13: Chapter 13: Taking on a critical mission, assembling the "Nine Chapters" team.
In the secure video conference room, the air seemed to have solidified. The huge screen was divided into over a dozen frames, each representing the top intellectual resources of the Dragon Kingdom in quantum computing and related fields.
Lin Shen sat in a seat near the edge of the front row, with an encrypted notebook terminal in front of him. He had entered the conference room ten minutes early and was now using the final moments to quickly browse the preliminary framework document for the "Jiuzhang Special Project" that had just been issued. The content was concise yet heavy: the project's overall goals, key technical indicators, organizational structure, resource guarantee principles, and an attachment listing known technical bottlenecks and risk points.
His gaze lingered for a long time on the "Technical Path Selection" section. The document clearly listed several main alternative routes, such as superconducting, ion trap, optical quantum, and semiconductor quantum dots, requiring teams for each route to submit detailed proposals within a deadline for competitive review. Topological Quantum Computing was only mentioned in an inconspicuous footnote, labeled as "a long-term exploration direction, focusing on basic research at the current stage."
The conference room door slid open silently, and a group of people walked in. Leading them was Academician Qin; he walked with a steady gait, his face betraying little emotion, but his eyes were sharper than usual. Following him were several leading figures in the domestic quantum field that Lin Shen had seen in the "Xinghai" materials, as well as a few unfamiliar faces from the military and core ministries with powerful auras.
As everyone arrived, the conference room fell silent.
Academician Qin did not engage in much small talk; he walked straight to the head of the table and swept his gaze across the room.
"Comrades, everyone has seen the press conference for 'athena'." Academician Qin's voice was not loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly. "I do not want to repeat those crisis remarks. The facts are before us: in terms of core computing power that determines the future of our nation, we have been left behind by a distance that cannot be ignored. The 'Jiuzhang Special Project' was launched under these circumstances by the highest level of decision-making. The goal is simple: concentrate our forces, meet the challenge head-on, and in the shortest possible time, produce our own results that can compete with them."
He paused, his tone deepening: "This is not a conventional research project; this is a battle. A technological battle that we cannot afford to lose. What we need is a breakthrough, transcendence, not just step-by-step catching up. Therefore, the project's operational mode will be unconventional. Competition, elimination, and absolute prioritization of resources will be the norm."
The audience looked solemn; many nodded slightly, though one could also see a trace of doubt and pressure on the faces of some veteran experts.
"Today's launch meeting aims to solve two problems," Academician Qin continued. "First, to clarify the lead units and core leaders for each technical route, and to form the initial task force teams. Second, to determine the schedule and rules for the first round of proposal evaluation and resource allocation."
He signaled to a general beside him, who was responsible for the project's daily coordination, to begin reading the preliminary team formation plan.
The superconducting route was led by a joint team from the Institute of Physics, CAS and the University of Science and Technology, with the head being an authority in the field of superconducting quantum, an Academician surnamed Liu. The ion trap route was led by the National University of Defense Technology and the Institute of Precision Measurement, with the head being a chief scientist surnamed Tan. The optical quantum route, which has advantages in communication and networking, was jointly handled by a top university in Shanghai and a communication research institute. The semiconductor quantum dot route was handed over to a strong microelectronics institute and several emerging startup teams.
Behind every name lay years of accumulation and illustrious achievements. The leaders who were named stood up one by one to make brief statements, their tones all grave and firm.
Lin Shen listened quietly. These routes were all within his expectations and were indeed the areas with the strongest foundations domestically at present. However, the thought in his heart regarding Topological Quantum Computing was like a flickering flame, swaying unsteadily in the face of realistic, rational assessment.
"In addition to the four main technical routes mentioned above," Academician Qin said again after the leaders finished their statements, "the project headquarters, after discussion, has decided to establish an additional 'Forward-looking Exploration and Disruptive Technology' group, codenamed 'Xuance Group'."
A slight commotion stirred in the meeting room. Everyone's eyes focused.
"This group's task is not to participate in direct competition with the mainstream routes, but to jump out of the existing framework and search for theories, materials, or architectures that might change the rules of the game," Academician Qin explained. "They enjoy independent funding channels and lower initial assessment pressure, but they must regularly submit in-depth forward-looking analysis reports, and they have the right to apply for an upgrade to an independent technical route once concrete evidence is obtained."
