Chapter 123 Mysterious Betelgeuse, Two Groups with Huge Differences in Diameter

[889.00712721D⊙]

[67.456799134D⊙]

The two sets of numbers on the manuscript paper were so different that Xu Chuan was a little confused.

He calculated the diameter of Betelgeuse this time, not something else, so why did two numbers appear?

Even if the two sets of boundary values ​​and characteristic values ​​were different, there shouldn't be such a big problem.

The first set was close to 890 times the diameter of D⊙, which was normal and completely consistent with the current calculation of Betelgeuse by the astronomical community.

But the second set was only 67.5 times the diameter of D⊙, which was completely inconsistent with the observation data of the diameter of Betelgeuse in the past.

It can't be that so many observational and calculation data in the astronomical community in the past were wrong, and it can't be that the law of universal gravitation, gravitational redshift, and luminosity calculation methods were all wrong.

This is unscientific.

Two sets of diameter data were calculated for one star.

This outrageous Xu Chuan immediately suspected that there was something wrong with his calculation process or the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem that was transformed.

One planet, two diameters, this is impossible.

This is just like 1+1 is not equal to 2. The obvious truth has been broken, so the first person to be suspected is naturally the one who broke the truth.

Xu Chuan is the same. The first thing he suspected was whether there was something wrong with his calculation formula and calculation process.

This is normal. In physics, if something challenges people's familiar common sense, then it is likely to be problematic.

It's like no matter how wrong the mathematics is, the universal truth of 1+1=2 cannot be overturned.

But after he carefully checked his calculation process and calculation formula, he raised his head in doubt.

From repeated checks, there is no problem with his calculation at all, and there is no error in the data entered before and after.

But the calculation result just appeared two.

There is no problem with the calculation process, the calculation formula, and it is even more impossible for a planet to have two diameters. So is the problem in the collected Betelgeuse data?

After confirming that there was no problem with his calculation, Xu Chuan immediately cast his doubtful eyes on the various information data of Betelgeuse.

After excluding the calculation process, calculation speed and other factors, the observation data of Betelgeuse was the most suspicious.

He did not think that the seniors in the Department of Astronomy gave him a batch of problematic or fake data. The probability was still quite small.

After all, there was no need to bother to falsify the data information that could be obtained through various astronomical equipment.

Moreover, falsifying data in scientific research projects was a very serious matter. If he knew that he had falsified data in his scientific research experiments, once it was exposed and known by others, it would not be as simple as not being able to graduate.

The year before last, that is, in 2014, the neighboring small island country broke out a fraud incident that shocked the world.

In January 2014, the research team led by Haruko Obokata, who was called "national treasure" and "Island Country Marie Curie" by the small island country, announced the successful production of a new "universal cell" STAP cell.

The production method is very simple. The cells taken from the spleen of mice are soaked in a weak acid solution with a pH similar to that of black tea for 25 minutes. After several days of cultivation, new cells appear.

This new cell is called universal cell by Haruko Obokata.

What is universal cell?

That is, combined with cloning technology, universal cells can develop into cells, tissues or organs with genetic characteristics that completely match those of the patient.

For example, the heart, kidneys, lungs, liver, skin, eyes, etc.

If such cells can be produced, it is tantamount to having a new life for those who suffer from various cancers or diseases.

After all, cells taken from one's own body can evolve into various organs after reverse cultivation, and if they are transplanted into oneself, it can be said that there is no rejection reaction.

Therefore, at that time, this achievement was considered to be a groundbreaking achievement that subverted the common sense of life sciences, and many people even believed that the next Nobel Prize in Biology must be Haruko Obokata.

After all, this achievement is more than Nobel Prize-level. If it comes true, it will benefit the whole world.

Subsequently, on January 29, 2014, the research results were published in the electronic version of the British scientific journal Nature, which further confirmed the authenticity of the experiment.

Therefore, there was a cheer both at home and abroad.

After the paper was published, it soon caused a huge sensation. Such a great achievement naturally attracted attention from all parties. Major media reported it one after another. The scientific community in other countries also had expectations for the huge potential brought by this achievement, and was full of imagination about its value.

But soon, external experts pointed out that the images in the paper published by Haruko Obokata were unnatural and suspected to have been processed.

