Chapter Summaries

At CERN, leading physicists voted to support Lu Zhou's paper on the mass gap, though Peter Higgs objected to making a final decision without hearing Lu explain his work. CERN accepted the paper and added a search for the predicted m particle to its experimental schedule, leaving the physics community abuzz.

• Witten arrived at CERN's mass gap conference and was surprised to see Peter Higgs and other reclusive physicists in attendance.
• The CERN council president called for a vote, and more than seventy percent supported Lu Zhou's paper while about fifteen percent opposed it.
• Higgs explained that he could find no flaw in the paper but opposed a hasty decision, and Frank Wilczek asked Lu to send a student to present his work.
• The council president asked whether anyone still objected to the paper's arguments, and no one raised a hand.
• CERN accepted Lu Zhou's paper and added a search for the m particle to its experimental schedule for the coming year.
• CERN published its decision and revised schedule, triggering widespread excitement among scholars and the public.

After CERN invited Lu Zhou to present his work on the Mass Gap problem, he asked Luo Wenxuan to represent him. Lu Zhou also agreed to a prime-time CTV interview, which would take place at Jin University.

• Lu Zhou read the online reaction to CERN’s decision and received an invitation from Secretary-General Kalman Soma to present his theory and answer questions.
• Lu Zhou replied that he would consider the request and decide who would present the work.
• Lu Zhou called Luo Wenxuan and asked him to travel to CERN and give the presentation in his place.
• Lin Yuxiang told Lu Zhou that CTV wanted to interview him about solving the Yang–Mills Millennium Problem.
• Lu Zhou agreed to the interview and asked Lin Yuxiang to arrange a time with Assistant Zhao.

Lu Zhou and the Acoustics Research Institute tested improved sonoluminescence equipment and then moved their controlled-fusion experiments to dangerous hot liquid lithium. During a CTV interview, Lu Zhou discussed the future of physics and defended theoretical research, leaving the interview with his argument that apparently useless work was necessary for humanity’s future.

• Lu Zhou and Sheng Xianfu’s team increased the ultrasonic pressure, but their tests still showed unstable bubble temperatures and insufficient neutron multiplication for controlled fusion.
• Sheng Xianfu told Lu Zhou that the new experimental vessel was ready, and Lu Zhou ordered the team to inspect it before switching to liquid lithium.
• Lu Zhou’s team achieved higher acoustic pressure with liquid lithium, but an oxygen leak caused flames to flare inside the vessel before the researchers brought the situation under control.
• Lu Zhou met reporter He Ying at Jinling University for the scheduled CTV interview.
• Lu Zhou explained that theoretical physics sought a grand unified theory while researchers continued testing the Standard Model and investigating gravity.
• Lu Zhou told He Ying that theoretical discoveries might have little immediate practical use, but argued that without such research humanity would have no future.

After his CCTV interview, Lu Zhou learned that phase one of the Space Shuttle Assembly Center was complete and visited the site the next morning. He left without going inside and asked Wang Peng to find former soldiers to provide security for the facility.

• Lu Zhou answered He Ying’s questions about m Particles, the Strong Interaction, and the lunar landing project, then finished the CCTV interview.
• Chen Yushan told Lu Zhou that phase one of the Space Shuttle Assembly Center was complete, and their phone call ended awkwardly when she mentioned she was taking a bath.
• Lu Zhou asked Xiao Ai to prepare a bath, then went to bed and slept until morning.
• Lu Zhou inspected the assembly center’s completed factory buildings from outside and decided to return after the equipment had been installed.
• Lu Zhou asked Wang Peng to contact former military comrades about working as security consultants, and Wang Peng agreed to ask around as soon as possible.

Luo Wenxuan presented Lu Zhou’s Yang–Mills research at CERN, where the audience questioned his role and challenged him on the proof. When Luo faltered on a question about the isolated one-particle spectrum, Lu Zhou offered to dictate the answer.

• Witten encouraged Luo Wenxuan to relax before his presentation and asked after Lu Zhou.
• Luo Wenxuan began the CERN presentation on Lu Zhou’s behalf and explained his role in the Yang–Mills research.
• Luo Wenxuan delivered the paper’s main details and opened the question-and-answer session.
• An elderly professor asked how the paper established the isolated one-particle spectrum, and Luo Wenxuan could not answer.
• Lu Zhou spoke through the phone and told Luo Wenxuan, “I’ll dictate, you write.”