Lin Shen's heartbeat accelerated slightly.
"Following nomination and deliberation by the headquarters, the academic leader of the 'Xuance Group' will be Professor Wen Zhao from Shuimu University." Academician Qin's gaze turned to a corner of the screen, where Professor Wen Zhao's video connection window was located. The old man in the frame remained thin, wearing reading glasses; upon hearing this, he merely lifted his eyelids slightly and nodded, without any extra expression.
"And the person in charge of technical coordination and engineering potential assessment for the 'Xuance Group'," Academician Qin's gaze shifted to the direction where Lin Shen was sitting, "will be concurrently held by Comrade Lin Shen of the 'Chasing Light' project."
In an instant, almost all eyes in the conference room turned to Lin Shen. There was curiosity, scrutiny, confusion, and also a faint sense of doubt. Lin Shen was too young, and his qualifications were too shallow. Although he had achieved impressive results in photonic integration, quantum was a completely different field; to have him be responsible for the engineering assessment of "disruptive technology"?
Lin Shen could feel the weight of those gazes. He took a deep breath, stood up, and bowed slightly to Academician Qin and everyone present: "Thank you for the trust of the headquarters. I will do my utmost to cooperate with Professor Wen Zhao and do a good job with the 'Xuance Group'."
His voice was steady, neither excited nor stage-frightened.
Academician Qin nodded, signaling him to sit down. "Comrade Lin Shen has demonstrated excellent interdisciplinary understanding and the ability to implement cutting-edge ideas in the field of photonic integration, which is exactly what the 'Xuance Group' needs. I hope you can become a bridge between basic theory and engineering reality."
This explanation temporarily quelled some superficial doubts, but Lin Shen knew that the real test had just begun.
The launch meeting continued to discuss the principles of resource allocation and the deadline for the first round of proposal submissions (four weeks later). The atmosphere of competition permeated from the very beginning. Among the various mainstream route teams, there was already a faint sense of rivalry.
After the meeting ended, Lin Shen did not leave immediately. Through the internal communication system, he requested a brief private exchange with Professor Wen Zhao.
Professor Wen Zhao's video window popped up quickly. The old man's face appeared even more serious on the screen.
"Professor Wen Zhao, hello. I am Lin Shen." Lin Shen introduced himself respectfully.
"I know." Professor Wen Zhao was concise, "Old man Qin has already spoken to me. Tell me, what are your initial thoughts on the 'Xuance Group'? Don't give me any empty talk."
Lin Shen was well-prepared: "Professor Wen Zhao, I have carefully studied your work and that of domestic and foreign peers in Topological Quantum Computing. I believe the theoretical advantages of this path are obvious—the natural immunity to noise might fundamentally bypass the error correction bottleneck. However, the current obstacles mainly lie in the stable realization of Majorana zero-energy modes, the controllability of braiding operations, and extreme experimental conditions."
"Hmm, you've done some homework," Professor Wen Zhao said noncommittally. "And then? What do you think we can do?"
"I believe the goal for the 'Xuance Group' at this stage should not be to immediately build a topological qubit," Lin Shen said, weighing his words. "That is too unrealistic. We should focus on two directions: First, use theoretical analysis and advanced computational simulation to deeply explore in which material systems, what kind of heterostructures, and under what extreme conditions it is most likely to realize stable and controllable Majorana modes or other non-Abelian anyons. Second, cooperate with existing domestic high-magnetic field and ultra-low temperature experimental platforms to design and promote a series of key verification experiments; even if it's only indirect evidence, as long as we can continuously approach that goal, it is a huge step forward."
Professor Wen Zhao listened quietly, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the desktop.
Lin Shen continued: "My role is to try to translate theoretical predictions into concrete, executable experimental plans or material design guidelines, and to assess their engineering potential and required resources. At the same time, I will also pay attention to other potentially disruptive quantum computing schemes, such as those based on diamond NV centers, molecular magnets, etc., and conduct cross-comparative analysis."
"The ideas are quite pragmatic," Professor Wen Zhao finally commented, his tone still flat. "However, theoretical simulation requires top-tier computing resources and a profound grasp of the frontiers of condensed matter theory. Experimental verification needs even more mobilization of national-level heavy-duty platforms. You are someone who works on Photonic Chip Basic Architecture, how will you coordinate that?"