In addition, some foreign colleagues repeated the experiment using the method introduced in the paper, but could not reproduce the results.

Including Haruko Obokata herself, no one could repeat the experiment to produce the results in the paper.

Then public opinion was in a state of chaos, and the small island country began to check itself. The higher the profile, the easier it is to have problems, and the higher the status, the worse it will fall.

In the end, the academic fraud incident of Haruko Obokata, which shocked the academic community, the STAP cell incident, was settled on December 19, 2014. The inspection party confirmed that Haruko Obokata had academic misconduct such as repeating experimental data.

That is to say, ‘falsification’.

And Haruko Obokata's doctoral supervisor committed suicide because he trusted her too much.

But before he died, he still believed in his students, and the suicide note he left behind hoped that Haruko Obokata could reproduce the STAP cells.

It can only be said that he was deceived too badly.

This fraud incident brought a devastating blow to the "Amber Economics" and "Regenerative Cell Research" experiments of the small island country.

The supervisor committed suicide, Haruko Obokata herself was revoked of her doctoral degree, the university was in disgrace, and the status of "Nature" declined.

A series of impacts were caused by Haruko Obokata's fraud.

But the funny thing is that Haruko Obokata never thought she was a fraud.

Although she admitted at the press conference that there were many "mistakes" in the paper, she emphasized that the STAP phenomenon was a fact that had been confirmed many times.

However, since the paper was published, she has never successfully repeated the STAP experimental phenomenon.

Xu Chuan does not think that several doctoral seniors in the Department of Astronomy gave him false data, but on this basis, the data of Betelgeuse is indeed problematic.

So either the astronomical experiment collected problematic data, or there might be something wrong with Betelgeuse itself.

After thinking about it for a while, Xu Chuan couldn't determine what went wrong.

But he could eliminate it and use mathematical tools to deduce and diagnose.

Mathematics won't lie.

After tidying up the manuscript on the table, Xu Chuan started writing again, first isolating this set of problematic data, and then recalculating the observation data of Betelgeuse.

[March 26, 2016, 11:23 data calculation, Betelgeuse diameter: 889.007127235D⊙]

[March 27, 2016, 10:37 data calculation, Betelgeuse diameter: 889.007127261D⊙]

[March 27, 2016, 2:03 data calculation, Betelgeuse diameter: 889.007127214D⊙]

[March 28, 2016, 11:36 data calculation, Betelgeuse diameter:.]

[March 29, 2016.]

It took more than six hours for Xu Chuan to complete the calculation of the total of sixteen rough data in his hand.

But except for the first time when the number [67.456799134D⊙] appeared, the diameter of Betelgeuse in the remaining fifteen minutes of data was around 889D⊙.

There is a difference in the exact numbers at the end, but the difference is not big. This is because Betelgeuse is expanding or contracting every moment due to stellar activity.

At the same time, these data also confirm that the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem can calculate stellar data through eigenvalues ​​and boundary values.

But this also makes Xu Chuan more confused. Is it really because there is a problem with the set of data collected in the first calculation?

After thinking about it, Xu Chuan started writing again and substituted the values ​​used in the first calculation into the calculation formula again and calculated it again.

The result still showed two sets of solutions.

One set [889.00712721D⊙]

One set [67.456799134D⊙]

"What's going on?"

Staring at the data calculated again on the manuscript paper, Xu Chuan scratched his chin.

Now, he can rule out that there is a problem with his calculation, and he has also ruled out problems with Betelgeuse and the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem through more than a dozen sets of data. Then there is only one possibility left.

That is, there is a problem with the experimental data in the first calculation. There may be measurement errors or other problems?

After thinking about it, Xu Chuan dragged the computer from the side, created a new execl table, dragged the experimental data of the first set of calculations and the subsequent fifteen sets of experimental data into the table, and compared them.

In this case, face-to-face comparison is one of the fastest ways to find problems.

With his sensitivity to numbers, as long as there is a problem with these values, he will definitely find it.

Sure enough, after browsing the values ​​one by one, Xu Chuan's eyes were fixed on the execl table.

In the ninth row, the infrared radiation value has a significant reduction, corresponding to which the brightness of Betelgeuse has increased by 1.5 apparent magnitudes.

