Chapter 1310: I’m Not Interested in the n.o.bel Prize
What Luo Wenxuan worried about did not happen.
No one took the banter between friends too seriously at this kind of private occasion.
Also, as the secretary-general of the ILHCRC, his contribution was quite remarkable.
Lu Zhou spoke in a solemn tone in his speech at the official ceremony of the banquet. He expressed his grat.i.tude to those individuals and groups who had made outstanding contributions to the ILHCRC and helped prove the hypers.p.a.ce theory.
“… Since the beginning of the millennium, all of the major achievements we have achieved in the field of physics come from the power of cooperation. Without so many outstanding people, our work will be difficult or impossible to carry out at all.”
“Thanks to all those who have contributed to this n.o.ble cause, whether it is tedious or seemingly trivial works, I believe that they all have value and undiscovered things beneath them. And one day, perhaps tomorrow or in the future, human civilization will find these discoveries.”
“Even though fame and wealth is not our pursuit in this field, if a stone monument were to be erected to commemorate this moment, I hope all of our names will be engraved on it!”
There was a wave of applause in the banquet hall.
The atmosphere of the scene was pushed to a peak.
People clinked gla.s.ses to celebrate and commemorate this moment in history.
The gray-haired Academician Lu, who was standing at the back of the crowd, raised his sleeve and gently rubbed the corner of his eye. Professor Li Rongen of the physics department at Jin Ling University walked to the side of the old man and spoke with a smile.
“Have you thought about this before?”
Academician Lu quickly put his hand down and spoke after a cough.
“Thought about what?”
“That your student would one day grow to this point.”
Professor Li Rongen had a smile on his face. Academician Lu went silent for a while. He then sighed.
He spoke emotionally.
“I used to think that this kid has a bright future, so I tried my best to fool him into my graduate school, but I didn’t think that…”
He looked at the stage and at the young man’s face. A smile of relief suddenly appeared on Academician Lu’s face.
“Didn’t think that, in his twenties, he has already doubled all of my expectations for him.”
…
Old man Academician Lu wasn’t the only one that didn’t expect this; most people didn’t expect it.
Lu Zhou had just won a n.o.bel Prize medal, and in less than half a year, he made another n.o.bel Prize-level achievement.
Unlike other n.o.bel Prize achievements, this had surpa.s.sed the discovery of the Higgs particle and the Z particle; it had even surpa.s.sed the sum of the two.
Because of this, the n.o.bel Prize Committee was in a tough spot.
He had just won a n.o.bel Prize last year. Many people were still lining up in the back; many people had beaten themselves to death and hadn’t even gotten in the queue. It seemed quite unreasonable.
Also, according to the practice of the physics community, if the prize was awarded in theoretical physics last year, then this year’s prize must be awarded to condensed matter physics. Giving theoretical physics awards for two years in a row was not a good idea.
But what discovery was more qualified to win the prize than hypers.p.a.ce theory?
Even the Higgs particle wasn’t as important as the hypers.p.a.ce theory.
After all, the discovery of this boson had only filled the gaps in the standard model and saved a crumbling building. The discovery of hypers.p.a.ce theory was equivalent to directly refres.h.i.+ng people’s understanding of the high-dimensional world and the concept of s.p.a.cetime.
Using this special physical property, human beings even had the hope that ma.s.s could achieve a speed beyond the speed of light.
To say that it was groundbreaking was an understatement.
However, Lu Zhou did not give the n.o.bel Prize judges a hard time.
During a media interview after the banquet, a BBC reporter handed the microphone in front of him and asked him whether hypers.p.a.ce theory would bring him the second n.o.bel Prize in physics. Lu Zhou answered in a serious tone.
“It would be better to give the nine million kronor and medal to those that need it more. I shouldn’t be considered a candidate. In fact, I don’t need more honors to prove anything.”
When he said this, the reporters surrounding him were shocked
The BBC reporter who asked the question earlier thought he had misheard Lu Zhou. The reporter quickly asked, “Are you being serious? You know, the n.o.bel Committee might hear this, if there is any misunderstanding, maybe—”
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
Faced with the countless interview microphones and cameras, Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Of course I’m serious, I very much hope that they can give more consideration to outstanding young people as their research results need more recognition and sponsors.h.i.+p. In fact, if they do not plan to do this, I will consider setting up an award to do this myself.”
The atmosphere exploded.
If someone else had said this, it would sound a bit arrogant.
But this came from Lu Zhou’s mouth. No one thought that he was arrogant. People even thought he was humble.
If he wanted to compete for the next n.o.bel Prize, there would be no doubt he would win. The n.o.bel Prize Committee would definitely award him the 2024 n.o.bel Prize in Physics.
After all, this was a discovery that would change the course of human history. Since the theory of relativity, no theory had been this groundbreaking.
But now, after Lu Zhou made such a statement, the n.o.bel Committee would have to reconsider.
If Lu Zhou did not partic.i.p.ate in the selection, Wei Hong and Professor Dobrik, who found the “Z particle gravitational fluctuation formula”, would undoubtedly become the hot running candidates for the 2024 n.o.bel Prize in Physics. They were the most likely people to share this nine million kronor prize.
After all, the significance of this formula was acknowledged by Lu Zhou himself. The conclusion in that paper was also cited in Lu Zhou’s hypers.p.a.ce theory paper.
If they couldn’t award the hypers.p.a.ce theory itself, giving the award to other research in this area was an indirect way of recognition.
Unfortunately, Luo Wenxuan wouldn’t be a part of this.
If he had joined this research project earlier, he might have had a share of the 9 million kronor.
But unfortunately, he joined too late. He hardly had time to produce any particularly important research results. He watched on the side as Lu Zhou revealed the full potential of this research area.
The reporters at the scene, as well as the physicists nearby, were all shocked by Lu Zhou’s generous remarks. The news spread around the world through media networks.
The more it spread, the less accurate the story became…