Lu Zhou found himself on fire.

And it's a very thorough kind.

Although this kind of thing is not once or twice, this time it was completely unexpected by him. He thought that the paper would only cause a sensation in the physics community after it was thrown out, but he didn't expect that even the headline of the Washington Post would be arranged for him.

It's not all.

Columbia TV also invited Professor Suskander of Stanford University to do an interview program on popular science for this news.

As one of the founders of string theory, Professor Susskind can be said to be one of the elders in the field of theoretical physics, although the study of Z particles is not his specialty, but his research on general relativity and space-time curvature is quite representative.

Professor Suskande, who was sitting in his lab, thought for a moment in front of the Columbia TV interviewer and pulled out a blank piece of paper from his desk for typing.

"See the paper in my hand?"

Interviewer: "See...... But Professor Suskander, is there anything special about it? ”

"I'm assuming it's three-dimensional space, point A is the Earth, and B is Proxima Centauri, which is 4.22 light-years away from us, and now I'm connecting them in a straight line......"

As he spoke, Professor Suskander drew a line and two AB dots on the white paper with a ballpoint pen.

Looking at the interviewer with a confused face, he continued.

"Normally, if we go from the solar system to Proxima Centauri, that is, from A to B, even if we ignore all kinds of complex orbital changes and go in a straight line straighter than the Golden Gate Bridge, we are actually sparing a long way, because our universe is actually distorted, like this......"

As he spoke, the old professor crumpled the white paper in his hand and stuffed it in front of the interviewer.

"See, this is what our universe really looks like, the white paper representing the 3-dimensional space is like a ball of paper, because of the gravitational pull that spreads throughout the universe, twisted in the higher dimensional space."

"As you can see, A and B are actually very close together, and the two pieces of paper may be stuck together, maybe not even a fingernail...... But this is from a higher dimension than three-dimensional space. ”

"Since we are three-dimensional creatures, we can't leave the paper, so the shortest distance we actually walk can only be the straight line drawn on the paper."

As he spoke, the Susskind professor unfolded the ball of paper in his hand, pointed to the crumpled paper, and the straight line printed on the paper, and continued.

"This straight line is the path that the Falcon rocket will take."

"And if it's a warp engine, the path won't be on paper at all, it's going to be in 4 or 5 dimensions...... And so on in short, in a higher dimension than 3 dimensions, go straight over. ”

"It's like this!"

Crumpled the paper back into a ball, and Suskander directly pierced the paper ball with the pen in his hand.

Looking up at the stunned interviewer, the gray-haired old man smiled and continued.

"It's best if you can understand nature."

"I really don't understand, you understand that we may have found a way to cut corners."

"With this method, it may only take half a day or half an hour to go to Mars in the future."

"If I still don't understand, I can't help it."

The show continues.

But the second half of the year is not much nourishment.

Lifting the remote control and turning off the TV, Lu Zhou, who was sitting on the sofa in the living room, gave his own evaluation of this program that evaluated his research results.

"It's a very vivid interpretation, and the ideas are quite novel...... Nothing was wrong. ”

The only problem is probably that I am a little too optimistic.

Even with the amazing ability of the Z-particle to act as a bridge, it is a little too difficult to use it to achieve warp speeds...... At least not like something that can be done in fifty years.

Of course, as a popular science program, this Suskander professor is still quite good.

Especially for people who lack spatial imagination, imagining the universe as a crumpled ball of paper, where everyone is black dots on the paper, is indeed a very easy way to do it.

However, Director Li, who was sitting opposite Lu Zhou, seemed to have misunderstood what he meant.

I saw that the old man was clasping the armrests of the leather sofa with both hands, his beard was about to shake off with excitement, and his old face was red as if he might have a heart attack at any time.

"Is it true? It will only take half an hour to go to Mars from Earth in the future? ”

Hearing this unreasonable speech, Lu Zhou Khan said.

“…… Half an hour is too exaggerated, and it's just a theory, you know the theory? Even something as simple as the atomic bomb has passed more than 20 years, from the mass-energy equation to Otto Hahn's uranium fission paper. ”

Not to mention Z particles, which are more difficult to stabilize than ordinary subatomic particles, and a large number of applications of subatomic particles such as mesons, quarks, gluons, and photons have not yet been fully developed, and it is too early to think about how to use Z particles to solve practical problems.

It takes time for scientific progress to precipitate, and it is only when the time is ripe that it can become a technology in the real sense.

Lu Zhou didn't know how long it would take for this day to come.

It's just a matter of experience, at least until the next century, right?

While thinking like this, Lu Zhou's eyes kept staring at Director Li's fingers clasped tightly on the armrest of the sofa.

He wasn't really worried that the old man was having a heart attack, this guy's mental capacity was much stronger than he thought. The only thing that worries Lu Zhou is that he has broken the sofa in his house.

He likes the sofa.

Many world-famous or soon-to-be-world-famous physicists and mathematicians have sat here and drank coffee with him.

If you don't talk about historical relics, at least it has to be a little commemorative.

Hearing Lu Zhou deny the statement that he could reach Mars within half an hour, the expression on Director Li's face couldn't help but show a touch of disappointment, and the elevated blood pressure gradually went down, and he muttered with some regret.

That is to say...... Can't you just take a shortcut to Mars? ”

Taking a sip of coffee with an expressionless face, Lu Zhou thought about it, and suddenly sighed softly and said.

“…… It's not impossible. ”

In an instant, Director Li's blood pressure, which had just dropped, rose again at a speed visible to the naked eye.

This toss up and down didn't make him out of trouble.

I saw that the old man sat up straight, stared at Lu Zhou with an almost fanatical gaze, and said sincerely.

"What to do?"

"Let's start by verifying the theory," Lu Zhou looked at him seriously after putting down the coffee cup in his hand, and continued, "For example, send a Z-particle clock to the orbit of Mars first." ”

Director Li then asked, "And then?" ”

"And then?"

With his eyebrows slightly raised, Lu Zhou smiled and leaned back on the sofa.

"Then we'll send another pair of photons."