In the eleventh row, the original diameter also has a significant difference in comparison, and the difference is nearly forty solar diameters.

In the fourteenth row, the surface temperature of Betelgeuse also has a significant difference, but this cannot be used as a reference.

Because the surface temperatures of the other fifteen groups are also very different, the highest surface temperature of Betelgeuse can reach 3,400 degrees, and the lowest is only 2,500 degrees.

This is caused by the frequent stellar activities of Betelgeuse, just like the sunspots, flares, and prominences on the sun.

It's just that the activity of the sun is much weaker than that of Betelgeuse. If it is as intense as Betelgeuse, the earth will either become toast or a frozen world, and the two will repeat over and over again.

Just like the weather in Star City, you experience spring, summer, autumn, and winter in a week, and winter, autumn, summer, and spring again next week.

In addition, there are some other subtle differences in this table, but none of them are as obvious as these three information detection features.

After thinking about it, Xu Chuan slightly modified the original values ​​on the basis of the original values ​​in the ninth and eleventh rows, making them a little larger or smaller, and then re-used this data for calculation.

Soon, a new set of data was calculated.

A group【908.767347901D⊙】

Group 2【131.319771313D⊙】

Two sets of completely different values ​​came into Xu Chuan's eyes again.

"Is it such a big impact?"

Staring at the calculated value on the manuscript paper, Xu Chuan whispered to himself. The value he artificially created did not greatly adjust the original value. It can even be said that it only increased by about 5%.

But the answers of the second group soared more than twice on the original basis.

The diameter has increased directly from the original 67.45D⊙ to 171.31D⊙.

After thinking about it, Xu Chuan took out the phone from the table and called his doctoral student brother who was collecting Betelgeuse data for him in southern Yunnan.

After briefly introducing the situation on his side, Senior Brother Liu Xuan, who was leading the team on the other end of the phone, immediately screamed.

"What? Two diameters?"

"This is impossible. How can a star have two diameters, and the difference is so big? One group has nearly 900 D⊙ units, and the other group has less than 100."

"Junior brother, have you ever considered that there was a problem with your calculations?"

Xu Chuan could understand Liu Xuan's fierce rebuttal. He also couldn't believe it when he first calculated it, but he was more calm.

"I know this is unscientific, but the values ​​calculated through the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem are indeed like this."

"That may be a problem in the calculation process. A star, even a star with intense activity in its later years like Betelgeuse, will have different diameters, and it is impossible for the deviation to be so large."

On the other end of the phone, before Xu Chuan could say anything, Liu Xuan's retort came over.

Xu Chuan glanced at the manuscript paper on the table and said: "I have calculated all the sixteen sets of data I brought back. Fifteen of them have only one diameter, which is around 889D⊙ units. The numbers can be accurate to the first decimal place. Eight."

"This is enough to prove that my Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem is correct and it can accurately calculate the diameter of Betelgeuse."

"But among these sixteen sets of data, one set of data calculated two answers."

Xu Chuan didn't finish his words, it was enough at this point.

"You mean there is a problem with a set of Betelgeuse data we observed?"

On the other end of the phone, Liu Xuan gradually calmed down and asked with a frown after listening to Xu Chuan's analysis.

He didn't really believe that there was something wrong with the observation data.

Because the data handed over to Xu Chuan had been checked by him personally, if there were any problems, they would have been discovered during the check.

But since there is a problem, it must be solved.

So let’s see where the problem is first.

"Well, the initial judgment is this."

Xu Chuan responded without saying another sentence: "In addition to the possible problems with the data, there is another possibility, that is, when this set of observation data was recorded, some unknown changes may have occurred on Betelgeuse, thus affecting the data."

Hearing this, Liu Xuan frowned again. Has Betelgeuse undergone unknown changes?

What changes could cause such a large diameter difference?

After thinking about it, Liu Xuan said: "Well, you can send that set of data to my email, and I will analyze it urgently tonight. I have all the original data of the observation data in my hand. If there are changes in Betelgeuse, Through that information, we should be able to analyze something.”

Xu Chuan nodded and said: "Then I'll bother Senior Brother Liu. I'll book a ticket for tomorrow to go to southern Yunnan."