Chapter 167 A Sudden Realization
At three in the morning, Chen Xueming lay in bed, staring at the ceiling with his eyes wide open.
He had been lying there for a full twelve hours, yet he hadn't slept for a single minute. Lin Mo's lines of deduction results kept replaying in his mind:
"Boundary conditions set incorrectly."
"Parameter #B-1073 is coupled with the magnetic field nonlinearity coefficient."
"Recommended value: 0.67."
He had mulled over those few lines of text hundreds of times.
Why couldn't he figure it out?
He, Chen Xueming, with twenty years of experience in plasma control, having published over a dozen papers internationally and led countless projects. Boundary conditions were something he had mastered when he first entered the field. How could he have made such a rookie mistake?
But Lin Mo's deduction told him clearly—you were wrong.
And it was such a simple, low-level mistake.
Chen Xueming rolled over and buried his face in the pillow.
At three-thirty in the morning, he suddenly sat up.
He couldn't sleep. He might as well go to the laboratory.
At three-forty in the morning, the lights in the Plasma Control Laboratory turned back on.
Chen Xueming sat in front of the computer and pulled up that damn Parameter #B-1073. He stared at the line of numbers—0.82, which he had entered personally.
Then he pulled up the "coupling parameter" mentioned in Lin Mo's deduction—the magnetic field nonlinearity coefficient, code-named #F-2108.
He placed the curves of the two parameters together to compare them.
The first time, he didn't see anything.
The second time, he still didn't see anything.
The third time—
His hand suddenly stopped.
At the moment the power rose to 80%, both curves showed a tiny fluctuation simultaneously. The amplitude of the fluctuation was extremely small, so small that it was almost negligible on a single curve. But when compared together, it was clear—they were indeed fluctuating at the same time.
And the frequency of the fluctuations was identical.
Chen Xueming's heart skipped a beat.
He pulled up more data and began to analyze it segment by segment.
Ten minutes later, he discovered the truth.
Between #B-1073 and #F-2108, there was a weak coupling relationship. This coupling had almost no impact at low power, but when the power exceeded 80% and the magnetic field strength reached a certain threshold, the coupling would be activated, causing the two parameters to amplify each other and eventually leading to algorithm divergence.
And in his previous tests, he had never analyzed these two parameters together.
Because according to the textbooks, they should be independent.
But the actual device didn't listen to textbooks.
Chen Xueming leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
His mind went blank.
So that was it.
So that was it.
At four in the morning, he began to correct the parameters.
He adjusted #B-1073 from 0.82 to 0.67—the recommended value from Lin Mo's deduction. Then he reran the high-power simulation.
On the screen, the plasma state curve slowly unfolded. Power 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%—
The oscillation curve that had made him break down disappeared.
In its place was a smooth straight line.
Chen Xueming stared at that straight line, stunned for a full thirty seconds.
Then he suddenly laughed.
As he laughed, tears began to flow.
At five in the morning, he sent a message to Lin Mo.
"Thank you. I owe you my life."
After sending it, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. This time, he could finally sleep.
The phone vibrated.
He opened his eyes and clicked on Lin Mo's reply:
"Between us, there's no need for that."
Chen Xueming stared at that line of text, dazed for a long time.
Then he pressed the phone against his chest and closed his eyes again.
This time, there was a smile on his lips.
At six in the morning, Lin Mo pushed open the door and entered.
Chen Xueming had fallen asleep slumped over the desk. The computer screen was still on, displaying that smooth plasma curve. He was sleeping deeply, his face showing the relaxation that comes after exhaustion, along with a faint, lingering smile.
Lin Mo didn't wake him.
He gently took off his jacket, draped it over Chen Xueming, then quietly backed out and closed the door.
At the door, Li Xiao came over carrying two cups of soy milk. Seeing Lin Mo, she whispered:
"How is Teacher Chen?"
Lin Mo took a cup of soy milk and took a sip:
"He's asleep. Let him sleep."
Li Xiao nodded, then looked at the closed door and suddenly said:
"President Lin, Teacher Chen sent me a message last night."
Lin Mo turned to look at her: "What did he say?"
Li Xiao smiled: "He said, thank you, and thank me too."
Lin Mo was stunned for a moment, then he also smiled:
"Then just accept it."
The two of them stood side by side in the hallway, watching the sky outside gradually brighten.
The morning in the Gobi Desert was exceptionally peaceful.
In the distance, the silhouette of the tokamak-3 became clearer and clearer in the morning light.
A new day had begun.