Without it, we might not have developed the atomic bomb.

Friends who have read "The Three-Body Problem" will all talk about a science fiction idea in the book: how the Three-Body world used two "smart particles" to interfere with particle accelerators and lock down Earth's technology.

Sophons exist in the form of particles with intelligence. They mix into the particle accelerators used by scientists for experiments, interfering with the results of particle collisions. This will cause scientists to obtain erroneous data, plunge the entire theoretical physics community into chaos and stagnation, and human technology will no longer move forward.

This plot has made many friends curious: What is a particle accelerator? Why is it so important to the development of science?

Simply put, a particle accelerator is a device that uses artificial methods to generate fast charged particle beams. It uses a certain form of electromagnetic field to accelerate charged particles such as electrons, protons or heavy ions, and can provide various high-energy charged particle beams with speeds close to the speed of light. When the accelerated particles collide with the target particles, many secondary particles will "scatter" after the particles are broken, and these secondary particles can be recombined to generate new particles.

Therefore, particle accelerators are important tools for people to change atomic nuclei and elementary particles and understand the deep structure of matter.

Cyclotron: The Beginning of Big Science

Initially, scientists' idea of ​​a particle accelerator was a linear accelerator.

A report by Norwegian physicist Rolf Vidler was published in the December 19, 1928 issue of the German journal Electrical Technology Archives. In the report, Vidler proposed that the problem of how to produce high-energy particles without high voltage could be solved by letting ions pass through a series of gaps loaded with potential differences to continuously exert a force on the ions and accelerate them in a straight line. However, to meet the 10 million volt requirement proposed by Rutherford at the time to uncover the deep mysteries of nuclear structure, a fairly long straight tube was required, so long that it could not be accommodated in the laboratory. However, although the feasibility was not high, this idea made Ernest Lawrence, the inventor of the cyclotron, shine.

In the early 1930s, the cyclotron accelerator made its debut. As a type of particle accelerator, the cyclotron accelerator uses a magnetic field and an electric field to make charged particles perform a cyclotron motion, and repeatedly accelerates them during the motion through a high-frequency electric field. In the words of its inventor, Ernest Lawrence, the cyclotron accelerator is a "merry-go-round game for protons." This invention uses the property of a circular track that allows particles to perform a cyclic motion, and can give particles the huge energy needed for acceleration within a limited space.

The advent of this invention is undoubtedly a groundbreaking moment in humanity's efforts to uncover the deep mysteries of nuclear structure.

It not only has revolutionary significance for nuclear physics, but also deepens our understanding of the basic elements of nature. It also triggered a change in the scientific research model. In the process of promoting the invention of the cyclotron, Ernest attracted a large number of young graduate students and engineers to collaborate across disciplines with his genius ideas. With his brilliant mind, he raised millions of dollars from research companies, and used the unlimited resources he obtained to support the development of complex large scientific equipment, and gave birth to major scientific projects such as the atomic bomb and the space program...

It was Ernest Lawrence and his team who sowed the seeds for industry participation in scientific research and promoted the evolution from "small science" to "big science."

To this end, American columnist and journalist Michael Hiltzik wrote the book "Big Science: Ernest Lawrence and the Military Industry He Created", recording this glorious and magnificent scientific epic.

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Editor/Heart and Paper