Luo Wenxuan presented Lu Zhou’s solution to a question about scattering theory at CERN, impressing the audience and learning that the elderly questioner was Peter Higgs. The Clay Mathematics Institute accepted CERN’s assessment of Lu Zhou’s proof, and Luo agreed to collect Lu Zhou’s award certificate while refusing the prize money.

• Luo Wenxuan used Lu Zhou’s phone explanation to answer an audience question about scattering theory, then fielded further questions with Lu Zhou’s help.
• Peter Higgs praised the presentation and asked Luo Wenxuan to thank Lu Zhou for unifying three fundamental forces.
• The physics community accepted the mass gap proof, and the Clay Mathematics Institute announced that it was considering awarding Lu Zhou the Millennium Problems medal and one-million-dollar prize.
• Luo Wenxuan told Lu Zhou he planned to visit France and asked for travel money.
• Lu Zhou offered Luo half the prize money to collect the award in France, but Luo refused the money and agreed only to attend the ceremony.

After receiving congratulations for solving another Millennium Problem, Lu Zhou learned that Sheng Xianfu’s team had achieved a more stable method of miniaturizing Controlled Fusion. Their breakthrough cleared the way for Lu Zhou to pair a miniature fusion generator with the Hall Propulsion Unit and pursue his vision for spaceflight.

• Senior Brother Luo refused Lu Zhou’s offer and said he would return the Clay Mathematics Institute’s check intact, so Lu Zhou sent him travel money and wished him well in France.
• Terence Tao congratulated Lu Zhou and asked what he would research next, and Lu Zhou said he wanted to use mathematics to change science.
• Sheng Xianfu called Lu Zhou and said the team believed it had succeeded, so Lu Zhou hurried to the laboratory.
• Sheng Xianfu explained that preheating and ionizing the deuterium-tritium gas mixture let liquid lithium and ultrasonic pressure stabilize the collapsing bubbles and increase their temperature for fusion.
• Lu Zhou realized the miniature fusion generator could power the Hall Propulsion Unit from Wreckage Three and make his planned advances in spaceflight possible.

Lu Zhou revealed that the Miniaturized Controlled Fusion Project had solved the reactor miniaturization problem and invited Academician Wang Zengguang and Director Li to inspect its experimental model. After the team demonstrated the device, rising neutron readings confirmed that the reactor worked.

• Lu Zhou told Wang Zengguang that the team had solved controlled fusion miniaturization, prompting Wang to rush to Jinling.
• Wang Zengguang and Director Li arrived at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and followed Lu Zhou to the reactor laboratory.
• Wang Zengguang and his students examined the small experimental reactor with disbelief.
• Sheng Xianfu started the reactor, heating lithium and injecting deuterium-tritium gas to create pulsing plasma.
• Wang Zengguang saw the neutron readings rise and confirmed that the reactor worked.

Lu Zhou explained that the successful Sonofusion reactor relied on deductions from Strong Electroweak Unification Theory. The reactor still needed Magnetohydrodynamic Generator Units, while its possible use on aircraft carriers and submarines awaited further testing and specialist design.

• Lu Zhou told Academician Wang that Sonoluminescence enabled the reactor and explained how theoretical calculations guided its design.
• Academician Wang recognized Lu Zhou's equations as a deduction from Strong Electroweak Unification Theory.
• Director Li asked whether the fusion device could power aircraft carriers, and Lu Zhou said naval experts would need to assess its use.
• Lu Zhou asked Academician Wang to complete the Magnetohydrodynamic Generator Units, and Wang promised an answer within two weeks.
• Academician Wang returned to Haizhou to work on the generators, while Director Li left for Shangjing to report the breakthrough to the Elder Council.

After the miniaturized Controlled Fusion reactor succeeded, national leaders kept the breakthrough secret to protect negotiations while planning further military applications. Lu Zhou told the research team to conceal the project and helped arrange new positions for its members.

• Director Li told the old man that Professor Lu’s miniaturized Controlled Fusion reactor had successfully ignited, and they agreed to keep the result secret during negotiations.
• Director Li raised concerns about fusion-powered spacecraft, but the old man told him to continue the aerospace program and have the Naval Equipment Research Institute improve the technology for possible nuclear submarines.
• Lu Zhou informed the project researchers that the achievement would remain confidential and that the project would be officially described as a failure.
• Sheng Xianfu chose to return to Institute 585, and Lu Zhou promised to recommend him for the director’s position.
• Professor Li Changxia chose to stay, and Lu Zhou offered him the directorship of Jin University’s planned Nuclear Physics Research Institute.

