"An unfair trade is the beginning of the degradation of friendship."
"Alright, you win! Qiao Ze, I can organize the experiences I've had over the years mentoring students and send them to you. I hope they can be of some help to you. Look, I'm being a good friend, aren't I?"
"Hmm, after I study them, I'll determine how much to compensate you based on their helpfulness."
"Good idea. But you should know, although I'm not rich, I'm also not lacking money."
"Alright, a compensation that satisfies you."
"Haha, do you know? Qiao Ze, I enjoy being friends with you."
After hanging up the phone, Qiao Ze walked back to his office.
His mood relaxed a little.
Others' experiences might not always be useful, but they might just solve the current problems.
Qiao Ze planned not to take in any new graduate students for the next two years. He would consider taking new ones only after Wang Yu, Fan Yuming, and Li's three graduate students had all graduated.
It seemed to be the only thing to do for now.
United States, Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.
Edward Witten, with nothing else to do, didn't go back to his apartment but was busy in his office on the second floor.
In front of him, the computer displayed the graviton analysis report sent from CERN. As he read the report, Edward Witten habitually summarized the important content.
"Energy range: Collision events of 13.5 TeV recorded: 1.2×10^11."
"Detected credible events: 50 million."
"An average of about 2.3 TeV of energy per event could not be traced by traditional particle tracking methods."
"The average value of the spacetime distortion index is 0.85±0.15 (close to the theoretical predicted value of the Super Helical Coordinate System)."
"The average lifespan of the observed particle suspected of containing gravitons is about 1.2×10^−22 seconds."
"Measured decay into photons (53.96%), neutrinos (42.73%), with other decay scenarios unclear."
"Note: The decay products in the detector show a non-standard helical distribution pattern."
"Energy asymmetry: In collision events, about 5.32% of the energy shows asymmetry. (Possible influence of higher dimensions)"
"The deviation in momentum distribution is beyond the error range predicted by the standard model, with an average deviation of 0.3%, consistent with the theoretical predicted value of the Super Helical Coordinate System."
"Estimates suggest that higher precision, high-energy experiments could potentially improve the resolution of gravitons..."
The last sentence, which Edward Witten had just added, was immediately deleted.
Given the current work efficiency of the European Nuclear Center, even if a collider capable of providing higher energy could actually be designed and constructed, he would probably have already passed away. People need not worry about things after death, even if those things could change the world.
Not to mention, the current scrutiny is more rigorous, especially with regards to environmental impacts, and the headache-inducing issue of funding.
There's no choice. When the economy is in a downturn, the first thing that the main member countries think of tightening is their investment in the future. It's very helpless but also very realistic.
After all, clarifying graviton research at this stage isn't likely to bring any economic benefits. On the contrary, it could require continuous investment in targeted research, which may only yield returns after several decades.
It's an unavoidably helpless situation.
Telling someone who doesn't even know what they'll eat the next day that they could get rich overnight in ten years is clearly unethical.
The dilemma of theoretical research lies in this—they only regret that they were born a bit too early.
Sighing in his heart, Edward Witten put down his pen and rubbed his tired eyes. As he opened his eyes again, his gaze inadvertently caught the flashing name of someone on his silenced phone screen.
How to put it, this person really can be quite bothersome!