搞粒子物理的小女孩

天冷极了，下着雪，又快黑了。这是旧时代的最后一晚。在这又冷又黑晚上，一个光着头赤着脚的小女孩在街上走着。她从学院里出来的时候还穿着一双拖鞋，但是有什么用呢？那是一双很的大拖鞋——那么大，一向是她师姐穿的。她穿过马路的时候，两辆马车飞快地冲过来，吓得她把鞋都跑掉了。一只怎么也找不着，另一只叫一个小男孩捡起来拿着跑了抢走了。他说，将来他有了自己的孩子时，可以拿它当摇篮。

小女孩只好赤光脚走，一双小脚冻得红一块青一块了。她的旧围裙里兜着许多探测器电路板和芯片，手里还也还拿着一叠研究论文。这一整天里，谁也没有读过她一篇论文，谁也没有给过她一点经费。

可怜的小女孩！她又冷又饿，哆哆嗦嗦地地向前走。雪花落在她的金黄的长头发上，那头发轻轻打成卷儿，看起来很美丽。不过她没注意这些。每个窗户里都透出灯光来，街上传来各个领域蓬勃发展的新闻和“Party is over”的断言，因为这是新时代的前夜——她可忘不了这个。

她在一座房子的墙角里坐下来，蜷着腿缩成一团。她觉得更冷了。她不敢回学校，因为她没能让别人读过她一篇论文，没拿到一点经费，粒子物理学院院长一定会打她的。再说，学院里跟街上一样冷，他们头上只有个房顶，虽然最大的裂缝已经用草和破布堵住了，风还是可以罐进来。

她的一双小手几乎僵硬了。啊！哪怕一点小小的火苗，也能给她点温暖。其实，如果她能拿出勇气用打火的探测器电路板把手里的论文一点，那么她就能借着论文燃烧的火光暖一暖小手了！终于，她从那一叠论文中取出了一篇。嚓！论文点着了，火光亮起来了！她将自己冻得发僵的小手盖在了上面，此时，它就成了一束明亮而暖和的火焰，就像一根燃烧着的蜡烛一样。虽然它只能发出柔弱的光芒，但是它却显得那么漂亮，那么绚丽！小女孩感到自己似乎坐在了大教室里：这是一个有着漂亮的黑板和舒适桌椅的教室。空调是多么柔和、多么温暖、多么舒适啊！哎呀，这是怎么了？正当小女孩伸出那双冻坏了的小脚，准备让它也暖和暖和的时候，突然火光灭了！教室也消失了。她坐着，脚边只剩下一撮燃尽了的论文的灰烬。

她又取出一篇论文。点燃了，冒出火光来了。火光照在了那块墙上，于是那块被照亮的墙就如一块轻纱那样变得透明了。透过这堵墙，她看见了房间里的一切：房间的一头连着一个几十层楼高的巨大实验室。实验室里充满了清洁纯净的液态闪烁体。厚厚的屏蔽体将实验本底去除得干干净净。实验室的墙上嵌满了精密的光电倍增管，不停地向后面的数据采集设备输出着信号。更有趣的是：水里的中微子居然慢慢地朝着这个可怜的小女孩飞了过来，像是要让小女孩用手里的天平测一测它的质量。可是，就在这时火焰又灭了，在她眼前的只是一堵冰凉的厚重的墙。

于是，她再一次点燃了一篇论文。这时，她坐在了一台巨大的对撞机旁。她想起去年的圣诞节时，她曾透过欧洲核子中心的大门，看见了他们那里的巨大的大型强子对撞机；不过，她现在看到的这台与那一台比起来要大得多，能量和亮度也高得多。它那精密的探测器不停收集着电子、质子、离子、缪子、光子对撞的信号。无数地希格斯粒子、超对称粒子和暗物质向小女孩飞来。小女孩不由的伸出手去。于是，火焰又灭了。她看到圣诞节的烛光正慢慢地向天空升了上来，而且越来越高，最后它们就成了一颗颗闪烁的小星星。其中有一颗星星从空中滑落下来了，在它滑落下来的轨迹上形成了一条长长的光带。

“这个时候，会是谁死去了呢？”小女孩说，她记得爱因斯坦的论文里讲过，当一颗星星从空中坠落时，地上就会有一个人会死去，而他的灵魂就会飞到牛顿那儿去。在这个世界上，只有爱因斯坦才会关爱她，可是，爱因斯坦已经死了。

她又取出了一篇论文，用打火的探测器一点，于是论文点燃了，它的火光照亮了周围的一切，在这明亮的火光中，小女孩看到了关心后辈的爱因斯坦和梦想的大统一理论。他是那么明亮，那么柔和，那么亲切，那么慈爱。它是那么自然，那么简洁，那么美丽，那么有效。“爱因斯坦！”小女孩叫着，“哦，我的爱因斯坦和大统一理论，你就让我和你们一起走吧！我明白，当这篇论文的火焰熄灭时，你就会消失的，就像那个温暖的教室、那个调皮的中微子、那台漂亮的对撞机那样消失了！”

于是，她连忙点燃了剩下的所有的论文，连同探测器电路板和芯片一起。因为她害怕论文的火焰熄灭后，爱因斯坦和大统一理论就会不见了。这些火焰燃烧着，散发出巨大的热烈的光芒，把四周照得比白天还要明亮。她觉得现在的爱因斯坦和大统一理论比任何时候都要伟大，都要漂亮。爱因斯坦抱着小女孩，将她紧紧地拥在自己的怀里。他俩依偎在一起，朝着幸福和光明飞去，他们越飞越高，飞到了一个没有混乱的实验、没有脏乱的理论、没有紧缺的经费的世界中——她们与牛顿同在。

