Humanity is missing, luckily I have billions of clones-Chapter 396: Virtual and Real

After a series of adjustments, this gravitational telescope, with an entire dwarf planet as its body, truly entered operational status.

Its 80-kilometer-thick shell blocked out most of the universe’s radiation, allowing only a few particles with extreme penetrating power, such as neutrinos and the theoretically predicted gravitons, to pass through.

It was like a large net, now silently spread open, waiting for its prey to appear.

On the first day of operation, Tom observed over 10 million particle collision events.

However, after Tom’s verification, it was confirmed that 99.9% of these 10 million particle collision events were neutrino collisions, with the remaining 0.1% being other interfering particles, and not a single graviton collision event.

"It doesn’t matter. Based on the expected returns, even with the performance of this gravitational telescope, a graviton collision event is only expected once a year on average. We just have to wait patiently."

After allocating a portion of clones and intelligent life scientists to maintain its operation, Tom’s attention shifted to another area.

The Turbulent Quake Detection Mission within the gas giant.

At this moment, a total of 1 million specially designed scientific research vessels for this detection mission had been completed.

These vessels featured specially reinforced hulls, capable of withstanding pressures up to 20 million times standard atmospheric pressure and temperatures above 30,000 degrees Celsius.

This performance was already sufficient to allow them to enter a star’s atmosphere, or even its plasma ocean.

For example, the surface temperature of the Sun is only around 5,500 degrees Celsius, which is well within the tolerance of these scientific research vessels.

Of course, they were only scientific research vessels, and their internal structure was specially designed to achieve these performances. Warships, obviously, could not be built this way.

For Tom, conducting interstellar warfare on a star’s surface in the short term remained a luxury.

These specialized vessels, like submarines, plunged into the gas giant’s atmosphere and rapidly descended.

5,000 kilometers, 10,000 kilometers, 15,000, 20,000, 25,000...

They continued to sink until they reached a depth of 28,000 kilometers before stopping their descent.

This gas giant had a greater mass than Jupiter, but its volume was similar to Jupiter. Its radius was only 35,000 kilometers, and this current depth could be said to be very close to its core.

At this moment, a peculiar scene unfolded before Tom.

At this moment, Tom felt as if he had returned to the time when the Destroyer Civilization had ambushed him using unknown means.

Surrounding these scientific research vessels was an extremely pure, bright blue substance. It filled all space, in all directions, without a single omission.

That was the self-radiation of matter caused by immense pressure and extremely high temperatures.

Because the color was too pure, Tom couldn’t even discern their movement with his naked eyes.

However, the continuous shaking of the scientific research vessels themselves indicated that these substances were not calm.

Under the influence of their own magnetic fields and internal convection, they surged and flowed like ocean currents at all times. Due to their extremely high density and immense force, even with the most advanced stabilization systems, these scientific research vessels still shook uncontrollably.

At this moment, switching to the perspective of the clones inside these scientific research vessels, Tom felt as if he was in a vast, azure ocean, where everything was so tranquil and beautiful.

But Tom knew that this tranquil and beautiful scene was merely an illusion. Endless dangers were hidden within this superficial appearance.

Because those substances were not seawater; they were liquid metallic hydrogen.

Their density was even hundreds of times that of ordinary matter. Once they were brought to the outside and lost the restraint of the planet’s gravity, they would explode violently, releasing at least ten times more energy than TNT explosives.

This was an ocean of "explosives," and Tom’s scientific research vessels were navigating within this ocean.

Sometimes, these scientific research vessels would suddenly vanish as they were cruising, as if disappearing into thin air.

Just like a real ocean, the "hydrological" conditions here were extremely complex. Internal magnetic field changes, certain macroscopic convection phenomena, and so on, could all lead to unpredictable changes in pressure, temperature, and radiation, instantly overwhelming the protection systems Tom had painstakingly built, and destroying the scientific research vessel in an instant.

After being destroyed, the materials composing the scientific research vessel would be ionized in an instant, merging into this ocean of bombs.

The entire process was extremely rapid, completing all these changes silently, without even time to react.

And after assimilation, this ocean still maintained its original tranquility and beauty, as if nothing had happened.

Furthermore, even if the "hydrological" conditions remained unchanged, these scientific research vessels could be instantly destroyed at any time due to internal malfunctions.

