Chapter 666: The Correct Att.i.tude towards Arcana
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Annick looked at his teacher nervously, but also in great determination. Shy as he was, opposing his teacher was basically like jumping down to the ground from the edge of Allyn without any magic protection. However, his own understanding of microscopic domain was urging him to step out and speak out his own opinion!
Would Mr. Evans be angry at him? Or disappointed?
However, when Annick looked into Mr. Evans’s eyes, to his great surprise, there was no look of anger or disappointment at all. It was a very calm, peaceful face.
“What’s the problem that you think?” Under the arcanists’ gaze, Lucien asked in a calm tone.
Annick took a deep breath and said, “Observation indeed can change results, but we can’t say that it’s conscious. Observation should be objective, and any life forms or even lifeless things could do. It still requires further exploration and research for us to know when a quantum superposition state is formed.”
He only had some rough thoughts. He could not make it any clearer.
“I think so as well.” Sprint said aloud, who was a bit surprised that Annick had successfully expressed himself under such huge pressure.
Douglas agreed, “Although there is no mathematical model to support it yet, this sounds more objective. Lucien, your theory is too subjective.”
Fernando did not say anything, but the look on his face showed that he was on Annick’s side. Although it did not mean that he believed Annick was right, it still appeared that Lucien’s theory was too ridiculous.
The rest of the grand arcanists also showed the same att.i.tude.
“I see. But in this case, how can we explain magic? How can we explain divine power and the power of faith? Annick, your words did not leave a s.p.a.ce for supernatural power.” Lucien’s tone remained gentle.
Annick’s mouth slightly opened as he tried to explain, but he did not know how.
“Lucien, don’t connect two irrelevant things to each other. The fact that there is no s.p.a.ce for magic in the microscopic domain doesn’t mean that there is also no s.p.a.ce in other domains.” Fernando cut in.
Lucien smiled, “My theory is still a guess, a guess that can contain the rationality of all the supernatural powers. Neither of us have a solid argument so far, so let’s take our time to explore further and do more experiments. I hope that we can find the truth of the world.”
The arcanists were a bit surprised. For the first time, Mr. Evans did not throw out a series of rigorous experiment designs and theories to claim his victory as he always did. However, they also felt relieved.
After all, this should be the result that one would expect.
At this time, Lucien smiled and looked at the grand arcanists and his students. He switched the topic, “So far I have some ideas on the three experiments which I haven’t been able to carry out. I hope that with our joint effort, we can achieve them, which will provide great support to our explanation of the microscopic domain.”
“We all know that different temperatures come from the thermal motion of molecules to different extents. Therefore, in the first experiment, if we can restrain microscopic particles from moving around, we will be able to be even one step closer to the absolute zero. Under this circ.u.mstance, also, microscopic particles might be in the same quantum state, so we can test many of our thoughts…”
He roughly described how to make “traps” to catch microscopic particles using strong magnetic fields or laser, and he “speculated” how to observe the quantum superposition state using appropriate research steps within an extremely short moment, although they were all theoretical guesses like fantasies.
Every arcanist present was familiar with the idea of strong magnetic fields, and Lucien had put forward the explanation of lasers after learning Vengeful Gaze. Rubies and many magic crystals and gems could amplify a sorcerer’s ray spells and produce very high temperature. But of course, there was a limit on distance.
Therefore, it wasn’t difficult for the audience to understand the concept that the first experiment was based on. h.e.l.len was listening with special attention, as this idea seemed to be reasonable for explaining many of the questions that she had when studying her legendary ice and snow spells. However, as for how the traps should be set up, even if Lucien had had some ideas, he was not going to share them with his audience, as he would save it for himself.
But still, for grand arcanists, direction was always more important than any specific steps!
Oliver did not look too happy, but there was also excitement on his face. If they could see the real superposition state, they would become certain that the secret of the demiG.o.ds indeed existed in the microscopic domain. However, there were so many great obstacles that had to be overcome first for setting up the experiment, which could not be done within a short period of time.
“But this is not going to explain how this state transits from microscopic domain to the macro, as this experiment only proves that the superposition does exist…” said Annick.
Both Annick and Sprint believed that the experiment mentioned by their teacher was of great significance, but they also believed that there was more coming.
Lucien nodded and continued, “In this experiment, we can make another two changes.”
