Yuezhou University, Academic Lecture Hall, Li Banfeng entered the venue to witness an academic debate.
Such debates are rare at Yuezhou University and even less common throughout Huan Country.
Normal academic exchange meetings usually invite several industry experts as guests to give reports in their areas of expertise. Even if there are exchange and discussion segments, they are guided by the host to share some experiences in scientific research.
However, today's situation is completely different. There's no reporting segment; it goes straight to exchange and discussion. The two main guests participating have completely opposing views on many academic questions, and their discussion is likely to turn into a debate.
The main topic today is gravitational tidal forces during the process of traversing a wormhole.
Li Banfeng found a seat in the back row of the venue and sat down.
Teacher Song was not sitting close to him. She has also achieved significant research results in the field of wormholes and is one of the guests at the exchange meeting. She sat in the first row, ready to participate in the discussion.
On the podium, Yan Youjun, a seventy-two-year-old professor who is an absolute authority in the domestic wormhole field, spoke first.
He hadn't prepared any courseware or speaking materials because he felt today's topic wasn't worth preparing for.
"The tidal effect experienced by travelers passing through a wormhole must be small enough. This is a basic requirement for a traversable wormhole. Frankly, I don't think there's any meaningful debate on such a topic. What do you think, Xiao Yu?" Yan Youjun took a sip of tea, smiling kindly at the forty-eight-year-old Yu Yaoming.
At forty-eight, that's not considered young in most fields, but in front of Yan Youjun, Yu Yaoming had to maintain the demeanor of a junior.
"Not just him," whispered the female student sitting to the left of Li Banfeng as she adjusted her glasses, "In the domestic field of wormholes, any academic viewpoint that contradicts Yan Youjun's understanding is absurd, naive, and not worth debating."
Li Banfeng didn't look at the female student, nor did he respond. He continued to listen to Professor Yan Youjun's explanation.
The so-called tidal effect is the difference in gravitational pull on different parts of an object in a non-uniform gravitational field.
For example, if a person heads towards a black hole, the head being closer to the black hole feels more gravity, while the feet, being farther away, feel relatively less gravity. At a certain distance, the gravitational difference between the two is enough to tear a person apart. This is the tidal effect.
"It's the same with wormholes," Yan Youjun took another sip of tea, "In extreme cases, the tidal effect of a wormhole is no different from that of a black hole. Most wormholes cannot meet the conditions of being traversable. Based on this common sense, I think there's no need for debate on this topic.
Of course, there are also many people present who aren't very clear about the concept of a wormhole. I can provide some foundational knowledge for everyone here. A wormhole is a narrow tunnel in the universe that connects two different spaces, also known as a spacetime conduit. It's also a channel for long-distance space travel in a short time..."
Listening to Yan Youjun's explanation, the female student spoke to Li Banfeng again: "See how sickening he is? Knowing it's common knowledge, he still deliberately explains it in detail, as if he's teaching a math problem-solving formula to a mathematician, as if the other party is a newcomer. This is Yan Youjun's favorite method to suppress others and disgust people."
This method was indeed quite nauseating. Initially, Li Banfeng thought Yan Youjun explained things in a simple and understandable way, which was quite friendly for an outsider like him.
But after covering basic theories, he went on to talk about the history of wormhole research, from the early 20th-century introduction of the wormhole concept by Audrey, a physicist, to the later connections between general relativity and wormholes. Yan Youjun continuously used basic knowledge to school a scientist who had made certain achievements in the academic field, as if a senior was describing the use of soy sauce to a renowned chef.
"Wormholes are no longer a fresh field of research. Countless sages have pointed us in the right direction. Our effort should be in the right direction, seeking newer results, not wasting our precious time on meaningless disputes.
A physics undergraduate can clearly state the concept of tidal effects. If this issue still requires an academic discussion in the professional field, I think it's disgraceful and ridiculous!"
After nearly half an hour of basic knowledge explanation, the old professor finally expressed his viewpoint. In his opinion, Yu Yaoming was a clown who couldn't even grasp basic knowledge.
The female student sitting next to Li Banfeng said, "If I remember correctly, you didn't continue studying after graduating from your bachelor's, did you?"
Li Banfeng gave a dry laugh and said, "You still remember me?"
The female student laughed, "How could I not remember you? From high school until now, how many times have I been rejected by you?"
This female student is named Fang Yufei. In high school, she and Li Banfeng were classmates. By sophomore year, she confessed her feelings to Li Banfeng once, but was rejected.
After the college entrance exams, Fang Yufei proactively expressed a desire to visit Li Banfeng's home but was rejected again because at the time, Li Banfeng was sleeping under a bridge, making it inconvenient to host guests.
Both got admitted to Yuezhou University, but were not in the same major. During college, Fang Yufei confessed to Li Banfeng three times, all of which were rejected.