Chapter 655: New and Old
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“Don’t stipulate what the truth of the world is and what it is not?”
Hearing Lucien’s firm declaration, Douglas, Fernando and Brook fell into brief silence. It was true that just because they believed the truth of the world was not dice did not mean that it was certainly not. Their thoughts were only their own ideas. They were not the spokespeople of nature after all.
After ten seconds, Douglas heaved a sigh. “I’ll prove that the truth of the world is not dice with experiments. In fact, has it ever occurred to you that the cloud of probabilities does not exist at all? What the wave function indicates is the community of electrons that matches such probabilities, but a single electron. They do not exist everywhere but have a fixed route that is closely related to the probabilistic distribution. They are only in a disordered state after passing through the monocrystal because we cannot observe and confirm them.”
He reflected on himself although he was unwilling to admit Lucien’s probabilistic explanation and uncertainty principle. It was inappropriate to mistake the truth he believed in for the real nature of the world. Instead, he should prove that Lucien’s theory was wrong by finding its self-contradictions or with strict experiments. That was the right arcana attitude.
Therefore, he proposed his opinion based on his impression after reading the paper.
The Land of Truth was gone, and so were the other unusual views. Lucien also canceled the Atomic Universe and replied solemnly, “Mr. President, ignoring the contradictions of your speculation to many deductions, we can find out whether it is correct by the double-slit experiment.”
“If the electron has its own trajectory like the real particles, it will only be able to pass one slit at a time and cannot appear in both, and whether or not the interferometric fringe will show solely depends on the distance between the two splits. So, if the double-slit experiment with electrons works, how will the electron know exactly the distance between the slit it goes through and the other slit, thereby asking itself to land in one area instead of the other?”
It’s like a maze which had seven entrances that were marked in different colors but only one exit that was in blue. For ‘waves’ that could extend in space, it would essentially be opening the entrance and the exit at the same time, and it naturally knew that the blue path was the correct one. However, for particles that had fixed trajectories, they would not know the status of the exit after they opened the entrance. How could they make themselves walk on the correct path every time instead of any wrong channels?
For Douglas, Brook and the other legendary sorcerers, the double-slit experiment was the hotspot in the War between Wave and Particle. Easily understanding what Lucien tried to say, they nodded and agreed that the experiment could confirm whether or not electrons were ubiquitous like ghosts before they were observed.
Lucien went on. “In fact, the experiment can confirm many other things. If the interferometric fringe does appear, what will happen if we shut the other slit when the electron passes through one of the slits? Will it go to the screen according to the route of interference, or will it ‘immediately’ go to the other slit that has been shut, thereby reaching its destination in the way of diffraction?”
For Douglas, Fernando and Hathaway who favored the particle theory, such an experiment made electrons even more astonishing and weird. If the electron changed its state, it would either suggest that it was the real wave that did not have any feature of particles, which was why it could pass two slits simultaneously, or that Lucien’s explanation was true that it was probability wave that existed everywhere in space. Or maybe, there would be another even more unbelievable possibility, which was that electrons were intelligent and had their own self-awareness. That was why it could ‘perceive’ and ‘know’ what happened to the other slit and change itself accordingly.
Although the last possibility fit the status of the magic world, it did not agree with the very existence of human beings. If the foundation of matters was conscious, did it mean that every human had countless thoughts that did not belong to themselves?
Seeing that the president and his teacher thought in silence, Lucien nodded and said, “I know that the double-slit experiment’s requirement cannot be met yet, but I also know that many legendary spells are applied before they are explained. I have no doubt that you will complete devices that can accomplish the experiment. Everything will be clear after that.”
At this moment, Oliver looked at Lucien solemnly, no longer like a playboy. “Even if the double-slit experiment works out, it will not prove that your probabilistic wave is correct. It will only further prove my theory that electrons are real waves that only behave as particles as wave packets in special statuses.”
Lucien smiled. “Oliver, your idea contradicts many experiments, as can be seen by the messy spots of light. Also, your explanation has certain problems even in your own paper that deals with the atomic structure. I believe somebody must’ve pointed it out for you. The particle nature of electrons is undeniable, as proved by the experiments with mass, electric charge and momentum.”
“Problems can be rectified. It is at least more trustworthy than your probabilistic explanation. That’s like the dream talk of a lunatic.” Oliver expressed his hatred of the probabilistic explanation. “I will find a way to prove that it is wrong!”
