Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The discovery of the pentaquark was a piece of exciting news for the entire theoretical physics community.
However, Frank Wilczek was not too happy.
Of course, it was not because of the experiment, it was because of a six-year-old bet.
Six years ago, at the physics conference in the Azores, he made a bet with a gentleman named Garrett Lisi.
Mr. Lisi stood up and disrupted Frank’s talk about the standard model while insisting that supersymmetric particles simply did not exist, because one could not find supersymmetric particles at all. Mr. Frank naturally insisted on maintaining the theory. He predicted that the Hadron Collider (LHC) would detect supersymmetric particles within 6 years!
They made the bet in front of everyone.
The arbitrator was the host of the conference, Mr. Max Sigma Mark, a professor at MIT.
The bet was $1000 USD.
Now, six years had passed. Even though the pentaquark particle was found, there were no signs that super-symmetric particles were found.
Although the standard model was proven correct again, he was still going to lose the bet.
This was because he overestimated the capabilities of CERN, and was too optimistic about the LHC upgrade.
In fact, betting against someone was a common occurrence in the physics world.
This was not the first time Frank Wilczek had a bet.
In 2005, he bet with the “beautiful scientist”, Jane Conrad. He was convinced that the LHC would detect Higgs particles whereas Jane disagreed.
The bet was chocolate coins served at the Nobel Prize awards ceremony. In the end, Frank won 10 chocolate coins.
However, he was not so lucky this time. He, unfortunately, lost the bet.
For these scholars, making a bet was a measure of work.
The problem was that Garrett Lisi was a real piece of work.
First of all, Mr. Lisi was not a physicist at all. He had a PhD in philosophy at the University of California.
Also, his PhD’s biggest achievement was to use the Lie Group E8 structure to construct a unified theory. This theory was incomplete and was not accepted by the physics community.
Einstein’s unfinished work had always been the treasure of theoretical physics. However this treasure was not just for physicists, but it was also for common folks.
Garrett Lisi was at least literate. He was at least smarter than those flat-Earth believers.
Due to this, he was named “King of Civil Science”.
Although his mathematical theory of philosophy was laughed at by physicists and mathematicians, normal people believed in his schtick.
Because of this, Wilczek was embarrassed to lose this bet.
He was a Nobel Prize winner in physics, and he lost to the “King of Civil Science”.
Although he admitted that he lost, and he even tweeted that he would fulfill the $1000 USD agreement, it was clear that he was not as calm as his tweets.
This was not about the $1000 USD, but that Lisi was quite disrespectful and he would brag online all day.
Recently, many people ridiculed Frank about this incident. Frank would constantly blame himself for being dumb.
It was too shameful!
Frank sat in the office that CERN assigned him. He was drinking coffee and reading an article about the pentaquark particle.
Suddenly, his assistant knocked on the door and came in.
“Mr. Frank, someone asked me to bring you this thing.”
Frank asked, “What thing?”
“It looks like a thesis,” answered the assistant.
Even though he was not in a good mood, he was still curious.
“Give it to me.”
“Okay.”
Frank took the thesis and flipped through the pages while he casually said, “There isn’t a name on here. Who brought this?”
The assistant replied, “The guy said that he’s an intern.”
“Intern?” Frank frowned, but he did not throw the thesis away. Instead, he continued to read the thesis.
Anyone that could get an internship at CERN was talented. If this thesis turned out to be interesting, Frank would be happy to help this intern.
This was why Frank was popular with people.
Frank was about to stop reading when he suddenly had a blank expression before it was replaced by interest.
He read a word on the thesis and the expression on his face turned serious all of a sudden.
He then placed the thesis down and looked at his assistant.
“How do I contact this person?”
The assistant immediately replied, “He didn’t leave a phone number, but he left an address. It’s the hotel near the CERN building. If you want, I can find him for you.”
“Find him for me. This thesis is interesting,” said Frank as he placed the thesis on the left corner of the table.
Normally speaking, any thesis on the left corner of the table had some value to him.
As for the pile on the right corner, their destiny was the paper shredder.
…
After handing the thesis to Frank’s assistant, Lu Zhou thought that it would take a few days to get a reply. He was pleasantly surprised to hear a reply so quickly.
On the morning of the next day, Frank Wilczek’s assistant went to the hotel to find him. He then brought him to the R1 1 building.
Frank immediately asked, “What do you think it could be?”
Lu Zhou said without hesitation, “Supersymmetric particles!”
Even though Lu Zhou knew that it was unlikely, he had to say this.
This was the same as venture capital meetings, it was a gimmick.
However, Frank was unconvinced. He smiled and shook his head.
“That’s not realistic.”
“But it’s possible. Maybe it could be something else. Whatever it is, it’s worth pursuing. Don’t you think so?” asked Lu Zhou. He then continued, “Do you want to bet? I’ll bet a hundred dollars that there must be something there.”
The old man’s eyebrows twitched and said, “There’s no need for a bet.”
Lu Zhou was stunned.
He heard that the old man loved to bet with others, so why did Frank refused to take the bet?”
Frank paused for a second before he continued, “I’m only slightly interested in your discovery. However, CERN won’t start the LHC for an incomplete theory. Also, you haven’t convinced me.”
“But I can give you a chance. If you can improve your theory by the end of the month, then at the European Nuclear Research Conference, I’ll recommend you to do a report at the conference. If you can convince me, I’m sure you can convince everyone else.”
Frank looked straight into Lu Zhou’s eyes.
Lu Zhou knew what this old man was waiting for.
He then took a deep breath before he responded.
He only said one word.
“Ok!”