The Caltech Geneva delegation officially set off on December 15th. This visit would last seven days in total, with five days devoted mainly to visiting the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The remaining two days had a very light schedule to give the visiting delegates a little time off and a breather.
This groundbreaking experiment could reconstruct the initial state of the universe moments after the Big Bang, and would greatly promote research in the fields of astronomy, particle science, and theoretical physics.
Raj and the others would be able to watch the experiment up close and obtain first-hand experimental data. This would undoubtedly be of great benefit to their future scientific research.
Before Raj arrived, he had just read several papers on black holes, particles, dark matter, and gravitational waves, and the concepts were still fresh in his memory.
Combined with the experimental data they would collect, he could potentially publish a significant number of papers, thus establishing himself as an expert in astrophysics, particle physics, and theoretical physics.
After the delegation arrived in Geneva, they first checked in at the hotel. When Raj and Paige entered their assigned room, they were both stunned. The room was a single room with only one large bed.
"What's going on?" Paige asked in surprise.
Raj thought for a moment, then immediately understood. "This study tour is nominally for academic research, but it's actually a publicly-funded tour, so the members were allowed to bring companions with them." He smiled and explained, "Most of the companions brought by the members are wives and girlfriends, so the single room arrangement made sense to the organizers."
"So that's how it is," Paige nodded. "Then I'll go see the delegation leader now and ask him to change our room."
Raj hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "I'll go with you."
Part of him had wanted to dissuade her. Living in the same room would of course be convenient for them to develop their relationship further. But he knew that Paige had been hurt by men before, and she remained very wary of men in general. If he acted too hastily, it would definitely arouse her suspicion and defensiveness. At that point, his efforts would likely backfire completely. So he finally decided to go along with her wishes. Moreover, he suspected that the leader would reject Paige's request anyway.
On the one hand, the prices of single rooms and double rooms were significantly different. This was a publicly-funded trip, so money had to be spent carefully. Changing a single room to a double room would cost considerably more—who would pay for it? Who wouldn't prefer to live in a larger space? If a precedent were set for her, others would also ask to change to double rooms. Over seven days, this would amount to a substantial sum of money.
On the other hand, Paige had very little influence and couldn't really negotiate with the leader at all. Whether a precedent could be set depended on who was asking. Paige was merely Raj's assistant, and although Raj was considered an academic star, his rank was quite low—he was just a researcher. Among the members of the inspection team, there were many full professors and tenured professors. Raj was not particularly prominent among them, so the head of the delegation would not make an exception for the two of them.
Sure enough, after Paige found the leader, he immediately refused. "A double room costs 300 dollars more than a single room, and it would cost 2,100 dollars more for seven nights. Are you prepared to pay for the extra expense yourself?" He continued without waiting for an answer, "Besides, it's the peak tourist season. The hotel is completely full, and we barely managed to book these rooms. There simply aren't any extra rooms available for you to exchange into."
After being scolded by him so directly, Paige couldn't help but feel embarrassed and somewhat humiliated.
"Since this is the case, I suppose we'll have to make do," Raj said diplomatically. Seeing Paige's distress, he suggested quietly, "Well, let me ask the hotel to replace the double bed with two single beds. What do you think?"
"Hmm." Paige thought for a moment and finally nodded. Although this way they would still have to share the same room, at least they would be sleeping in separate beds.
Raj then accompanied Paige to find the hotel manager and requested to change the double bed in their room into two single beds. However, this request was also declined by the hotel. The manager explained that they had booked the room with that exact specification, and because they hadn't given advance notice when placing the order, it was impossible to change the bed configuration on such short notice.
Hearing such a firm refusal from the hotel, Paige couldn't help feeling increasingly anxious. Did this mean she would have to sleep in the same bed as Raj? How embarrassing would that be! Although she had developed a favorable impression of Raj, their relationship had certainly not reached the point of sharing a bed.
"Don't worry, let me ask about another option," Raj quickly interjected, trying to calm her. "If changing the bed doesn't work, perhaps they could add a folding bed to the room?"
"I'm sorry, but it's the peak tourist season currently, and with the scientific conference happening, there are far too many guests staying in the hotel. We've already distributed all of our folding beds to other rooms," the hotel manager refused firmly but politely.
Hearing this, Raj felt somewhat speechless and frustrated. It seemed that fate itself was conspiring for him and Paige to share sleeping arrangements.
"Why is everything going wrong? Oh, what should we do?" Paige fretted aloud.
"Okay, don't worry. We're both intelligent people—we can figure something out," Raj reassured her. "Let's go back to the room for now. We'll be visiting CERN later, and we shouldn't let this trivial matter distract us from the important work ahead."
Hearing his reasonable words, Paige had no choice but to reluctantly accept the situation for the moment.
Afterwards, Raj and Paige rejoined the rest of the delegation and departed to visit CERN. CERN's Large Hadron Collider project had begun in 1994 and was jointly built by more than 7,000 scientists and engineers from over 80 countries around the world. It was buried 100 meters deep underground, consisting of 27 kilometers of circular tunnels, housing a total of 50,000 tons of equipment, with a total construction cost of 11 billion US dollars. It was the largest and highest energy particle accelerator in the world. The facility had been officially completed in June 2007, and this test would be the first full activation—also the first time that human beings would successfully simulate the initial state of matter moments after the Big Bang.
Therefore, the experimental data would be invaluable, and could very likely lead to revolutionary breakthroughs in physics. For this reason, not only Caltech had been invited to observe, but many prestigious institutions from around the world had sent delegations as well. It could be said that the top talents in the field of physics were gathered here at this moment. Well-known professors and scholars were everywhere, and even Nobel Prize laureates were not uncommon among the attendees.
Today's visit consisted mainly of participating in several preliminary meetings and presentations; the actual ALICE experiment would not be conducted until the following day. However, even these preparatory conferences were extraordinary. Most of the speakers were leading experts in various fields of physics, and they discussed many of the most challenging problems facing modern physics. Participating in such high-level conferences was invaluable for improving one's professional expertise, expanding one's professional network, and broadening one's intellectual horizons.
The entire delegation then boarded a minibus to travel to the CERN facility. Upon arrival, they could see that experts and scholars from all over the world had gathered there. After the first meeting concluded, the lobby erupted into animated conversations and greetings.
"You are Dr. Rajesh Koothrappali, who discovered the trans-Neptunian object TO1700D! It's an honor to meet you!" one distinguished-looking professor exclaimed.
"Dr. Koothrappali, your research on the Kuiper Belt is remarkably thorough and insightful. I hope to have the opportunity to discuss it with you in more depth," said another.
"Are you the Dr. Koothrappali who published that influential paper on the Edgeworth-Kuiper fragmentation disk? Your paper was exceptionally well-written and has greatly inspired my own work. I would very much like to have time to discuss it with you in detail," enthused a third scientist.
Although Raj was relatively young and less experienced than many of the attendees, he still managed to stand out even in such a star-studded gathering because of his prolific publication record and significant contributions to the field. Seeing so many top experts and distinguished scholars expressing their admiration and respect for Raj, Paige couldn't help but stare at him with newfound appreciation, her eyes widening with a mixture of pride and amazement.
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