"The headquarters has coordinated some computing resources from tianhe-3 for me," Lin Shen replied. "As for the theoretical frontiers, I need to rely on you and your team to guide the direction. Regarding experimental platforms, I will try my best to secure them through the coordination mechanism of the 'Jiuzhang Special Project'. I know this is difficult, but it is worth a try. If we can achieve even a slight principled breakthrough in the topological direction, it could have a profound impact on the future."
Professor Wen Zhao stared at Lin Shen for a few seconds, as if assessing his determination and resilience.
"Fine." Professor Wen Zhao finally said, "I will give you a chance. I will have a young associate professor on my team, Zhou Beichen, connect with you first. He will send you several material systems and theoretical models that our theory group currently considers the most promising. You use your computing power to run them and see what you can calculate. Remember, what I want is not pretty data fitting, but insights into the physical essence, and... clear predictions for experiments. In two weeks, I want to see your first analysis report."
"Yes, Professor Wen Zhao! Thank you!" Lin Shen's spirits lifted. Being able to gain the initial acceptance and specific tasks from Professor Wen Zhao's team was already an excellent start.
After closing the call with Professor Wen Zhao, Lin Shen immediately felt the immense pressure of fighting on two fronts. The "on-chip light source" research for photonic chips was at a critical moment, and the "Xuance Group" had just imposed another highly challenging theoretical simulation analysis task, with a deadline of only two weeks.
He had to immediately form his core execution team. He could absolutely not handle this alone.
He first thought of the original team from the "Chasing Light" project joint research group. He Yun was experienced in photonic device simulation and could perhaps assist with some of the quantum device simulation work; Chen Fan's experience in high-resolution characterization would be helpful for analyzing the microscopic structure of materials predicted by theory; two master's students could undertake a large amount of data organization and basic calculation tasks.
But these people alone were not enough. He needed at least one assistant proficient in quantum many-body calculation and topological state theory, and also someone familiar with the application and experimental design for large scientific facilities like high-magnetic fields and ultra-low temperatures.
Through the "firefly" channel, he submitted a detailed team member requirement report to Sun Qiming, along with the application to transfer He Yun and others, as well as the capability requirements for new members.
Sun Qiming's reply was quick, agreeing in principle to him transferring part of He Yun and Chen Fan's time from the "Chasing Light" group, and the two master's students could cooperate full-time. At the same time, the "Jiuzhang Special Project" headquarters would, according to his requirements, identify and coordinate suitable candidates within relevant units to be supplemented as soon as possible.
With initial support, Lin Shen breathed a slight sigh of relief. He immediately took action, first communicating with He Yun and Chen Fan to clarify the work they would need to balance. Then, he logged into the dedicated node of "tianhe-3", started to familiarize himself with the quantum many-body calculation software environment, and received the first batch of theoretical models and data sent by Professor Wen Zhao's team through encrypted channels.
When he attempted to run a program on topological superconductor surface state simulation for the first time, the technology tree that had been silent in his mind for a while showed a clear reaction again.
That [Topological Quantum Computing] node, although still dim, began to have extremely subtle data flow phantoms emerge around it, associated with specific material parameters (such as spin-Orbit coupling strength, superconducting energy gap, chemical potential, etc.). These phantoms corresponded faintly with the calculation parameters he was inputing, as if the technology tree was actively adjusting and refining its "cognitive model" of this direction based on the realistic theory he was encountering.
What surprised him even more was that on the main branch of the technology tree [Information and Computing], between the [Photonic Chip Basic Architecture] node and the [Topological Quantum Computing] node, a faint, almost invisible dotted line of connection appeared. What did this dotted line represent? Was there any possibility of intersection or mutual inspiration between photons and topological quantum in the future?
Lin Shen had no time to think deeply. The realistic tasks were already pressing down like a mountain.
He steadied himself and devoted all his energy to the complex calculation task at hand. On the screen, complex mathematical symbols representing electron wave functions and energy eigenvalues began to scroll.
Entrusted with a critical mission, the embryonic form of the "Jiuzhang Special Project" team had emerged. And the battle that belonged to him—connecting photons and quantum, theory and engineering, the present and the future—had already quietly begun in that silent, underground secure conference room.