On the first day of deployment, 120,000 of these 1 million scientific research vessels were destroyed. The remaining 880,000 were expected to be completely scrapped within the next month.

Fortunately, Tom had long prepared for this.

His countless factories were roaring constantly, producing massive quantities of specialized scientific research vessels at all times, then throwing them into the gas giant without regard for cost or profit, just to maintain sufficient observation density.

After all, that turbulent quake phenomenon was extremely faint and, according to calculations, extremely rare, requiring sufficient observation density to have any hope of detecting it.

At this moment, in addition to the tens of millions of research projects in subdivided fields and application levels, these two experimental plans, which involved the most fundamental and basic laws of physics, had fully commenced operation.

The two large nets had been completely spread. Whether the mysterious prey, the graviton, could be captured would depend on the coming period.

Time passed quietly, and in the blink of an eye, a year had gone by.

As of now, the number of specialized scientific research vessels Tom had deployed into the gas giant had exceeded 10 million. At the gravitational telescope, the total number of detected collision events had reached 4 billion.

But... it was regrettable. These tens of millions of scientific research vessels had not detected a single instance of turbulent quake. Among those 4 billion particle collision events, there wasn’t a single graviton collision event.

This result drew high concern from Tom and the scientists.

Things shouldn’t have developed this way. According to previous theoretical calculations, even if they hadn’t directly detected gravitons yet, they should have at least detected some suspected events or some indirect effects.

It really shouldn’t be like this, with absolutely nothing to show for it.

Unless their initial assumptions were wrong, unless the properties of the graviton differed significantly from their previous theoretical calculations.

In that case, it was time to prepare a second plan.

Tom, while convening a large number of intelligent life scientists for repeated seminars and discussions, constantly exchanging and brainstorming new ideas and exploring new possibilities, also continued to maintain these two detection missions.

Time continued to pass quietly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the fifth year.

The gas giant core detection project and the gravitational telescope detection project still yielded nothing.

No, it couldn’t be said that they yielded nothing.

Aside from gravity, Tom had gained many other things.

With an average of over 10 million neutrino collision events per day, Tom’s neutrino astronomy developed significantly, leading to a deeper understanding of cosmic evolution, large-scale filamentary spatial structures, various extreme astronomical phenomena, galaxy mergers, early galaxy changes, and other fields.

The continuous observation of the gas giant’s interior also provided Tom with a wealth of data and technological accumulation regarding the gas giant’s internal structure, physical changes, and even stellar evolution.

These two detection projects could not be said to be "losing money."

If the initial investment was considered 100 units, these gains were worth approximately 150 units, still a profit for Tom.

The only problem was that Tom had initially invested 100 units, hoping to achieve a return of 1,000 units, but now only earned 150 units.

For Tom, earning less meant a loss!

Moreover, these 150 units were presented in other forms and were not the type he most desired, which made things a bit difficult.

Tom sighed softly.

"Was the previous path wrong? Then... where is the correct path?"

Time passed quietly, and in the blink of an eye, over 20 years had gone by.

During these years, the scientists and Tom together conducted countless conjectures, theoretical calculations, and derivations, but they consistently failed to find a theoretical model that was mathematically self-consistent and compatible with existing physical data.

With no breakthrough for a long time, Tom began to feel a subtle sense of worry.

The reason was simple: 20 years of stalemate was nothing to him, but for the intelligent life scientists from various races, it was becoming unbearable.

Intelligent life needs positive feedback, and mental well-being needs to be maintained. A long period of no progress can easily dampen their initiative and self-confidence, ultimately leading to stagnation.

But in the end, Tom’s worries did not materialize, because Heimerlan stepped forward.

Tom saw that Heimerlan, who led all intelligent races as the Deputy Prime Minister, had detected this hidden danger even before he did. He had begun preparations years ago, and as soon as the first signs of scientists gradually losing their initiative and self-confidence appeared, he began to address it.

Various activities, such as interstellar exploration, cultural exchanges, various social gatherings, entertainment events, and various film and television works, were launched in rotation. More fundamentally, he comprehensively shaped the basic public opinion of every intelligent race, fostering a more tolerant and inclusive attitude towards scientific researchers among everyone, striving to reduce the pressure on the scientific researchers participating in this fundamental theoretical breakthrough.

