Chapter 601: Another Hallucination
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Lucien had only just learnt the matrix mechanics. Also, he intentionally did not refer to the files in his spirit library but inferred it with his memories and understanding. Therefore, it was not as fluent and natural as the papers he wrote before, when he could write more than ten pages without any stop under the assistance of magic. It was quite troublesome this time.
Lucien could’ve picked Dirac’s version of quantum mechanics that was more concise, beautiful and easier for the arcanists to understand, and he could’ve handled it with the mathematical tools in the previous arcana system. However, the matrix could be applied to a variety of fields in the future. This was the best opportunity to come up with it. After all, he would throw out Dirac’s paper in two months and free the arcanists from the maze of matrix.
In the first part of the paper, Lucien spent plenty of time constructing the matrix as a mathematical tool, explaining its definition, rules of calculation, etc. Before he really began the content of quantum mechanics.
Starting from the equations of electron movement, Lucien expanded it mathematically and, through the enormous and intricate calculations of the matrix, based on the observed arcana values, he constructed the whole model into what seemed to be the classic Douglas-Oliver system, except that the means of calculation in the new system was the matrix.
While he wrote with difficulty, Lucien gradually grasped the knowledge about the matrix and had a deeper understanding about the unfriendly, complicated mathematical tool. In the meantime, he had a deeper interest in its arcana significance in quantum mechanics.
Time went by, and the night out of the window was darker and darker. The ground was covered in a thick layer of snow.
After a long time, the paper before Lucien was already a thick pile, and he wrote faster and faster.
Finally, Lucien raised his hand after drawing to a heavy full stop, which marked the end of the main body of the paper and the establishment of the real quantum mechanics, unlike the half-classic and half-quantum amalgamation in the model of the new alchemy!
Lucien did not stop there. Instead, he continued his deduction with the new theory that was matrix mechanics. The quantization conditions that were imposed on electrons were inferred after the complicated but clear calculation!
Soundlessly, Lucien’s cognitive world surfaced. Already half-solidified, it was no longer satisfied by the illusionary changes in the soul but filled up the whole library. The stars high above were like lamps illuminating the floor. The spots of elements were displayed as models of atoms. The electrons which moved around neutrons and protons were like an unreal, unpredictable cloud that now behaved as waves and as particles.
The floating light and shadow in the show was like the most hideous and peculiar hell, in which a lot of devils seemed to be roaring crazily. “Stop! Stop! It’s going to be the deepest level of hell if you go down any further!”
“Go on! Just go on! You will release the most terrible and unimaginable monster!” The falling snowflakes were like pure angels.
“It will destroy the entire world! And you, vicious sorcerer, your heart will be dug out and air-dried on the volcano!”
The hallucinatory sounds entered Lucien’s ears, but he did not stop. He continued his deduction with the matrix and compared it with the data of the spectral experiments, the empirical equations and the many experiments regarding the new alchemy.
After his cognitive world surfaced, the model of the atom was kept the same. Until the data was perfectly matched, Lucien was not going to change his cognitive world recklessly.
…
Results were accomplished. They matched the experiment results perfectly!
The equations were deduced naturally and fit the empirical equations!
The dark night reached the deepest and most intense moment. Snowflakes were flying like the paper flowers at a funeral, bringing forth desperation, grief, silence and death.
The roars of the devil were more and more ghastly. “You are peeping at the truth of the world! You will be torn apart!”
“I curse you to eternal pain and suffering!”
Angels also threatened him. “You are not opening the gate to Mountain Paradise but the cage of destruction! Sinner! The world will be the opposite of your imagination!”
“Die now! The truth of the world must not be desecrated and approached! Damn arcanist, you will never find anything you want! I will pluck your soul and burn it in fire for ten thousand years!”
Lucien heard the hallucinatory sounds again. Not knowing whether it was because of the unsteadiness of his mind, or the feedback of the real world, or perhaps both, he shook his head, took a deep breath, and came up with the most pivotal equations in matrix mechanics that were most in violation of general mathematical rules: The multiplication of the momentum and the location was not equal to the multiplication of the location and the momentum!
The moment the equation that did not agree with the commutative property was inferred, the roars of devils and the threatenings of angels all became begging:
“End it! Please tear it apart! This is the key to the gate of destruction!”
“If you stop, you will be the savior of the world that will be remembered forever.”
“As long as you stop, I will satisfy all of your requirements.”