可是就在第二天早晨，人们看到这个小女孩仍然坐在那个墙角边；她的脸颊红红的，嘴角露出幸福的微笑，她已死了——就在这旧时代的除夕之夜被冻死了。新时代的太阳升上来了，暖暖的阳光照到了她那柔小的尸体上！她仍是那样坐着，那双小手还紧紧地抓着论文的残纸——其中的一叠几乎都烧尽了。

“她是想用论文来取暖，”人们这样说着。可是，没有一个人知道：她曾见过许许多多漂亮的东西，她曾幸福地随着爱因斯坦一同飞向新时代的快乐中去。

The night was extremely cold, with snow falling, and darkness closing in. This was the last night of the old era. On this cold and dark night, a barefoot little girl with a bare head walked the streets. When she left the academy, she was wearing slippers, but what was the use? They were too big—actually, they belonged to her senior sister. Crossing the street, two carriages rushed by, frightening her, causing her to lose her shoes. One shoe was lost and the other was snatched by a little boy who claimed that in the future, he would use it as a cradle for his own child.

The poor girl had to walk barefoot, her small feet turning red and blue from the cold. In her old apron, she carried many detector circuit boards and chips, holding a stack of research papers in her hand. Throughout the day, no one had read any of her papers, and she had received no funding.

The pitiable girl, cold and hungry, shivered as she walked forward. Snowflakes fell on her golden long hair, gently forming curls, making her look beautiful. However, she paid no attention to it. Light emanated from every window, and the streets echoed with news of vibrant developments in various fields and assertions that the “Party is over,” for this was the eve of a new era—something she could not forget.

She sat in a corner of a building, huddled up. It felt even colder. She dared not return to school; not having had her papers read or received any funding, she was sure the dean of the particle physics institute would scold her. Besides, the school was as cold as the street; they only had a roof over their heads, although the largest cracks had been sealed with grass and rags, the wind still found its way in.

Her small hands were almost stiff. Oh, if only she had a tiny flame to warm herself. If she could summon the courage to use a detector circuit board as a fire starter for her papers, it would warm her hands. Finally, she took out one paper. Snap! The paper ignited, a flame flickering to life! She covered her frozen hands with it, and it became a bright and warm flame, like a burning candle. Though it emitted a weak glow, it looked so beautiful and splendid! The girl felt as if she were sitting in a large classroom: a classroom with a beautiful blackboard and comfortable desks and chairs. The air conditioning was so gentle, warm, and comfortable! Oh, what was happening? Just as the girl extended her frozen feet to warm them, the flame suddenly went out! The classroom disappeared. She sat there, with only a handful of ash from the burned paper at her feet.

She took out another paper. Lit it, and a flame emerged. The flame illuminated the wall, and it became as transparent as gauze. Through the wall, she saw everything in the room: one end of the room connected to a massive laboratory with dozens of floors. The lab was filled with a clean and pure liquid scintillator. Thick shielding removed any background noise. The lab’s walls were embedded with precise photomultiplier tubes, constantly sending signals to the data collection equipment behind. More interestingly, neutrinos in the water slowly flew towards the poor girl, as if wanting her to use the balance in her hand to measure its mass. But at that moment, the flame went out. Before her eyes was only a cold and thick wall.

So, she ignited another paper. This time, she sat beside a gigantic collider. She remembered last Christmas when she peered through the gates of the CERN and saw their Large Hadron Collider. However, what she saw now was much larger, with higher energy and lumionisity. Its precise detectors continuously collected signals from collisions of electrons, protons, ions, muons, and photons. Countless Higgs particles, supersymmetric particles, and dark matter flew towards the little girl. Unable to resist, she reached out her hand. Then the flame went out. She saw the candlelight of Christmas slowly rising into the sky, higher and higher, until they became twinkling little stars. One star fell from the sky, leaving a long streak of light in its trajectory.

“At this moment, who might have died?” the girl wondered, recalling Einstein’s paper, which stated that when a star falls from the sky, someone on Earth dies, and their soul flies to Newton. In this world, only Einstein cared for her, but Einstein was already dead.

She took out another paper, lit it, and a flame appeared. The flame illuminated everything around her. In this bright light, the girl saw a caring Einstein and the dream of a grand unified theory. He was so bright, gentle, kind, and loving. It was so natural, simple, beautiful, and effective. “Einstein!” the girl called, “Oh, my Einstein and the grand unified theory, take me with you! I understand that when the flame of this paper goes out, you will disappear, just like that warm classroom, that mischievous neutrino, and that beautiful collider!”

So, she quickly lit all the remaining papers, along with the detector circuit boards and chips. Because she was afraid that when the flame of the papers went out, Einstein and the grand unified theory would disappear. These flames burned, emitting a tremendous, fervent glow, brighter than daylight. She felt that Einstein and the grand unified theory were now greater and more beautiful than ever. Einstein held the little girl, embracing her tightly in his arms. They leaned against each other, flying towards happiness and light. They flew higher and higher, reaching a world without chaotic experiments, dirty theories, and a shortage of funds—a world where they were with Newton.

But on the next morning, people saw the little girl still sitting in that corner; her cheeks were rosy, and a happy smile graced her lips—she was dead, frozen to death on the New Year’s Eve of the old era. The sun of the new era rose, casting its warm rays on her tiny body! She sat there just like before, her small hands still tightly holding the remnants of burnt papers—most of which had turned to ashes.

“She wanted to warm herself with the papers,” people said. However, no one knew: she had seen many beautiful things, and she had happily soared into the joy of the new era with Einstein.