“Why don’t I first explain what I understand, then Professor Ding and everyone else can correct me. First, Hubble discovered redshifts. I don’t remember when. The electromagnetic radiation that we measure from a galaxy is shifted toward the red end of the spectrum. This means, according to the Doppler effect, galaxies are receding from us. From that, we can draw this conclusion: The universe is expanding. We can also draw another conclusion: About fourteen billion years ago, the big bang brought the universe into being. If the total mass of the universe is less than some value, the universe will continue to expand forever; if it is greater than that value, then gravity will gradually slow the expansion until it stops and, eventually, gravity will cause it to contract. Previous measurements of the amount of mass in the universe suggested the first alternative. Then we discovered that neutrinos have mass. Moreover, we discovered a vast amount of previously undetected dark matter in the universe. This greatly increased the amount of mass in the universe and people changed their minds in favor of the other alternative, that the universe will expand ever more slowly until it finally starts to contract. All the galaxies in the universe will begin to gather at the gravitational center. At the same time, due to the same Doppler effect, we will see a shift in stars’ electromagnetic radiation toward the blue end of the spectrum, namely a blueshift. Now, Professor Ding’s unified field theory has calculated the exact moment the universe will switch from expansion to contraction.”
“Brilliant!” The observatory head claps his hands a few times flatteringly. “So few leaders have such an understanding of fundamental theory. I bet even Professor Ding thinks so.” He winks again at Ding Yi.
“What she said is basically correct.” Ding Yi slowly knocks the ash from his pipe onto the carpet.
“Right, right. If Professor Ding thinks so—” The observatory head beams with happiness.
“Just enough to show her superficiality.” Ding Yi digs more tobacco out of his coat pocket.
The observatory head freezes. The scientists around him titter.
The governor smiles tolerantly. “I also majored in physics, but the last thirty years, I’ve forgotten practically all of it. Compared to you all here, my knowledge of physics and cosmology, I’m afraid, isn’t even superficial. Hell, I only remember Newton’s three laws.”
“But that’s a long way from understanding it.” Ding Yi lights his newly filled pipe.
The observatory head shakes his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
“Professor Ding, we live in two completely different worlds.” The governor sighs. “My world is a practical one. No poetry. Bogged down with details. We spend our days bustling around like ants, and like ants, our view is just as limited. Sometimes, when I leave my office at night, I stop to look up at the stars. A luxury that’s hard to come by. Your world is brimming with wonder and mystery. Your thoughts stretch across hundreds of light-years of space and billions of years of time. To you, the Earth is just a speck of dust in the universe. To you, this era is just an instant in time too short to measure. The entire universe seems to exist to satisfy your curiosity and fulfill your existence. To be frank, Professor Ding, I truly envy you. I dreamed of this when I was young, but to enter your world was too difficult.”
“But it’s not too difficult tonight. You can at least stay in Professor Ding’s world for a while. See the world’s greatest moment together,” the observatory head says.
“I’m not so lucky. Everyone, I’m extremely sorry. The Yangtze dykes are ready to burst. I must go right away to make sure that doesn’t happen. Before I go, though, I still have some questions I’d like to ask Professor Ding. You’ll probably find these questions childish, but I’ve thought hard about them and I still don’t understand. First question: The sign of contraction is the universe changing from redshift to blueshift. We will see light from all the galaxies shift toward blue at the same time. However, right now, the farthest galaxies we can observe are about fourteen billion light-years away. According to your calculations, the entire universe will contract at the same moment. If that’s the case, it should be about fourteen billion years before we can see the blueshift from them. Even the closest star system, Alpha Centauri, should still need four years.”
Ding Yi slowly lets out a puff of smoke. It floats in the air like a shrinking spiral galaxy.
“Very good. You can understand a little. It makes you seem like a physics student, albeit still a superficial one. Yes, we will see all the stars in the universe blueshift at the same time, not one at a time from four years to fourteen billion years from now. This is due to quantum effects over a cosmic scale. Its mathematical model is extremely complex. It’s the most difficult idea in physics and cosmology to explain. I have no hope of making you understand it. From this, though, you’ve already received the first revelation. It warns you that the effects produced from the universe contracting will be more complex than what people imagine. Do you still have questions? Oh, you don’t have to go right away. What you have to take care of is not as urgent as you think.”
“Compared to your entire universe, the flooding of the Yangtze River is obviously not worth mentioning. But while the mysterious universe admittedly has its appeal, the real world still takes priority. I have other questions, but I really must go. Thank you, Professor Ding, for the physics lesson. I hope everyone sees what they want to see tonight.”
“You don’t understand what I mean,” Ding Yi says. “There must be many workers battling the flood right now.”
“I have my responsibilities, Professor Ding. I must go.”
“You still don’t understand what I mean. I’m saying those workers must be extremely tired. You can let them go.”
Everyone is dumbstruck.
“What… let them go? To do what? Watch the universe contract?”
“If they aren’t interested, they can go home and sleep.”
“Professor Ding, surely you’re joking!”
“I’m serious. There’s no point to what they’re doing.”
“Why?”
“Because of the contraction.”
After a long silence, the governor points at the ancient star atlas plate displayed in the corner of the auditorium: “Professor Ding, the universe has been expanding all along, but from ancient times until today, the universe that we can see hasn’t changed much. Contracting is the same. The extent of humanity in space-time, compared to that of the universe, is negligible. Besides the importance to pure theory, I don’t believe the contraction will have any effect on human life. In fact, after one hundred million years, we still won’t observe even a tiny shift caused by contraction, assuming we’re still around.”
“One and a half billion years,” Ding Yi says. “Even with our most accurate instruments, it will be one and a half billion years before we can observe the shift. By then, the sun will already have gone out. We probably won’t be around.”
“And the complete contraction of the universe needs about fourteen billion years. Humanity is a dewdrop on the great tree of the universe. During its brief life span, it absolutely cannot perceive the maturing of the great tree. You surely don’t believe the ridiculous rumors from the internet that the contraction will squash the Earth flat!”
A young woman enters, her face pale and her gaze gloomy. She’s the engineer responsible for the gigantic screen.
“Miss Zhang, this is inexcusable! Do you know what time it is?” The flustered observatory head rushes to her as he shouts.
“My father just died at the hospital.”
The observatory head’s anger dissipates instantly. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. Can you take a look…”