At the same time, he also provided them with positive incentives through various means, allowing them to always maintain a positive and optimistic mindset, and to engage in this war, whose outcome was unknown, with an even more active attitude.

In the blink of an eye, another 30 years passed, making it a full 50 years since the research efforts became stuck.

Tom was first shocked, then joyfully realized that all the scientific researchers involved in the project still maintained the same positive and optimistic attitude as they had 50 years ago when this "war" first began; the stagnant situation he had worried about had not appeared at all.

"This Heimerlan is truly a talent."

At this moment, Tom couldn’t help but exclaim.

Even he would probably not be able to achieve this.

This wasn’t about how much management power or how many clones were invested, but about whether one could fully commit themselves.

Managing an entire vast civilization, with myriad tasks, Tom clearly didn’t have that much mental and physical energy to manage the psychological issues of intelligent life scientists.

Now, Heimerlan had taken on this responsibility on behalf of Tom.

"Heimerlan has done so well, it’s time to find a way to reward him again."

Thinking of this, Tom felt a bit troubled again.

In terms of various material benefits, and even the hugely expensive customized gene optimization plans and other treatments, Heimerlan, as the Deputy Prime Minister, had already received the maximum; there was truly nothing left to reward.

He couldn’t possibly give him the position of Head of State, could he?

After some thought, Tom simply called Heimerlan over and personally asked for his opinion.

Heimerlan, however, smiled and shook his head, giving an answer Tom had never expected.

"Head of State, being able to work, having a platform to work on, and doing meaningful work, is already the greatest reward for me."

Tom sighed inwardly, then stood up solemnly and shook Heimerlan’s hand with gravity.

Everything was unsaid.

Tom knew that as long as the intelligent life scientists could maintain this state, then, it wouldn’t be long before a breakthrough would appear.

Tom was 100% confident.

The reason was simple: if an ordinary Strong Nuclear Civilization could break through to become a Gravity Civilization, and now he not only gathered the wisdom of twenty races but also possessed such immense industrial strength, how could he not find the correct direction and fail to break through?

Impossible, this was illogical.

With absolute confidence, Tom once again immersed himself in what seemed like endless theoretical analysis and calculations.

Sure enough, just as Tom had predicted, a breakthrough emerging from a very obscure area gradually appeared before Tom several years later.

It was a breakthrough in the analytical solution of the gauge boson motion equation, accompanying the advancement of mathematics.

This brand new analytical solution had not initially caught Tom’s attention. It was like a wild weed, quietly growing in an unnoticed corner, then growing larger and larger, until researchers, by chance, looked back and discovered it had already grown into a towering tree.

After the research team’s results were published, they first attracted the attention of some scientists in neighboring fields.

They introduced this research result into their own fields and unexpectedly found that it solved the non-renormalization problem that had plagued them for many years. After the results were published, it not only attracted the attention of the entire scientific community, but Tom’s attention was also drawn to it.

Introducing this result into other fields, Tom unexpectedly saw that it demonstrated enormous potential in almost every field of fundamental physics.

Tom quickly realized that this was the breakthrough he had been waiting for!

It was like a key, effortlessly opening the previously unbreakable lock of physics, and integrating multiple seemingly contradictory theories, making people realize that those seemingly incompatible theories were, in fact, interconnected at a deeper level, merely differing in their forms of expression.

With this breakthrough, the theoretical system that Tom had hoped for, which was not only self-consistent but also aligned with real-world phenomena, was finally successfully established.

This newly established theoretical system also perfectly explained why the previous two major detection projects had failed.

"So gravitons possess characteristics similar to virtual particles... No wonder they couldn’t be directly detected."

Virtual particles are a very peculiar type of particle, corresponding to real particles.

In Tom’s current fundamental physics theory, there is still no clear conclusion on whether so-called virtual particles actually exist.

If one says virtual particles exist, they can absolutely never be observed. Because any particle that can be observed is a real particle.

That is, if a virtual particle were observed, it would no longer be a virtual particle.

If one says they don’t exist, and are merely a mathematical tool for calculation, they can still lead to various observable effects.

They are the mediating particles of fundamental forces; for example, electromagnetic force is transmitted through virtual photons, while electromagnetic waves are transmitted through real photons.