“The first change is that after an electron pa.s.ses the double slits and self-interference happens, we make our decision whether we want to see wave properties or particle properties. Then before it hits the screen, we make the corresponding changes to the screen. In this case, what experiment image will it show?”
“Of course we’ll see wave properties. At that time the electron will have pa.s.sed the slits and interference has happened…” an arcanist spoke out the thought shared by many. However, he quickly stopped himself – They had learned their lesson in the microscopic domain, which was a domain that was totally unpredictable. No one knew for sure whether our observation would change a fact that already happened. In that case, the law of cause and effect in chronological order would no longer exist all the time!
Lucien purposefully twisted the experiment design a little bit in case that the answer would be found too early and the person who found it would definitely explode his or her head. Then he continued, “The second change is that we observe which slit an electron pa.s.ses using a method that interferes with the motion even less, but after the record, our alarm will not make any noise or signals to let us know. Instead, the device would delete the record immediately. Then will we see wave properties or particle properties”
Annick’s face turned pale again. The purpose of the change was to tell whether it was the observation of the device that played the role, or “their” observation.
That was the three experiments that Lucien wanted to share. After that, he released a sigh and asked, “That’s all for today’s sharing. Any questions and ideas?”
For a while, no one answered, as they were still reflecting the three experiments that Lucien shared.
Douglas thought for a while and then said in his calm but also determined tone, “I’ve also got a thought experiment: According to your explanation, before observation happens, a microscopic particle is in the form of an electron cloud where many possible states overlap. And you a.s.sume that some changes will happen to the particle and make it divide into two even smaller particles heading for different directions. During this process, without the involvement of an observer, the two smaller particles will still be in the state of superposition and stick to its conservativeness…”
“When there is enough distance, an observer’s investigation into one particle leads to the particle’s state settling down, and thus the other particle follows and collapses immediately. Is that right? Does this action at a distance go against the special theory of relativity?”
Douglas’s words made most arcanists’ heads dizzy. They had gone through a lot today from Oliver’s cat to Lucien’s experiments to Douglas’s entangled particles. Those were all thought experiments complicated and shocking enough to explode their heads. They did not quite understand, and thus they were afraid of them.
“I think that will happen, but this does not go against special relativity. Before observation, microscopic particles spread out everywhere in the s.p.a.ce following wave function. The two particles are still one unit that cannot be further divided.” Lucien said roughly, as he dared not to be too accurate and specific.
Douglas nodded, “I’ll try to carry the experiment out to see if it’s true.”
Finally, the lecture bound to be remembered by the history of magic had come to an end. Walking out of the cla.s.sroom, Lucien felt tired. He rubbed his brows and then walked back to his study.
Soon his students came to visit him, using the excuse of asking him questions.
After asking the several obviously not carefully-prepared questions, Heidi took courage and asked, “Aren’t you angry at us, sir?”
“For what?” asked Lucien.
Heidi pointed at the door of the study and said, “Annick and Sprint dared not to come and see you sir. They are worried that you are angry at them for challenging you, for not being on your side.”
Lucien smiled and shook his head, “No, not at all. Instead, I was happy to see that.”
“What?” The students were confused.
“In arcana, we believe in results of experiments and observation, and the theories based on this foundation, not a specific person as authority.” said Lucien seriously, “Although since I joined the congress I have always been correct and I indeed overturned many theories, this does not mean that people should blindly follow me and say nothing when I put forward ridiculous guesses that contradict basic mathematical logic.”
“…That is the most horrible att.i.tude towards arcana! When I was putting forward a probabilistic explanation, the uncertainty principle, and the effect of the observer, I got scolded by my teacher and the opposite opinion from the president. This was not because they were stubborn, but because they had their own beliefs in arcana, which are built upon the many experiment results and phenomena. It doesn’t matter that they don’t agree with me as long as they have their beliefs…”
“If they had agreed with me easily, they would never have become grand arcanists. Sprint and Annick were right for insisting on themselves before I can provide any solid support to my theories.” Lucien smiled, seizing the chance to give the students a lesson about correct att.i.tude.
“What if I was wrong?” Lucien asked.
Heidi forced a smile on her face and said, “I have become totally confused with microscopic domain, so currently I am going to focus only on formulas and experiments to study artificial intelligence. I’ll not follow the overturning theories for now.”
Layria, Katrina, and Ch.e.l.ly also nodded. To some extent, their heads had exploded.