After pressurizing to a thousand times atmospheric pressure, Li Qingsong temporarily stopped the injection of hydrogen and began to carefully check the operation of each functional module of the entire detector.
After all, this was the first high-pressure proton decay detector he had built, so he had to be cautious.
After a round of checks, Li Qingsong breathed a sigh of relief.
All modules were operating normally, and no accidents occurred.
So, hydrogen injection continued.
Under the operation of the high-pressure inflation machine, even though the pressure inside the inner spherical shell had reached a thousand atmospheres, the continuous flow of hydrogen was still forced in.
The volume was fixed and could not be increased. However, the mass was constantly increasing, and correspondingly, the density also began to increase.
The density of hydrogen began to increase rapidly.
Under normal circumstances, the density of hydrogen is only kilograms per cubic meter, only about 1/15,000th of that of water.
And now, its density had increased to more than a thousand times its original value, reaching 84 kilograms per cubic meter!
Correspondingly, its temperature also began to rise rapidly, from the original minus 200 degrees Celsius to tens of degrees Celsius at this moment.
This was unacceptable. Because in Li Qingsong's design, these ultra-pure hydrogen atoms had to be kept at extremely low temperatures to ensure the accuracy of the detector.
So, the heat dissipation device was activated. Through some pipes installed inside the inner spherical shell, as well as some temperature control equipment installed outside the spherical shell, heat was transferred out and dissipated into space in the form of thermal radiation through huge, solar panel-like areas.
Pressurization and cooling were carried out simultaneously. Under the continuous injection of external hydrogen, the state of these hydrogen atoms underwent strange changes.
These hydrogen atoms gradually turned into liquid and then gradually turned into solid.
They became crystal clear, like water freezing into ice.
However, although solid, under tremendous pressure, these solids could still be easily changed in shape like gases or liquids, and could fill every part of the inner spherical shell without any omissions.
The hydrogen injection phase lasted for about half a year. At this moment, billion tons of hydrogen had been injected into the huge inner spherical shell.
After observing for a while and confirming that everything was operating normally with this detector, Li Qingsong finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It could enter the observation phase.
At this moment, the number of protons inside this inner spherical shell had reached 10^39. Assuming a proton lifetime of 10^37 years, on average, about 100 protons would decay inside this detector every year.
Assuming a detection accuracy of 20%, if everything went smoothly, Li Qingsong should be able to detect 20 proton decay events every year, averaging about once every 18 days.
After the detector entered the formal operation phase, Li Qingsong stopped all mechanical operation tasks inside the detector.
At this stage, the only equipment working inside it was some electronic equipment that basically did not produce any noise or vibration.
They had no gears, no conveyor belts, and basically did not produce any vibration.
At the same time, Li Qingsong also withdrew all personnel and robots working inside it. Li Qingsong also strictly defended against any possible impact events from the outside.
Even impacts as small as dust, Li Qingsong would stop them.
The only purpose was to keep this detector in an almost absolute state of stillness, absolute quiet.
Time passed quietly in Li Qingsong's patient waiting.
One day, the precision detection equipment installed on the inner spherical shell suddenly reported a vibration signal to Li Qingsong.
A very slight vibration had occurred.
Li Qingsong's heart instantly rose to his throat.
Controlling tens of thousands of clones to quickly check all the operating data of the detector during this period, and eliminating the possibility of all external interference, Li Qingsong finally made a judgment full of excitement.
This vibration was almost impossible to be caused by errors. And, after excluding the possibility of almost all external interference, the source of this vibration was only left with one possibility.
It came from inside the detector!
Based on the structure and detection mechanism of the detector, this vibration could almost only come from proton decay!
Among the protons, which numbered as high as 10^39, one proton suddenly spontaneously decayed into a photino and then escaped from the inside of the detector.
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Its sudden disappearance left an extremely small cavity inside. And based on the huge external pressure, the surrounding hydrogen atoms had to quickly fill this cavity, which in turn caused a vibration due to the violent collision between them.
This model was similar to a core-collapse supernova explosion.
Core-collapse supernovae are also caused by the sudden loss of support inside, with a large amount of matter falling and colliding with each other.
The energy density of this collision occurring inside the detector at this moment was extremely high. However, compared with a supernova explosion, its total energy was extremely low.
Even if the pressure was higher and the collision speed was faster, it was only the cavity of an atomic nucleus, so how much could there be?
Its overall strength was even tens of thousands of times lower than a leaf falling silently on Earth.
However, this detector was always kept in a state of almost absolute quiet.
At the same time, the sensitivity of the vibration sensor designed by Li Qingsong was also extremely high.
So, even such a slight vibration, in Li Qingsong's eyes, was as loud as a spring thunder.
At this moment, Li Qingsong was so excited that he could hardly control himself.
Proton decay, he had finally truly detected proton decay for the first time!
This was a major scientific discovery that was completely no less important than magnetic monopoles!
Although this was only the first time it had been detected, and he had not yet had time to carry out further observations on the mode of proton decay, and had not yet obtained relevant knowledge, but merely confirming proton decay itself was already significant enough.
This at least proved that his thinking was correct!
At the same time, it also completely proved that his theoretical framework was correct.
Too few samples?
What was there to be afraid of!
As long as the thinking was correct, with my industrial strength, building ten or a hundred similar detectors was not an easy task, and the number of samples could be quickly increased.
