Inside the Atomic Research Institute.
Heidi, Anik, and the others were all waiting for the new issues of Arcane and Magic. The series of papers on quantum field theory published at the beginning of the starting month had inspired these Archanists who had been delving deep into the microscopic domain, giving them a sense of the direction for breakthroughs. So through their own diligent study and under Lucian's guidance, they quickly grasped the current knowledge of quantum field theory and each completed a related paper for discussion with the Great Archanists and high-level mages.
Among them, Anik and Sprent were themselves among the founders of quantum field theory—their joint paper had applied the technique of second quantization to electron systems—so they had no great difficulty understanding and grasping it. They quickly kept pace with Lucian, Brooke, Fernando, and the other Great Archanists, becoming dizzy from the "infinities" and wishing they could take them all down together in mutual destruction.
"At lower-order approximations, quantum field theory is remarkable. Unfortunately, when it comes to higher-order approximations…" Katrina sighed, not voicing the word "infinity"—otherwise Anik might have been fine, but Sprent would definitely have gone crazy.
Heidi, however, rarely let troubles linger in her mind. She said with a grin, "Regardless, this is a field that can help us understand the true nature of electromagnetic force and the secrets of the electron!"
She paused. "Er, no, at least quantum superposition states, the observer effect, and such still show no hope of being explained by quantum field theory for now."
"Moreover, the different processes by which charged particles exchange photons to produce electromagnetic force have given us some inspiration—it seems we've grasped the 'occasions' where positrons might appear. We'll need to design some collision experiments." Cherry added for Heidi.
Many times, discovering a particle isn't as simple as finding the right ray and observing its trail. You have to make the "ray" collide with different particles, at different positions, at different energies, producing different reactions (splitting or otherwise), and then find the anomalous trail among all those complex and noisy reaction results.
Without theoretical guidance, relying solely on experimental exploration would be like being headless flies, able only to accumulate knowledge through long stretches of time. That was why Legendary Mages and Great Mages had yet to discover anything particularly valuable from cosmic rays for the time being.
Heidi said proudly, "So this will be the main content of our experiments at the Cosmic Observatory. With Teacher's attention on positrons, you won't be able to outcompete us!"
Sprent snorted. "My attention is on quantum field theory anyway. There's still so much knowledge to learn and master. I have no intention of going to the Cosmic Observatory anytime soon."
"Actually, I find Her Highness Hathaway's paper quite inspiring and aesthetically beautiful. When protons and neutrons are considered the same fundamental particle, I genuinely felt the simple beauty of matter's essence." Reiliya's daily research involved determining the properties of different materials at different temperatures, then synthesizing new materials based on those properties and repeating experiments to find the reasons behind their superconducting phenomena—tedious and complex work. So she greatly appreciated the viewpoint that the essence of all complex things ultimately reduces to simplicity.
Anik said calmly, "It's not that simple. Research on atomic decay phenomena over the past few years seems to indicate that protons and neutrons aren't as simple as we thought—or rather, the situation inside the atomic nucleus isn't as simple as we imagined. When it decays, it can actually emit electrons and the 'neutrino' hypothesized by the Storm Lord. Oliver even hypothesized that neutrons could transform into protons. What secrets this harbors, whether it heralds something—it's still hard to say."
Reiliya roughly understood his meaning. She nodded gently. "I know, but according to some Archanists' views, neutrinos are nearly impossible to detect."
Neutrinos carry no charge, and their mass is extremely, incredibly light—they barely interact with matter. So Archanists called them "invisible particles," meaning they were extraordinarily difficult to observe.
"As long as it exists, we can observe it through well-designed experiments!" Sprent was very confident about this. Then he shook his head. "But the most important thing right now is, without a stable reactor, many experiments are difficult to carry out."
"Yes, without a large fission reactor, there's no stable source of particles, and we can't complete certain experiments needed for further research in the microscopic domain." Katrina sighed. "The urgent need for a fission reactor now isn't just for the energy domain, but more importantly for deeper research in the microscopic domain. This is what the vast majority of Archanists yearn for."
Heidi burst out laughing. "The vast majority of Archanists would say they're completely unaware and don't yearn for it at all—they can't keep up with progress in the microscopic domain anymore."
As soon as she finished speaking, she jumped to her feet and greeted with a grin, "Good morning, Teacher."
She was the first to notice Lucian at the doorway.
Lucian took out a stack of journals from his storage pouch and said with a smile, "I happened to run into the apprentice delivering your journals, so I brought them along."
At this gesture from their teacher, Heidi and the others weren't overcome with terror and awe. After all, they knew their teacher's personality very well—when he did something like this, it really was just convenient, with no other meaning behind it.