In his cognitive world, the model of the orbit of electrons changed again. The electrons in the form of clouds were separated naturally according to three quantum numbers. After moving randomly for years, they finally had their own distribution patterns. Protons and neutrons had similar changes, too, which immediately condensed Lucien’s soul and cognitive world that were not very solid yet. The early version of the meditation method based on the wave-particle duality was finally upgraded!
The boundless, intangible, illusionary starry sky appeared again. Attracted by the strange and yet familiar force, the complicated and esoteric cubic symbols of magic appeared in Lucien’s cognitive world and constructed into a weird, unimaginable magic model.
Since his cognitive world had half-solidified, Lucien controlled the range of his influence, making it barely possible for outsiders to notice anything wrong. If they looked at Lucien’s ‘Babel’ from the blizzard, they would only see the weirdly shaking light in one of the windows, as if countless devils were dancing.
“Consider the values that do not agree with the commutative property of multiplication as non-commutation values…” Lucien did not stop at all but went on. “…In the meantime, a pair of non-commutation values cannot be determined at the same time. If you know one of them accurately, the other will definitely be uncertain. For example, if you completely understand the speed and mass of an electron, you will lose track of it and can never discover it again…”
“…After deduction, time and energy are also similar. When time is shortened to a single accurate moment, energy will expand and plummet uncannily, and huge fluctuations of energy will appear in the vacuum… Perhaps, such ‘vacuum fluctuations’ happens around us all the time.”
“Ahh!” Miserable screams echoed.
“Wu!” Grievous moans echoed.
After the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle was written by Lucien, the ‘devils’ and ‘angels’ became desperate and then vanished into thin air!
The darkness and the snowy land were the same as before, but the snowflakes that had been flying like paper flowers stopped!
In Lucien’s cognitive world, the weird magic model had been successfully constructed. It turned out to be a new legendary magic. Based on his intuition, Lucien could tell that the spell that was based on quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle was a very weird one that seemed able to sabotage determinism, or the law of causality, which the arcanists of this world believed in.
Looking at the result of his deduction that matched the experiment data and empirical equations perfectly, Lucien closed his eyes. What exactly was the difference between the two worlds?
Why was there spirits and magic in one of them and not in the other one?
He had heard hallucinatory sounds twice. The first time, it was when he came up with the Planck constant, which marked the beginning of quantum mechanics, and the second time, he established quantum mechanics. Was it the reason behind everything? His mood might’ve been unsteady the first time, but he was certainly calm this time.
Lucien had read the introduction to the development of quantum mechanics in the spirit library. After learning a thing or two about the theories that were more magical than magic, more mythic than myths, and more fantastic than fantasies, he believed that he could find an explanation from the path.
“I have to pay a visit to the Furnace of Souls sometime. Perhaps, I can discover the secrets of souls from there and understand why the two worlds are different.” Lucien took a deep breath and made up his mind to visit the World of Souls. He would never be reassured if he couldn’t unravel the secret. He would suspect the reality of this world and that somebody was manipulating everything. Other people might be satisfied as it was, but he would rather die than to accept it willingly!
Of course, Lucien was not a reckless man. He would never go to the Temple of Spirits unless he became level-two legendary and was led by the grand arcanists such as President Douglas.
Calming himself down, Lucien drew out the part about the uncertainty principle and kept it in the internal pocket of the Robe of Grand Arcanists. Then, he eliminated the proof that matched the experiment data and the empirical formulas in the remaining part, planning to let the arcanists finish them. It would be easier for them to accept the theory if the results of their deduction based on the theory matched the experiment results.
After he sorted out the paper and kept it in his storage bag, Lucien realized that it was already six o’clock in the morning, and it was still the most intense darkness outside.
“The night has passed without me knowing it…” His hands in his pockets, Lucien walked to the window and looked at the cold, gloomy night and the snow that was reflecting shimmers. He observed in a low voice, “The darkness before dawn is truly the deepest and heaviest.”
Hardly had he concluded his sentence when an orange light broke the heavy darkness and drove away the coldness from far away.
The sun rose slowly, spraying brilliance that dyed the snow red, making it look like a furious fire that was burning in dreamy and glamorous colors.
The overwhelming snow began to melt, unfreezing the world, as if the ‘fire’ burnt up the obsolete stuff and brought a new order.
The splendid fire spread from before Lucien’s eyes all the way to the infinite horizon. He couldn’t help but narrow and eyes and said to himself: “Dawn is here.”
Yes, the dawn of the new alchemy had come!
Just like the sun, it would never be stopped again. It would illuminate the era with its light and heat!