Lu Zhou visited Starry Sky Technology’s newly completed space shuttle assembly center, where automated production was ready to begin. He confirmed that he intended to build the shuttle for real and left plans for research and development and astronaut training to the future.

• A military-escorted convoy delivered heavy equipment to Starry Sky Technology’s space shuttle assembly center on the outskirts of Jinling City.
• Wang Peng asked Lu Zhou whether the shuttle project was real or merely meant to bluff foreign rivals, and Lu Zhou said he planned to build it for real.
• Lu Zhou inspected the automated factory and told Xiao Ai to follow the supplied blueprint without adding unnecessary features.
• Chen Yushan arrived as Starry Sky Technology’s CEO, and she and Lu Zhou joked about future trips to the Moon and a lunar hotel.

After completing the assembly center, Lu Zhou received the finished magnetohydrodynamic generator blueprints and prepared Xiao Ai to build the units. Meanwhile, Zhang Jianrong reviewed the Fusion Battery reactor plans in Shangjing and decided to go to Jinling immediately to discuss their unfamiliar technical route with Lu Zhou.

• Lu Zhou copied Xiao Ai’s backdoor program onto the assembly center’s servers and hosted a completion banquet for the workers and staff.
• Lu Zhou received an email from Academician Wang confirming that the magnetohydrodynamic generator units were finished, then downloaded and reviewed their blueprints.
• Lu Zhou asked Xiao Ai to build the generator units and said he would arrange for suppliers to deliver materials the next day.
• General Staff intelligence officers delivered the classified Controlled Fusion Miniaturization Technology materials to Zhang Jianrong at the Naval Equipment Research Institute.
• After studying the Fusion Battery reactor plans, Zhang Jianrong decided to take several researchers to Jinling immediately to discuss the new technical route with Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou showed Wang Peng the fully automated production line at the Space Shuttle Assembly Center, where he planned to manufacture a Magnetohydrodynamic Generator Unit. He was then told that Academician Zhang Jianrong from the Naval Equipment Research Institute had come to see him.

• Lu Zhou told Wang Peng that he planned to build an astronomical observatory to support theoretical research.
• Lu Zhou checked and signed for materials delivered by Zhongshan New Materials, then led Wang Peng into the workshop.
• Lu Zhou explained that he would machine a unit using the blueprints from the Nuclear Industry Group, and Wang Peng saw the AI-controlled production line operate without workers.
• A technician told Lu Zhou that Academician Zhang Jianrong from the Naval Equipment Research Institute was waiting for him, and Lu Zhou went to meet him.

Lu Zhou met Academician Zhang Jianrong and his two assistants, who had come to discuss his Controlled Fusion Miniaturization Technology. After seeing Zhang’s questions, Lu Zhou offered to show them the technology firsthand, leaving the visitors surprised and curious about what he planned to reveal.

• Lu Zhou recognized Academician Zhang Jianrong and recalled his pioneering work on the first generation of nuclear-powered submarines.
• Zhang told Lu Zhou that he and his assistants could not understand the design approach in the materials on Controlled Fusion Miniaturization Technology and asked for his guidance.
• Zhang handed Lu Zhou a notebook of questions, and Lu Zhou read through it before returning it.
• Lu Zhou suggested that they see the technology rather than rely on explanations, and the visitors reacted with surprise.
• When Zhang asked whether the fusion device was there, Lu Zhou said the experimental reactor prototype was elsewhere but promised to show them something even more powerful.

Lu Zhou showed Zhang Jianrong and two researchers an automated workshop where Xiao Ai had built and started a Sonofusion Reactor with Magnetohydrodynamic Generator Units. The reactor powered nearby wind turbines, and Lu Zhou revealed its theoretical maximum output was 100 MW, leaving the visitors stunned by the portable fusion technology.

• Lu Zhou led Zhang Jianrong and two researchers into the automated workshop, where they saw the Sonofusion Reactor and its Magnetohydrodynamic Generator Units being assembled.
• Lu Zhou explained that Xiao Ai had nearly finished building the reactor, then demonstrated it as the device entered its preheating and startup stages.
• Lu Zhou led the visitors outside, where they saw wind turbines powered by the reactor.
• Zhang Jianrong asked about the reactor’s maximum output, and Lu Zhou said it could theoretically reach 100 MW by controlling the deuterium-tritium gas injection rate.
• Zhang Jianrong and the researchers recognized that Lu Zhou had miniaturized controlled fusion after seeing the reactor generate power.

