Chapter 38: Deciding Victory by Five Points
In the days that followed, "Sheldon Is Not On The Team" used fragmented time outside of work to train. They occasionally ran into Sheldon while discussing things in the apartment living room.
Sheldon neither participated nor interrupted, but he expressed his "hostility" in an extremely bizarre way—he would suddenly stop what he was doing, press his index fingers firmly against his temples, stare intently at the four of them with tightly closed lips, as if concentrating all his brainwave energy to launch a psychic attack across the room.
"What is he doing?" David couldn't help but ask Leonard when he first saw it.
Leonard sighed, unfazed. "Don't mind him. This is his unique 'mental intimidation technique,' which we generally call 'Sheldon's Death Stare.'"
The atmosphere was electric on the day the Physics Bowl officially began. As the competing teams entered, David, Leonard, Howard, and Raj finally saw Sheldon's mysterious teammates.
When they clearly saw the appearance and identities of the three people, all four members of "Sheldon Is Not On The Team" were stunned.
Sheldon introduced them proudly, his voice booming. "Allow me to introduce my teammates! This is Mr. Barry, Facilities Maintenance Specialist; and these two are Ms. Maria and Mr. Carlos, Campus Environmental Services Professionals."
He deliberately used grand-sounding titles, then lowered his voice and said to David and the others with a hint of smugness. "They charge by the hour, and it's not cheap, but for the sake of victory, this investment is worthwhile."
It turned out that Sheldon had forcibly categorized a janitor, a custodian, and a cafeteria worker as "Caltech Staff" and paid them to fill the roster.
The competition officially began. The difficulty of the questions gradually increased.
"Question one, Classical Mechanics: calculate the coefficient of friction on an inclined plane..."
Leonard quickly rang the buzzer and answered cleanly. "Sheldon Is Not On The Team" scored the first point.
"Question two, Electromagnetism: explain the physical significance of the integral form of Maxwell's Equations..."
Sheldon hit the buzzer almost as soon as the host finished speaking and articulated the answer fluently. "AA" tied the score.
"Question three, Thermodynamics: briefly describe the efficiency of the Carnot cycle..."
David and Sheldon hit the buzzer almost simultaneously, but the instrument determined that David was milliseconds faster. David answered accurately.
"Question four, Atomic Physics: write out the Balmer formula for the hydrogen spectrum..."
Sheldon successfully buzzed in first.
"Question five, Cosmology: what is Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation?"
Raj hit the buzzer at the crucial moment and explained clearly. "Sheldon Is Not On The Team" took the lead...
The competition entered the heated final stage, and Sheldon's brain continued demonstrating its terrifying power. He was quick to respond and extremely knowledgeable, carrying the entire "AA" team through every challenge on his own.
Meanwhile, "Sheldon Is Not On The Team" relied on the solid knowledge base and tacit cooperation of the four members, also advancing steadily. The scores alternated, with both sides chasing each other, creating a suffocatingly tense atmosphere.
"Next question, Condensed Matter Physics," the host read. "Considering the electron-phonon interaction, briefly describe the fundamental picture of Cooper pair formation in BCS theory."
This question was quite specialized. Sheldon and David placed their hands on the buzzer almost simultaneously, but David ultimately buzzed in first by a narrow margin!
"Beep—!"
"Two electrons with opposite momentum and spin generate a net attractive interaction by exchanging virtual phonons, overcoming the Coulomb repulsion to form a bound state, which is a Cooper pair!" David answered confidently.
"Correct answer! 'Sheldon Is Not On The Team' gets ten more points!"
"Next question, High Energy Physics," the host said, looking at the card. "Within the framework of the Standard Model, why is the Higgs Boson called the 'God Particle'?"
The buzzer rang again—it was Sheldon!
"Because it gives mass to other fundamental particles through the Higgs mechanism, and it is the cornerstone of the Standard Model of particle physics..." Sheldon answered fluently.
"Correct answer! 'AA' gets ten points, narrowing the gap with 'Sheldon Is Not On The Team' to only fifteen points!"
The audience below the stage let out a gasp of surprise.
"Now, for the second-to-last question of this Physics Bowl, and a critical one that will determine the champion!" The host raised his voice. "The question is: Based on the Hubbard model, in a strongly correlated electron system, when the onsite Hubbard U is much greater than the hopping integral t, what ground state does the system tend to exhibit? And briefly explain the physical reason."
This question was extremely advanced, involving the cutting edge of current Condensed Matter Physics. There was silence on stage; even Sheldon frowned, deep in thought. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he buzzed in again!
"Beep—!"
"The answer is... Mott Insulator!" Sheldon shouted, but seemed unable to organize his thoughts to explain the reason. "Because... uh... electron localization... Coulomb repulsion..."
Just then, Barry the janitor, who'd been acting like a background prop, couldn't help but speak up. He clearly and accurately supplemented the complete physical picture. "Because strong onsite Coulomb repulsion prevents electrons from hopping between lattice sites, destroying the energy band continuity, the half-filled band no longer exhibits metallic properties but instead opens a correlation gap, forming an insulator, which is the Mott Insulator."
Sheldon was furious. He spun his head around and sternly reiterated, "Mr. Barry! Rules! I paid you to be a prop! All questions must be answered by me, Sheldon Lee Cooper!"
Unexpectedly, Barry did not back down. Instead, he abruptly stood up. He was burly, and a look of intense rage appeared on his face. He leaned close to Sheldon, his presence intimidating, and almost roared in a low voice, "Kid! The problem is you don't know the answer right now, but I do! Now, either you shut up and let me score, or I'll show you right now what a real 'Strong Interaction' is!"
Sheldon was completely overwhelmed by the opponent's sudden aggressive state. He looked at Barry's eyes, which seemed ready to spit fire, swallowed, and his imposing manner instantly shrunk by half.
The host was also bewildered by the sudden turn of events, but he followed procedure. "'AA' team, do you confirm that the final answer is the one articulated by Mr. Barry?"
Mr. Barry answered on his own accord, "I confirm the answer!"
The host revealed the answer. "Answer... Correct! 'AA' gets ten more points! Now there is only one question left, and the gap between the two teams is only a heart-pounding five points. Victory hinges on this final question!"
Sheldon sighed in relief, then immediately felt humiliated. He muttered softly to Barry, "I guarantee you will not get your final payment!"
Barry snorted, sat back down, and returned to his indifferent demeanor.
David, watching from the side, was deeply shaken.
This janitor not only understood the topic but hit the nail on the head! An incredible thought popped into his mind: Could this man be some hidden genius who refused recognition? Like the custodian at MIT in Good Will Hunting—seemingly ordinary but possessing exceptional knowledge? Or perhaps a brilliant mind who, while maintaining various precision instruments, managed to grasp fundamental physics mysteries?
Caltech truly is a place where hidden talents reside!
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