When do you think you were the closest to a Nobel Prize?

It is another good day for the National Day + Nobel Prize announcement. At this time of the year, I will always watch the predictions and participate in the discussion of the Nobel Prize on various platforms in front of the computer. , to feel the beauty and shock brought by the brilliant wisdom of human beings.

Thanks to Zhihu for the invitation, this year, we will chat with you about the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics ( 2022 Physics Nobel Prize Roundtable Discussion ). Now that the Nobel Prize in Physics is about to be announced, I will talk to you about some of the closest moments to the Nobel Prize winners in these years and their influence on me (about 40-50 in various fields, haha)!

1. The earliest Nobel Prize winners were Kostya Novoselov and Mr. Yang Zhenning (in chronological order). At that time, I was still at the undergraduate level and just entering the postgraduate level, and scientific research was still covered with a mysterious veil for me, which was both longing and awe. So of course I didn’t hesitate to rush forward for this precious opportunity to meet the strongest brain on the planet! Novoselov himself is very cheerful. When the school gave him an honorary award, he would dance ballet to the music, causing people in the audience to laugh, which is indeed in line with his Russian national character. Over the years, he has run a lot of graphene and two-dimensional material companies, from which we can see that he does have a very open and active style of work. Mr. Yang Zhenning saw it at the scene of the Seeking Science Award. Although he was 95 years old at the time, Mr. Yang’s thinking was still very clear and his voice was loud. His language expression is very personable and warm, reflecting his high scientific research taste. But at that time, I was afraid that my questions were too naive and timid to ask them, so I could only watch these scientists from a distance, and silently hoped that one day I could do some meaningful work like them.

2. After entering the scientific research circle for a few years, I was fortunate to be selected by the Sino-German Science Foundation. As a representative of Chinese doctoral students, I participated in the “69th Nobel Prize Conference in Lindau, Germany”, with 39 Nobel Prize winners and 600 from all over the world. exchange learning with young scientists. (@PAN An , @Trivial, @Liang Hao, @ Dr.Muzi, etc. have written about the conference. I highly recommend all PhD students in natural sciences and economics to participate in this very nice conference! If necessary, I can write a follow-up article. This article is based on what I saw and heard at this conference from my perspective.) Lindau is located in Bavaria, Germany, at the junction of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It is only 33.18 square kilometers. It is a very quiet and beautiful place. isle. On this island, we spent a wonderful week with these Nobel Laureates, discussing the world’s future scientific development and personal ideals. During a week of close communication with Nobel Laureates, I have gained a new understanding of these stars of human wisdom.

Before I set off, I was most concerned about the previous year’s Nobel Prize winners in physics – Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland, who invented the Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA). One reason is that I use pulsed light to study the ultrafast process of matter, and CPA technology has contributed greatly to the generation of high-energy pulsed lasers; another reason is that there are indeed fewer female Nobel Prize winners, and Donna’s award is indeed for me. an incentive. Mourou is Donna’s doctoral supervisor. There have been some rumors of discord in the past few years, but at the conference, the two were still very harmonious. Mourou has a very rigorous personality and is very scholarly. When talking to him about the CPA technology of the year, he will always answer your questions very seriously. The difference is that when the same question was put on Donna, she laughed and said, “Oh! This idea was proposed by Mourou, they told me to do an experiment, and I made it! “She is very talkative and approachable. After meeting a few times, she will kindly say to me, “I remember you, little girl from China!” She will chat about her growth and the current research group status, and give answers The Lord sent her an invitation to be a postdoc. Wherever she went, there was always a group of people around, and bursts of laughter burst out from time to time.

Steven Chuu is humorous with rigorous, thin body but his thinking and actions are very active. He won the Nobel Prize in his early years for capturing atoms by laser cooling, and then turned to biological nerves, and served as the US Secretary of Energy. But in the early days, his scientific research was not going well, and he also used this experience to comfort the young scholars who consulted him: “I know you feeling, and feel sympathy. Don’t be nervous and always be honored, let your work speak for you.” He also encouraged everyone, if you really feel that your research is not doing well or you are not interested, don’t be ashamed to change your direction, it is still worthy of respect to shine in the industry or other fields. Similar advice was given by Bill Phillips, who said that as long as you find your own glittering industry, you are all contributing to society. Grandpa Bill Phillips is very kind, he likes us to call him Bill instead of Professor. During the meeting, he was like a Santa Claus, carrying a large red bag containing a present he had prepared for everyone – an up-to-date SI watch. He was very gentle, explaining to us the meaning of each constant and the progress behind it, telling us what scientific question each decimal point represented. If you can ask him a good question, he will send us a little gift from him.

Fortunately, the respondent became the dance partner of “Dr. A Li” Duncan Haldane at the dance. The answerer is not very good at ballroom dancing, but Haldane will guide him patiently. But maybe it was too hot, and he was sweating profusely at the ball in his long-sleeved shirt. Haldane is very interested in two-dimensional topological flat-bands, and always shines when he asks related questions. He said that the Nobel Prize brought him honor, but it also gave him a lot of exposure, which made him a little uncomfortable. He has the rigorous demeanor of a theoretical person. Even when he comes to the dance, he prepares paper and pen with him, so that he can easily record and calculate his ideas.

3. When the Ph.D. was about to graduate, he received an invitation to the “3rd World’s Top Scientists” conference held in Shanghai. As a young scientist in the physics sub-venue, he had a work presentation and discussion with Nobel Prize winners and top scientists. Most Nobel Prize winners were unable to arrive at the venue, so that was also the first experience of an online international conference during the epidemic. The theme of the conference is “Science and Technology for the Common Destiny of Humanity”, and our eight physics reporters need to discuss the work in their own research fields. George Smoot asked a question about Cooper’s detection of single photons in two-dimensional materials at the time. After finding that our on-site signal was not good, he wrote it very enthusiastically in the comment area, and could discuss with him later by email.

Epilogue

If the first time I saw the Nobel Prize winners was a “star chasing” act, I saw the most powerful wisdom of human beings and was deeply inspired; then the second time I saw them was a “de-enchantment” journey, which made me understand Even those who have made great scientific achievements are ordinary people, with various personalities and ways of doing things; the third time was a calm exchange and discussion conference, which allowed me to present my work with confidence. These Nobel Prize winners have brought me not only wonderful and shocking scientific research results, but also the courage to stop believing in authority, dare to think and act, and a sense of responsibility to society and the world. It is often discussed when we will be able to issue another Nobel Prize in natural sciences in China. In fact, the Nobel Prize itself is just an honor. Aside from this honor, it should be a research result of great scientific or technological significance. It may be difficult to win the Nobel Prize, but all of us researchers do their own research in a down-to-earth manner and continue to explore in depth, which will promote the development of social science and technology and contribute to the development of mankind. There is a long way to go, and there is still a long way to go.

Source: Zhihu www.zhihu.com

Author: LLLyyy

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