"Burstein, Michael A - Broken Symmetry" - читать интересную книгу автора (Burstein Michael A)

He passed the sheet over to her. "I mean, look at that. Everything points to the
collider running smoothly." He ticked points off on his fingers. "We're having
no problem generating proton beams and antiproton beams in the containment
rings; you and I have just ascertained that the ring walls are unharmed; and now
you're telling me that the detectors are fully functional as well."
She studied the sheet and nodded. "True."
"Well, then, Dr. Anderson, tell me, what piece of equipment is malfunctioning?
Because I certainly can't figure it out!"
She glanced around the room. "I don't think anything is malfunctioning at all."
"Nothing at all."
"That's right."
"Then why aren't we getting any data?"
"Professor -- Ray, are you willing to entertain a -- well, listen to a hunch?"
"I'll accept anything at this point."
She smiled. "I hope you're telling the truth, because what I'm about to suggest
sounds totally ludicrous. You ever read any Sherlock Holmes?"
Ray nodded. "A long time ago."
"My husband just turned me onto the stories, and they're fascinating. Anyway, in
one of the Sherlock Holmes stories, he says, 'When you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'"
"Yes, I remember that quote. Someone had it hanging in his office back at
Harvard."
Kristin shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I was reading that story and had our
problem in the back of my mind when something clicked. Assuming all our
equipment is functioning properly, what do our results tell us?"
"They tell us that Congress will cut our funding next year."
"Seriously."
"Sorry." He sighed. "Although I am serious. If we don't show positive results,
Congress will take its ten billion dollar loss and leave Waxahachie with a big
hole in the ground."
"I know. I remember the budget fights of the nineties; I almost had to leave
graduate school because of it. But that's not my point."
"OK. You want to know what it means if all our equipment is functioning
properly."
"Yes."
"Fine." Ray stood up and walked over to the wall opposite the one the corridor
shared with the ring. An old map of the SSC hung there, at eye level, with a red
X next to the words, "YOU ARE HERE." The overall picture looked like two small
circles on top of a larger circle, reminiscent of Mickey Mouse's head.
"Here," Ray said, pointing to the two small circles, "we're generating protons
and antiprotons."
"Right."
"Then we inject them into the main collider." Ray pointed to the larger circle.
"Right."
Finally, Ray pointed to a rectangle that bordered the circle on the bottom. "And
here, the detector should see a shower of subatomic particles when the two beams
collide. But we don't get that, except for those first few runs."
"No, we don't."
"And you claim that the equipment isn't at fault. So what do you think is
happening?"