In 1963, Maria Goeppert Mayer won the Nobel Prize in Physics for describing the mathematical model of the nuclear structure. Since then, no woman has won the same glory.
One of the many women who have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics during the past 55 years is Wu Xiulan. She is a Distinguished Professor of Physics at the Enrico Fermi Awards at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a member of the European Nuclear Research Center. Located near Geneva, equipped with the Large Hadron Collider. Her name appears in more than 1,000 high-energy physics papers, and over the past 50 years she has made important contributions to the most important experiments in the field of physics. Even reached the daunting goal set for myself as a young researcher: at least three major discoveries.
Wu Xiulan is an important member of two teams working on J/psi particles (J/psi particle). This particle declares the existence of the fourth quark, the char quark. In 1974, these two studies The group discovered the quarks at almost the same time, which set off the 'November Revolution', which drove the great changes in particle physics in the next few years, and promoted the establishment of a standard model of particle physics. In the late 1970s, Wu Xiulan has carried out a large number of mathematical operations and research analysis to identify the three energy 'beams' that fly away from particles. These collisions prove the existence of gluon particles, and the gluons can transfer protons and neutrons together. The powerful force. Since the scientists discovered that the photon is the carrier of electromagnetic radiation, Wu Xiulan’s work first discovered a particle capable of transmitting force. She later became one of the team leaders of the ATLAS experiment. The experiment was performed by scientists. One of the two collaborations on the Large Hadron Collider, and the Higgs boson was discovered in 2012, filling the last vacancy of the standard model. Later, she continued to seek to find beyond
She subverted particle physics three times, but why didn't she win the Nobel Prize?
During the Second World War, Wu Xiulan was born in Hong Kong occupied by the Japanese. Her mother was the sixth shackle of a wealthy businessman. When she was a child, she and her mother and brother were abandoned. She grew up in poverty. Sleeping alone in a small space behind a rice shop. Her mother is illiterate, but she urges her daughter to continue her education and teach her that men are fickle and women need to be independent of men.
She graduated from a public school in Hong Kong and applied to 50 universities in the United States, eventually receiving a scholarship to Vassar College.
At first, she wanted to be an artist, but then she read the biography of Madame Curie, which prompted her to decide to study physics. She experimented at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island, New York for several consecutive summer vacations, and at Harvard University. Graduate student. She is the only woman among her colleagues. She is also forbidden to enter the male dormitory to participate in the study group gathered there. Since then, she has been working to improve the inclusiveness of talent in the field of physics, and in more than 60 male and female students. Provide guidance to them during their Ph.D.
In early June, in the sunny Cleveland, Wu Xiulan was interviewed by Quanta Magazine. She just gave a special speech on the discovery of gluons at a seminar to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the birth of the standard model.
The following is a reduced interview record.
You have conducted the largest number of experiments in the world, guiding dozens of students, often traveling to and from Madison and Geneva. What is the normal day for you?
Very tired! I work full time at the European Nuclear Research Center (CERN), but I often go to Madison. So I often travel to and from these two places.
How do you control this?
I think the key lies in my complete commitment. My husband Wu Dajun is also a professor. He works in the Department of Theoretical Physics at Harvard University. Now, he is working harder than me, it is hard to imagine. He is working on Higgs. The calculation of boson decay is very difficult. But I encourage him to work hard, because it is good for the mental state of old age. This is why I work so hard.
Do you like one of the most discoveries of all the discoveries you participated in?
The time I found the gluon was wonderful. I was only an assistant professor in the second or third grade. I was very happy at the time. Because I am like a baby, I am the youngest among all the key cooperative members. The gluon is self-photon. The first particle that has been transmitted since its discovery. A few years later, researchers who discovered weak and weak W and Z bosons won the Nobel Prize. Why did you find the gluon without winning?
Ok, you have to ask the Nobel Committee. (laughs) The number of winners for each individual Nobel Prize cannot exceed three. There are three other physicists who participated in the experiment. They are all more senior than me. They It was very good to me. But I pushed the idea of looking for glues immediately. The calculations were also done by me. I didn't even talk to the theorists. Although I married the theorists, I never really paid attention to the theory. What the family told me.
How do you end up with those calculations?
If you want to succeed, you have to be fast. But you must also take the lead in making results. So I did some calculations to make sure that the new collider at the German Electronic Synchrotron Research Institute (DESY) was opened in Hamburg, Germany, we can observe Go to the gluon and identify the signal of the three beam jets. In those days, we were not sure if the gluon signal was clear, because the concept of jet appeared only a few years ago, but this seems to be the only way to find the gluon. .
You're also involved in the discovery of the Higgs boson, a particle in a standard model that gives many other particle qualities. How is this experiment different from the other experiments you're involved in?
I found that the Higgs boson spent more energy and time than any other study. I worked for more than 30 years and did one experiment after another. I think I made a lot of contributions to this discovery. But the cooperation of the European Nuclear Research Center's ATLAS experiment is so large that you should not talk about personal contributions. There are 3,000 people who have created and participated in our experiments. Who can say that they have any credit? In the past, everyone's ideas were simpler.
Is it easier to become a female physics researcher than in your time?
I didn't go well when I started working. But now, it is easier for young women to work in this area. There is a trend between funding agencies and research institutes to encourage young women. I think this is good. But I have experienced a very A difficult time. Now that I am recognized, others say: Why do we treat you differently?
When you are a young researcher, who is your mentor?
When I was looking for a gluon at the German Institute of Electronic Synchrotrons, Bjorn Wiik really helped me a lot.
How can he help you?
