"Don't presume to dictate what the truth of the world ought to be!"
As Lucian's words rang out with resounding conviction, Douglas, Fernando, Brook, and the others fell into a brief silence. Indeed, they believed the truth of the world shouldn't be a die—but that didn't mean it truly wasn't. It was merely their belief, reasoned out from various natural phenomena.
After a dozen or so seconds, Douglas sighed. "I will use experiments to prove that the truth of the world is not a die. Actually, have you ever considered that what we call the probability cloud doesn't truly exist? The wave function merely characterizes a collection of electrons conforming to that probability—it doesn't represent individual electrons. Their own trajectories aren't omnipresent but follow fixed paths, intimately related to that probability distribution. We simply cannot observe or confirm it yet, which is why they appear chaotic after passing through a single crystal, until the overall probability emerges."
Whether or not he was willing to accept Lucian's probabilistic interpretation and the uncertainty principle, he reflected on himself—he shouldn't substitute what he believed to be true for the actual nature of the world, and then argue from that standpoint. Instead, he should demonstrate its falsehood from contradictions within Lucian's own theory and rigorous experimental results. That was the proper Archanist attitude.
So, drawing on his rough impressions from skimming the papers, he offered his view.
The "realm of true secrets" vanished, and with it the other anomalous phenomena. Lucian's atomic universe contracted as well. He answered very seriously, "Your Excellency the Chairman, setting aside the contradictions between your hypothesis and many existing derivations, we need only complete the electron double-slit interference experiment to verify whether it is correct or false."
"If electrons, before observation, possess their own trajectories like true particles, then each can pass through only one slit at a time and cannot split, while whether interference fringes appear and the final pattern's appearance both depend on the distance between the two slits. So if the electron double-slit interference experiment truly holds, how does the electron know the distance between the slit it passes through and the other slit, thereby strictly confining itself to a particular region rather than another?"
This was like a maze with seven differently colored passages at the entrance—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet—yet only the blue passage led to the exit. For a "wave" that could extend through space, it was as if both entrance and exit were open simultaneously, and it naturally knew blue was the correct path. But a particle with a fixed trajectory—say, a "person"—upon opening the entrance, could not simultaneously learn the state of the exit. How could it consistently choose the correct path and never enter a wrong passage?
For Douglas, Brook, and other legendary mages, the double-slit interference experiment was the very heart of the previous wave-particle war—entirely familiar to them. Understanding Lucian's words posed no difficulty, and they nodded one after another. If the electron experiment could be completed, it would conclusively demonstrate whether electrons were truly omnipresent before observation, like some uncanny phantom.
Lucian continued, "Actually, this experiment offers many other fascinating verifications. If double-slit interference fringes do appear, then at the very instant an electron passes through one of the slits, if we close the other slit—what do you think happens? Will it continue along the interference path toward the detection screen, or will it immediately 'know' that the other slit has been closed, and thus alter its state, proceeding instead along a diffraction path?"
For Douglas, Fernando, and their student Hathaway—who tended more toward the particle theory—this thought experiment pushed the electron's strangeness to even more staggering heights. If the electron changed its state, it either meant it was a true wave with no particle nature whatsoever, passing through both slits simultaneously, or one had to accept Lucian's description: it was a probability wave, diffuse throughout space, omnipresent. Or there was yet another, even more inconceivable possibility—that electrons were intelligent beings with their own consciousness and capabilities, able to "perceive and know" the condition of the other slit, and thus adjust themselves accordingly.
Though the last possibility fit remarkably well with the world of Arcane Magic, it contradicted human existence itself. If the fundamental constituents of matter possessed their own consciousness, wouldn't every person contain countless minds not their own?
Seeing His Excellency the Chairman and his master lost in silent thought, Lucian nodded slightly. "I understand that the slits required for electron double-slit interference are extraordinarily narrow and tiny—beyond the reach of current arcane experimental conditions. But I also know that many legendary spells have applications that outrun theory. I trust that after several years of refinement, Your Excellency and the others will complete a similar Magic Circle, alchemical device, or legendary spell. When that time comes, everything will become perfectly clear."
At that moment, Oliver regarded Lucian with a grave expression, the refined gentleman's bearing entirely gone from his face. "Even if electrons can achieve double-slit interference, it doesn't prove your probability wave. It only further confirms my idea—that electrons are true waves, merely manifesting particle-like properties in the form of wave packets under special conditions."
Lucian smiled. "Oliver, your idea contradicts numerous current experimental results. Those chaotic, random dots of light are the best evidence. Moreover, even in your own paper resolving the atomic structure model, your interpretation encounters certain problems—which I'm sure someone has already pointed out. The particle nature of the electron is beyond doubt. Mass, charge, momentum—all experimental results confirm this without question."
"Having problems doesn't mean it can't be improved. At any rate, it's more reliable than your probabilistic interpretation, which is nothing but a madman's ravings!" Oliver expressed his deep loathing for the probability interpretation. "I will find a way to prove its absurdity!"
