Sonoluminescence Analysis

Lü Yongchang slowly shook his head.

"If the sun was affected by something unknown to humanity, then everything would be consistent with those laws."

Qiu Tianzhong froze, standing blankly in place as he stared at Lü Yongchang with vacant eyes. "Then... what sort of thing could affect the sun?"

Lü Yongchang shook his head again. "I don't know."

He was telling the truth.

Even in his previous life, humanity had never discovered what had caused the sun's abnormal changes.

Of course, that also had to do with when humanity discovered those changes.

In his previous life, humanity had barely had any time to investigate the cause. All resources had been allocated to the underground cities and the starship project.

Even now, with the timing of the sun's changes altered, Lü Yongchang had only a vague suspicion.

Perhaps the changes in the sun had been deliberately caused!

Of course, whoever was responsible certainly did not belong to Earth's civilization.

But without evidence, he could not casually voice his suspicions.

Perhaps Lü Yongchang's words had given Academician Qiu Tianzhong some hope, for his expression gradually eased.

"...Then what should we do now?"

Qiu Tianzhong was no fool.

Since this matter could be discussed openly in the Xia Country Great Hall, that alone spoke to its credibility.

Xia Country's leaders would never make such an elementary mistake!

Qiu Tianzhong's question also brought everyone present back to their senses.

Since the situation was already irreversible, what they truly needed to consider was how to deal with it!

Seeing everyone turn their attention back to him, Lü Yongchang's tense expression relaxed a little.

He clicked and dragged the mouse, opening another PowerPoint presentation.

"As I said earlier, the first thing Xia Country needs to accomplish is the Moon Palace Project."

"Of course, with Xia Country's current level of technology... or rather, humanity's, carrying out the Moon Palace Project is impossible."

As he spoke, Lü Yongchang gave a helpless shrug.

The faces of the academicians and professors present darkened slightly.

He was right.

To date, the only people who had actually set foot on the moon were the few astronauts who had participated in the United States' Apollo program decades earlier.

As for Xia Country... although it had launched a lunar exploration program, it was still a long way from a crewed moon landing.

"Therefore, our most urgent task is to climb the technology tree."

Lü Yongchang clicked the mouse as he spoke.

The projector's light flickered slightly, and the names of three technologies slowly appeared on the screen.

"Fusion Reactor Miniaturization Technology"

"Electric Propulsion Technology"

"Spaceplane Technology"

After the meeting ended, Lü Yongchang did not pause for a moment. He headed straight for the Great Xia Bay Nuclear Physics Laboratory.

Construction had already begun around the Great Xia Bay Nuclear Physics Laboratory.

According to Senator Li Chief's plans, the Great Xia Bay Nuclear Physics Laboratory would be expanded to ten times its original size!

Once the expansion was complete, it would be renamed the Xia Country First Laboratory.

And the Xia Country First Laboratory's primary mission would be to lead the entire population of Xia Country into space!

Inside the Great Xia Bay Nuclear Physics Laboratory... no, the Xia Country First Laboratory.

With a serious expression, Lü Yongchang studied the water-filled transparent container in the center of the laboratory bench.

The laboratory had spent several days building this container for the sonoluminescence experiment.

"Yongchang, are you sure sonoluminescence has anything to do with nuclear fusion?"

Fang Xu looked apprehensively at Lü Yongchang beside him and asked in a low voice.

This thing... frankly, it did not look particularly promising to him.

Lü Yongchang nodded lightly. "I'm sure!"

Fang Xu's eyes brightened slightly. "Oh?! How do you know?"

"Did you read a paper about it?"

Lü Yongchang gave Fang Xu a sidelong glance and tossed out his answer. "My intuition!"

Fang Xu: "..."

"Get ready to begin the experiment!" Without explaining much to Fang Xu, Lü Yongchang spoke directly to the researcher operating the equipment nearby.

A moment later, the Ultrasonic Wave Generator beneath the transparent container began operating.

Fine ripples instantly spread across the water's surface inside the transparent container.

Lü Yongchang kept his eyes fixed on the monitoring data beside him.

When he saw the ultrasonic oscillation frequency on the computer screen reach the target value, his eyes flashed.

"Quick! Inject the gas!"

The researcher beside him swallowed and hurriedly pressed a button on the control console.

A stream of tiny bubbles appeared at the bottom of the transparent container.

Buoyancy carried the bubbles slowly upward.

Something remarkable happened!

Under the influence of the ultrasonic waves, the bubbles oscillated back and forth in the liquid.

Then, at the instant the bubbles collapsed to their smallest volume, a faint glow shone from within them!

"It worked!"

Excitement flashed in Lü Yongchang's eyes.

He immediately turned toward the researcher beside him. "Was all the data recorded?!"

The researcher typed rapidly on the keyboard, then let out a small sigh of relief.

"Professor, all the data was successfully recorded!"

"Good!" The delight in Lü Yongchang's eyes deepened. "Transfer all the experimental data to my computer."

"I'll need to shut myself away for a while. Don't disturb me!"

"Oh, and Fang Xu, keep experimenting with different solutions and different ultrasonic frequencies. I need more data!"

With that, Lü Yongchang strode toward his office!

Inside the office.

Lü Yongchang frowned deeply at the dense jumble of data on the computer in front of him.

In the sonoluminescence event just now, the temperature at the instant of bubble collapse had not been particularly high.

It had only reached around one hundred thousand degrees Celsius.

Compared with controlled nuclear fusion, which routinely required hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius, one hundred thousand degrees... was not even in the same league!

To achieve controlled nuclear fusion through sonoluminescence, he first had to solve the problem of the upper temperature limit during bubble collapse!

At the very least, the temperature inside the bubbles had to reach the threshold required to trigger nuclear fusion, didn't it?

The most straightforward way to solve that problem was to build a mathematical model!

As for the factors affecting the temperature during bubble collapse...

Without exaggeration, Lü Yongchang could work out the most basic deductions in his sleep.

It came down to the ultrasonic frequency, the type of solution, or perhaps the shape of the container.

That was also why he had specifically instructed Fang Xu before shutting himself away.

Any mathematical model needed a vast amount of experimental data to support it!

Watching all kinds of data stream continuously onto his computer, Lü Yongchang took a deep breath.

Then he reached for the fountain pen beside him.

"Pop!"

The pen cap came off with a crisp, clear sound.

In the next instant, his gaze changed completely.

It was time to work himself to the bone!

The quiet office was immediately filled with the rustling scratch of his pen nib across sheets of draft paper!