He turned around and left. He needed a quiet environment to find the critical flaws in Lucien’s papers.
Seeing that Oliver left, Douglas looked at Lucien solemnly, “I will try the double-slit experiment with electrons. I will also devise thought experiments.”
Thought experiments were experiments that were purely imagined. All the other factors and restraints were eliminated, and they purely discussed whether or not the result could be achieved in perfect conditions. It was a common approach that the arcanists adopted.
Brook nodded slightly. “Let’s discuss when the experiment is done.”
“I believe that many experiments agree with your probabilistic explanation, but I also believe that your explanation and your quantum mechanics are not complete. You must’ve ignored many things.” Douglas said gently but firmly before he left with Brook and Vicente, leaving Fernando, Hathaway and Hellen stunned in the library.
Fernando stared at Lucien with his red eyes, and Lucien looked back at him fearlessly. After a long time, he finally waved his arms. “I need to calm down and think how to prove that your probabilistic explanation is wrong.”
It was a disruption of the whole arcana and magic system. Even someone as open-minded and caring as him had to choose the side of truth in his mind. That was the glorious belief that had been passed on from the Magic Empire to the Congress of Magic for too many years!
Lucien nodded slightly and sighed, before he left Fernando’s library with Hathaway and Hellen.
Hathaway had basically resumed her calmness. Thinking for a moment, she said, “Electrons as clouds of probabilities are more unacceptable than electrons as waves, but if all the results prove so, we have to accept it despite our resistance. The world is not based on our thinking. However, you cannot persuade us yet.”
She also expressed her objection, but she was not as determined as Douglas, Brook and Oliver.
It was not because her attitude was better, or her mind was more open, but because the fields she were best at were atoms, elements, particles and the new alchemy!
Hellen was back to herself from her daze. Looking at Lucien, she asked dizzily. “In the report you submitted, the Pathway of Immortality appears very similar to your description of the cloud of probabilities. Were you inspired from there? But how could the quantum state of microscopic particles appear in the macroscopic world? Is that the mysteries of immortality? The real secrets do not lie in the Chamber of Immortality but the Pathway of Immortality?”
As Douglas’ half student, she did have keen instincts. Not participating in the debate, she rationally remembered the report on the Pathway of Immortality that Lucien submitted.
“It’s true that I was inspired by that, but I drew most of my conclusions from the experiments. As for why the Pathway of Immortality manifested the weirdness of the microworld in the macroscopic domain, that’s what we still need to work on. Perhaps, the mysteries of immortality are truly contained there.” Lucien had guessed that somebody would associate his probabilistic explanation with that, so he ‘admitted’ it frankly.
Now that it was endorsed by the Pathway of Immortality, Hellen was deep in thought, and Hathaway scratched her chin, too.
“I will devise experiments to check whether or not the probabilistic explanation and the uncertainty principle are correct.” Said Hellen honestly. “Just because it is the case for the Pathway of Immortality doesn’t mean it is the case for electrons. What if it represents something else?”
However, she sounded much more neutral than Brook, Oliver and Vicente.
……
Because proof of the probabilistic explanation and the uncertainty principle hadn’t appeared, Lucien did not have to build the atmosphere for the arcanists to accept it gradually like he did before. He simply combined the three papers into ‘Basics of Quantum Mechanics and the New Alchemy’ and submitted it to the Arcana Review Board.
Without a question, the paper was transferred to the members in the field of elements. As a newly-promoted member, Larry saw the papers at his home.
“Mr. Evans’ papers?” Those papers certainly could not be given to his students for review. Larry read them himself with great interest.
As he read on, the round face on his beard was completely frozen, as if he were confronting the most terrible and ferocious monster that was about to break free and swallow the whole arcana system!
“How could it be so… This explanation is too absurd…” Murmured Larry. But he soon recalled the results of his many experiments. Frowning, he said, “Perhaps, such an explanation is not entirely unacceptable. There must be other factors between the microscope and the macroscope that extinguish the probabilities. At the very least, the world we live in is concrete, objective and material.”
He had grown in the tide brought by the new alchemy in the past few years. Therefore, he acknowledged the new alchemy and the uncanniness of the microscopic particles from the bottom of his heart. The influence of the previous experience and theories had greatly dwindled, and he did not resist such a preposterous theoretical explanation too much, particularly when it matched many experiment results and could resolve a lot of problems.