When I started working at the University of Wisconsin, I was looking for a new project. I was interested in researching positive and negative electron collisions, which provided the most obvious gluon traces. So I went to another Wisconsin Professor, he did these experiments at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). But he is not interested in working with me.
So I tried to enter the Electronic and Electronic Collider Project of the German Electronic Synchrotron Institute. I want to participate in the JADE experiment (the four letters of JADE are taken from the countries where the collider was developed: Japan, USA, Germany and England). Some friends are working there, so I went to Germany, I am happy to join them. But then I heard that no one mentioned me to a senior professor on the team, so I called him. He said, 'I Not sure if I will receive you, and I am going to vacation for a month. I will call you when I come back. 'I was really sad at the time, because I am already in Germany, already in their research institute.
Then I met Bjorn Wick, who led a different experiment called TASSO. He said, 'What are you doing here?' I said, 'I want to join the JADE experiment, but they refused me.' He said, 'Come on, let's talk.' 'He accepted me the next day. The truth is, our TASSO team took the lead in observing the three energy jets of the gluon, and the JADE team had problems with the lab. I couldn't observe this phenomenon. So I realized that if a door is closed, life will open a window for you.
You turn the negative side into a positive side.
Yes. The same thing happened when I was applying to the university in the US. After browsing the catalogue of the US Consulate, I applied to 50 universities and wrote in each application, 'I need the full amount. Scholarships and accommodation, 'Because I don't have money. Four universities have replied to me. Three of them have rejected me. Vassar College is the only university that accepts me. It turns out that in all the colleges that apply, it is the best. University.
If you persist, there will be good things happening. My philosophy is that you must work hard and have good judgment. But luck is also essential.
I know this is an unfair question, because no one has ever asked a man like this. What I want to ask is, how does society inspire more women to learn physics or to see it as a profession?
Ok, I can only talk about my field - experimental high energy physics. I think my field is very difficult for women. Part of the reason is family problems.
Except for the summer, my husband and I have not lived together for 10 years. I gave up giving birth. When I consider giving birth, I am being nominated for a tenure and a grant. If I am pregnant, I am worried that I will lose. These. I am not too worried about pregnancy itself, more worried about entering the department or attending meetings during pregnancy. So this is very difficult for women with families.
I think that is still the case now.
Yes, but for the younger generation, the situation has changed. Now, if you support women, this department will make people feel good. I am not saying that the departments are deliberately doing this just to create a better image, but they are not Then fiercely opposed women. However, women still face difficulties, especially experimental high-energy physics. I think that it is difficult to have a family to travel or enjoy life. The theory is much easier, but the actual life is not the case.
You have done so much work to help build a standard model of particle physics. What do you think of it? Surprisingly the standard model is very effective. I like this, whenever we try to find us in the standard model We can't find it without considering it, because the standard model is comprehensive and we can't find anything that is not covered.
But in the past, we still had a lot of things that were not discovered and established. The problem now is that everything is very beautifully blended together, and the standard model is very validated. This is what I miss to find J/Ψ particles. The reason for that time. No one thought of what to discover next, no one really has clues about the next discovery.
But maybe the days of those surprises are not over yet.
We know that the standard model is an incomplete description of nature. It does not take into account the mass or dark matter of gravity and neutrinos (the six-seventh of the intangible matter that makes up the mass of the universe). In addition to the standard model, are you most interested? Research object?
Currently, I am looking for particles that make up dark matter. The only problem is that I am working on the Large Hadron Collider at the CERN. But the collider may or may not be the best instrument for finding dark matter. Dark matter exists. In the galaxy, but we can't see it on Earth.
However, I have to try. If there is an interaction between dark matter and known particles, dark matter can be produced by collisions in the Large Hadron Collider. But weakly interacting dark matter will not remain in our ATLAS detectors. Obvious signal, so we must intuitively judge whether it exists from the actual observed phenomenon. Now, I am focusing on finding clues to prove the existence of dark matter, which will lose energy and momentum in the collision, resulting in Sig Boss.
What are you studying?
Our most important task is to understand the nature of the Higgs boson, which is a brand new particle. The Higgs boson is more symmetrical than any other particle we know, it is that we have no rotating equipment. The first particle found in the case. My team and I are the main contributors to the recent measurement of the interaction between the Higgs boson and the top quark. This observation is extremely challenging. We scrutinized the collision for five years. Data, and my team is closely watching advanced machine learning techniques and statistics.
In addition to studying the Higgs boson and finding dark matter, my team and I have contributed to the silicon pixel detector, the triggering system (which identifies potentially valuable collisions) and the computing system in the ATLAS detector. Currently, we have improved these devices or systems during the closure and upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider. We are also very excited about the near future, as we plan to start using quantum computing for data analysis.
Do you have any advice for young physicists who have just started their careers?
Some young experimenters today are a bit too conservative. In other words, they are afraid to do something that is not mainstream. They are worried about doing something that is risky but ultimately fruitless. I will not blame them. This is the cultural influence. I The advice to them is to figure out what the most important experiment is, and then stick to it. Good experiment always takes time.
But not everyone will have patience.
Yes. Young students don't necessarily have the freedom to keep themselves highly innovative, unless they can complete and succeed in a short period of time. They don't necessarily have patience, they don't necessarily want to just do the work they are groping. They need to get cooperation. The approval of the person. They need someone to write a letter of recommendation for them.
The only thing you can do is work hard. But I also tell my students, 'Communicate. Don't isolate yourself. Try to make good ideas yourself, but also pay attention to teamwork. Try to innovate. Nothing is easy. But Finding new things is worthwhile. '