In the context of gravity, the normal situation should be that the gravity between two planets is transmitted through virtual gravitons, and gravitational waves are transmitted by real gravitons.

But unlike other fundamental forces, Tom, by calculating with existing detection data and the new theory, found that gravitons do not have a distinction between virtual and real.

There is only one type of graviton, but it can have different external manifestations.

In most cases, it is "virtual," and only in a few extremely special circumstances will it transition from virtual to real, exhibiting the characteristics of a real particle.

With the theory having advanced to this point, to observe gravitons, the research direction seemed very clear: it was simply a matter of creating the environment that would allow gravitons to "turn from virtual to real."

However, because the quantization of gravity had not been completed, Tom still could not know what that environment actually was.

This seemed to create an insoluble deadlock: to detect gravitons, one must first create that environment. And to create that environment, one must first detect gravitons and complete their quantization.

"No, this absolutely cannot be a dead end; there must still be a path forward. Otherwise, how did other civilizations break through Strong Nuclear and advance to gravitational?"

With 100% certainty that there was still a path forward, Tom and many scientists once again began to brainstorm.

Soon, just as Tom had predicted, a completely new idea appeared before him.

"Since it’s currently impossible to create that environment and thus directly observe real gravitons, then let’s observe virtual gravitons first."

Here, observing virtual gravitons does not mean truly "seeing" them, but rather, like other virtual particles, observing their indirect effects to determine their properties.

After some discussion, a brand new gravitational wave detector quickly completed theoretical and engineering feasibility studies and entered the actual construction phase.

It was not the graviton telescope built by hollowing out a planet previously, but rather a gravitational wave detector, the construction technology of which Tom had already mastered.

A gravitational wave is a ripple in spacetime. When a gravitational wave passes through a region of space, the matter present in that space, whether it’s a spaceship or a planet, will all undergo quadrupolar "oscillation" following this ripple in spacetime, leading to changes in their own dimensions, such as a sphere becoming an ellipsoid.

If space is viewed as a pond, gravitational waves as water ripples, and an object as the moon’s reflection in the water, this phenomenon is easy to understand: when water ripples pass through, the moon’s reflection will also fluctuate, and its volume, size, and dimensions will all change accordingly.

Since gravitational waves cause changes in an object’s own dimensions, by detecting these changes, one can indirectly detect various properties of gravitational waves.

However, for the current detection, this mode had a problem.

Traditional gravitational wave detectors confirm dimensional changes through laser ranging, but now, Tom hoped to use this detector to investigate what changes matter undergoes and what kind of interaction it has with gravitational waves when a gravitational wave passes through.

Therefore, the traditional laser ranging method could not be used. After all, a laser beam has no physical substance, so how could its interaction with a gravitational wave be detected?

After some discussion, Tom clarified what would be the main structure of the gravitational wave detector he was about to build, and what would replace the traditional laser ranging method.

The answer was simple: a column.

A column that was not ordinary, but extremely high-tech.

This column would be made of materials similar to the outer shells of the scientific research spacecraft that detect the turbulence of gas giants, manufactured using Strong Nuclear technology, but with even higher technological content than those spacecraft.

Its density would be as high as 70 grams per cubic centimeter—this density even exceeded the material density of the core of gas giants, with extremely dense internal atomic arrangement. At the same time, its hardness would be extremely high, capable of withstanding the bombardment of energy cannons.

It also had to be extremely straight, because any curvature could lead to uneven stress, affecting detection accuracy.

It also had to be extremely long, because only by being long enough could the extremely faint interactions between gravitational waves and itself be amplified sufficiently, providing convenience for subsequent observation.

After comprehensive calculations, Tom finally determined the length of this column.

One billion kilometers!

At such a length, if it were used to connect Earth and the Sun, it could connect them three round trips with some left over!

To ensure it was free from any interference, especially gravitational field interference, it could not be within a galaxy, but had to operate far away from any large celestial bodies.

The construction site Tom finally determined was 250 billion kilometers away from the star.

Fortunately, quantum mathematics had continued to develop recently, and Stellar Communication Technology had further advanced, otherwise this distance would have exceeded Tom’s communication limit.

It was in this vast empty space, far from any large celestial bodies, that Tom’s massive industrial fleet began construction.