After the Pangu Reactor trial, Lu Zhou hosted Academician Zhang Jianrong and two Naval Equipment Research Institute researchers, who came to study Sonofusion. Zhang urged Lu Zhou to apply to the Academy of Engineering, and the chapter ended as Lu Zhou received a sudden phone call while settling down to work.

• Lu Zhou shut down the reactor after its trial run and arranged for Zhang Jianrong and the two researchers to learn about Sonofusion from Professor Li Changxia.
• Lu Zhou found the visitors rooms in Jin University’s faculty dormitories and treated them to grilled fish, where Zhang Jianrong drank baijiu and asked about Lu Zhou’s academy plans.
• Lu Zhou said he intended to seek membership in the Academy of Sciences, but Zhang Jianrong urged him to apply to the Academy of Engineering and promised to recommend him.
• Lu Zhou returned to his villa, bathed, and went to his study to work before a call suddenly came through to his phone.

Lu Zhou prepared a proposal for the Manned Lunar Landing Project, which called for a launch system capable of delivering fifty tons to low Earth orbit. After finishing and submitting his feasibility report, he learned that Luo Wenxuan had mailed him his Clay Mathematics Institute medal and prize check while extending his vacation in Europe.

• Chen Yushan told Lu Zhou that the Commission of Science and Technology for National Defense had invited Starry Sky Technology to bid on the Manned Lunar Landing Project.
• Lu Zhou decided to propose using fusion batteries and electric propulsion to meet the project's fifty-ton low Earth orbit target.
• Lu Zhou gathered data at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and the Space Shuttle Assembly Center while writing his feasibility report.
• Luo Wenxuan told Lu Zhou that he had mailed him the Clay Mathematics Institute medal and prize check and planned to keep traveling in Europe.
• Lu Zhou finished his report and emailed it to the relevant office at the Space Administration.

At an Aerospace Administration meeting, experts debated Professor Lu’s proposal to apply fusion batteries and electric propulsion to a reusable space shuttle. After Director Sun revealed confidential data about the technology, a majority voted to approve the project.

• Director Sun convened experts to discuss Professor Lu’s paper and the space shuttle proposal.
• The attendees argued over whether China should pursue a reusable space shuttle despite earlier objections and technical doubts.
• Director Sun’s secretary displayed confidential information about the fusion battery and its projected 100 MW output.
• The experts debated whether the power and proposed electric propulsion system could deliver kilonewton-level thrust.
• Director Sun held a show-of-hands vote, and eleven of twenty experts supported the proposal.
• Director Sun approved the project and adjourned the meeting.

Lu Zhou worked on a scaled-up Hall Thruster for Starry Sky Technology’s space shuttle and learned the project could cost one billion US dollars. The chapter ended with news that the Space Administration had approved the funding application.

• Lu Zhou inspected the Hall Thruster prototype and discussed its size and performance with Xiao Ai.
• Lu Zhou concluded that the Fusion Battery’s output and the power management system needed to be improved to run the thrusters.
• Hou Guang told Lu Zhou that the shuttle would need extensive redesign and estimated the project would cost one billion US dollars.
• Lu Zhou considered ways to raise the money, including selling East Asia Power shares or seeking a bank loan.
• The assembly center secretary told Lu Zhou that the Space Administration had approved their funding application.

Lu Zhou secured 500 million in funding for his space shuttle company and urged Hou Guang to pursue government projects to cover future costs. Meanwhile, the CIA received intelligence that Hua Nation might be developing compact controlled fusion and ordered closer surveillance of Lu Zhou and the Naval Equipment Research Institute.

• Lu Zhou learned that 500 million had been approved and told Hou Guang to focus on the work while he handled future funding.
• Lu Zhou urged Hou Guang to seek major projects at the year-end bidding conference to stabilize the company’s finances.
• A CIA agent reported that the Naval Equipment Research Institute might be developing a compact Controlled Fusion device with an estimated output of 500 to 1,000 megawatts.
• The CIA director considered whether Lu Zhou was connected to the research, despite reports that his Sonofusion project had failed and been disbanded.
• The CIA director ordered more agents sent to Jinling to watch Lu Zhou’s Space Shuttle Assembly Center and to monitor the Naval Equipment Research Institute in Shangjing.