With that, he turned and walked out. He needed a quiet environment to think through the flaws in Lucian's three papers—the kind of flaw that could deliver a fatal blow.
Seeing Oliver leave, Douglas regarded Lucian with a solemn expression. "I will attempt the electron double-slit interference experiment and also design additional thought experiments to deliberate further."
Thought experiments, as the name implied, were experiments existing only in the imagination—free from any environmental or external influence, unconstrained by experimental conditions. They explored purely from theory whether an experiment could be completed under perfect conditions, thereby proving falsehood or possibility. It was a method commonly employed by Archanists.
Brook also nodded gently. "Let the experimental results speak for themselves."
"I believe the bulk of current experimental results conform to your probabilistic interpretation. But I equally believe that your explanation—your quantum mechanics—is incomplete and overlooks many things." Douglas spoke with gentle but firm conviction, then departed together with Brook and Vincent, leaving only Fernando, Hathaway, and the dazed Helen behind.
Fernando's crimson eyes remained fixed on Lucian without change, and Lucian met his gaze with equal fearlessness. After a long while, Fernando finally waved his hand. "I need some time alone. I need to think about how to verify that your probabilistic interpretation is wrong."
This was a subversion of the entire system of Archania and Arcane Magic. Even someone as open-minded as he, as devoted to his students as he was, could not help but stand on the side of truth as he understood it—a brilliant conviction accumulated over untold years of heritage, from the Arcane Empire to the Arcane Council.
Lucian nodded slightly, sighed, and left Fernando's study together with Hathaway and Helen.
Hathaway had by now roughly recovered her composure. After a moment's thought, she said, "A probability-cloud electron is even harder to accept than a wave. But if all the results rigorously point to it, then however difficult to accept, we must accept it. The world doesn't bend to our will. But at least for now, there's no way to convincingly persuade us."
She too expressed her opposition, though not as vehemently or resolutely as Douglas of the Astrology Department, Brooke and Oliver of the Electromagnetic Department, and other grand Archanists.
This wasn't because her Archanist attitude was more admirable, nor because she was more broad-minded. It was simply that her area of expertise lay in elements—in atoms, the microscopic world, particles—in New Alchemy!
Helen snapped out of her daze and stared blankly at Lucian. "In the report you submitted, the conditions of the Immortal Corridor and the description of the probability cloud are remarkably similar. Did you get your inspiration from there? But how can the quantum states of microscopic particles appear in the macroscopic world? Is this the secret of immortality? The real secret isn't in the Immortal Sanctum, but in the Immortal Corridor?"
She was worthy of being Douglas's half-student—asking "why" came to her instinctively. And having not participated in the debate, she could calmly recall the report on the Immortal Corridor that Lucian had submitted.
"That did indeed give me the spark, but the inspiration came far more from the extensive experimental results. As for why the Immortal Corridor allows microscopic strangeness to manifest in the macroscopic world—that's a question for us to research. It may truly contain the secret of immortality." When Lucian had proposed the probabilistic interpretation, he had anticipated that others would make this connection, so he "admitted" it with characteristic candor.
With the "Immortal Corridor" as endorsement, Helen's expression turned contemplative, and Hathaway quietly rubbed her chin in thought.
"I will design experiments to determine whether your probabilistic interpretation and uncertainty principle are correct or not," Helen said straightforwardly. The "Immortal Corridor" being one way didn't necessarily mean electrons worked the same way—perhaps it was something else entirely.
But her tone was consequently more neutral than Oliver's, Brooke's, or Vincent's.
…………
Since the probabilistic interpretation and the uncertainty principle had not yet yielded definitive proof, Lucian naturally didn't need—as he had before—to create an atmosphere of discussion to win the Archanists over. He simply compiled his three papers into a single volume, *Fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics and New Alchemy*, and submitted it directly to the Archanist Review Committee.
The papers were, without question, forwarded to the committee member specializing in the elemental field. Larry, as a newly appointed member, received them at his home.
"Lord Evans's papers?" Such papers would certainly not be left to students or journal Archanists for review. Larry opened them with eager anticipation.
As he read on, the expression on his round, bearded face gradually froze into something utterly rigid—as though the papers contained the most terrifying, most staggering monster, one that was about to break free of its chains and devour the entire Archanist framework.
"How can this be… this interpretation is absurd…" Larry muttered to himself. But he quickly recalled the vast results of his own experiments and furrowed his brow. "Perhaps… this interpretation isn't entirely impossible. From the microscopic domain to the macroscopic world, there must be other factors that cause probability to vanish. At least the world we inhabit is real, objective, and material."
It was precisely in the wave of New Alchemy over the past few years that he had truly grown and matured. His inner acceptance of New Alchemy and of the strangeness of microscopic particles came from the heart. The influence of past experience and theory weighed less upon him, and he was not so resistant to this utterly preposterous theoretical interpretation—especially since it aligned with a wealth of experimental results and could resolve many problems.
(To be continued.)