are they in?"

Looking at the "Azure Dragon Study Group" on his phone, Li Dong suddenly felt a sense of awe.

"Forget it, forget it."

Li Dong shook his head.

"When the sky falls, the tall people will hold it up. My current task is to make use of these resources, get into a good university first, then collect that twenty-thousand-yuan prize."

"As for everything else, I'll wait until I can truly speak with these big shots before worrying about it."