After Raj and Paige entered CERN, they were immediately swept up in a whirlwind of activity—attending various lectures and meetings throughout the day. They worked tirelessly until late at night before finally returning to the hotel, completely exhausted.
However, despite their fatigue, they both felt that they had gained a tremendous amount from the experience.
Especially Raj. In addition to acquiring valuable knowledge, the most important benefit was broadening his horizons and expanding his professional network.
Today's attendees included not only top scholars and professors, but also editor-in-chiefs of prestigious journals, high-level personnel from various scientific research institutions, and representatives from top universities around the world.
Getting to know them would be invaluable to Raj's future career development.
Of course, Raj also understood that the so-called network wasn't simply about how many talented people he knew, but rather how many talented people knew him and valued his contributions.
The essence of networking, he recognized, was still the exchange of mutual interests. If you didn't have something of value to offer others, then your network was essentially worthless.
Fortunately, Raj was not someone to be dismissed lightly. His research on the Kuiper belt was highly regarded and innovative, and he was also the discoverer of TO1700d, which had earned him considerable recognition in the field of astrophysics.
Most importantly, he was still very young—only twenty-six years old—with a bright future stretching before him. Therefore, many people were eager to make his acquaintance, which significantly expanded Raj's professional network.
After returning to the hotel room, the first problem they faced was the sleeping arrangements for the night.
Paige looked at the queen size bed, her brow furrowing with concern.
Did she really have to sleep in the same bed with Raj tonight? She wasn't mentally prepared for that.
"Don't worry, it's easy to handle," Raj said with a dismissive wave of his hands. He then went down to the hotel front desk to request an extra blanket, which he spread directly on the floor beside the bed. "There, problem solved. You sleep on the bed, and I'll sleep on the floor."
"That won't do at all! I'm your assistant—if anyone should sleep on the floor, it should be me," Paige protested immediately.
"Come on, I'm a man and you're a woman. How could I possibly let you sleep on the floor while I take the bed? What kind of person would that make me?" Raj shook his head firmly. "Don't argue about this anymore."
"Raj, you're being a bit sexist, aren't you?" Paige said with a slight shake of her head.
"I'm not being discriminatory against women," Raj explained patiently. "It's just that men's physiques are generally more robust than women's. The floor is hard and uncomfortable—not suitable for rest. That's why I should be the one to sleep there. I'm not being discriminatory; I'm simply facing reality."
Paige nodded slowly, accepting his reasoning.
After washing up separately in the bathroom, they each settled into their respective sleeping spots.
To be honest, the floor was truly unsuitable for sleeping.
It was primarily the hardness that was the problem. Although Raj had placed a thick blanket beneath his body, he still felt deeply uncomfortable as he tried to find a comfortable position.
However, having already committed to this arrangement, he was too embarrassed to go back on his word, so he had to endure it silently.
Fortunately, after sitting on the plane for a day and attending intense lectures for another half day, he was genuinely exhausted. He didn't have to endure the discomfort for long before sleep overtook him.
What felt like moments later, the alarm clock rang, jarring them awake.
"Paige, get up quickly," Raj called out, his voice still rough with sleep.
Today was the momentous day for the ALICE experiment, and they absolutely could not afford to miss it.
"Yes, I'm up," Paige replied, sitting up suddenly and rubbing her sleepy eyes.
She noticed that Raj had risen from the floor and was repeatedly pounding his lower back with his fists. Concerned, she quickly asked, "Raj, was sleeping on the floor uncomfortable? Are you in pain?"
Raj grimaced but tried to maintain a brave front. "It's nothing serious, don't worry about me. Just go wash up."
The truth was, after sleeping on the hard floor all night, he had woken up with his entire body aching, particularly his back and shoulders.
But since it had been his own choice, there was no point in complaining to Paige about it now.
After washing up and getting dressed, Raj and Paige met the other team members for breakfast in the hotel dining room, and then traveled together by bus to CERN to witness today's historic hadron collision experiment.
Although they had departed quite early, when they arrived at the experiment center, they were surprised to discover that a large crowd had already gathered there.
Today marked the first time that the Large Hadron Collider would be put into full operational use, and it was also the first time in human history that scientists would simulate the initial conditions of the universe immediately after the Big Bang.
It could truly be said that this experiment itself was a pioneering achievement. Being able to witness this groundbreaking experiment up close was a tremendous honor for all the scientists present.
Moreover, this experiment would generate vast quantities of data—data that contained fundamental mysteries of the universe itself. If these mysteries could be deciphered, humanity's understanding of the cosmos would advance to an entirely new level.
Because of the experiment's significance, everyone was in a state of heightened anticipation mixed with anxiety, and the entire scene was permeated with a solemn and tense atmosphere.
At ten thirty in the morning, the ALICE test officially commenced.
The first beam of protons—as thin as a single strand of hair—was injected into the massive collider buried one hundred meters beneath the earth's surface.
Everyone held their breath collectively and looked up at the enormous screen in the experiment center, watching intently for any sign of activity.
Five seconds later, a signal appeared on the display screen, confirming that the experiment was proceeding smoothly.
Seeing this encouraging development, everyone present couldn't help but break into spontaneous applause.
Nearly an hour later, the first beam of protons successfully penetrated the entire length of the collider.
After another four hours of meticulous and sophisticated debugging, the second beam of protons was carefully injected into the collider, traveling in the opposite direction.
Following some final adjustments, the first proton beam and the second proton beam began to accelerate independently along their respective paths.
The collider, now operating at full power, propelled trillions of particles through the twenty-seven-kilometer-long underground tunnel at extraordinary speeds, reaching a maximum velocity of nearly 300,000 kilometers per second—equivalent to 99.99% of the speed of light.
At such an incredible speed, each proton beam could complete tens of thousands of circuits through the tunnel every single second, and the energy of a single beam could reach seven trillion electron volts. When two such proton beams collided, the result would naturally be extremely dramatic—no less spectacular than Mars colliding with Earth.
However, since the proton beam was only as thick as a human hair, the actual collision process couldn't be observed with the naked eye.
What people could observe now were simply the various streams of data flowing from the sophisticated detectors positioned throughout the collider.
But even so, the assembled scientists and observers remained intensely excited.
Everyone stared up at the screen with deep anticipation burning in their hearts, barely daring to blink.
Even though everyone had been standing for nearly six continuous hours without sitting down, and they had skipped both lunch and dinner, not a single person was willing to leave their position.
Finally, at eight o'clock in the evening, the ALICE experiment officially concluded.
But this ending was also a new beginning.
The ALICE experiment had generated an enormous volume of experimental data—petabytes of information—and everyone present would spend the next several months, or even years, carefully analyzing this data.
Extracting the fundamental mysteries of the universe from these massive datasets would be extraordinarily challenging—the difficulty was comparable to cracking the security code of the world's most sophisticated bank vault.
However, Raj had confidence in himself and his abilities.
Before coming to CERN, he had thoroughly studied relevant papers and research reports, and he believed he had identified the secret key to cracking the code hidden within the data.
With this advantage, the difficulty of his analysis would naturally be greatly reduced compared to his competitors.
When everyone else was still fumbling in the dark, confused and uncertain about where to begin, he would be able to take the crucial first steps. He would publish his findings in prestigious journals before anyone else and claim the fruits of this historic scientific victory.
With these thoughts in mind, Raj felt his chest swell with ambition and determination.
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