Theoretical Physics is Fan Fiction · 7:01pm Feb 3rd, 2016
Here is an interesting perspective by physics PhD Francesca Day: Writing Fan Fiction for the Universe.
Let me put this in context: Particle Physics is a theory-driven science. Theoretical physicists spend their time sitting around having lots of abstract mathematical thoughts, drinking coffee, and thinking up new theories, inventing new particles, and such like. Experimental particle physicists (like me) then build experiments to test these theories by searching for the hypothetical particles or taking more precise measurements of the ones we already know about.
Once upon a time, it was the other way round. The experimentalists would do experiments, then discovery something odd in the data which couldn’t be explained by the theory. The theorists would then sit down and think about it and try to come up with a new theory to try to explain it.
The old-timers love to reminisce about how much more fun it was then, and wouldn’t it be cool if we discovered something completely unexpected, which nobody could explain with any theory, which would turn the whole field upside down.
The trouble is that the experiments have now gotten so big that it takes years to build them. Finding the Higgs Boson took 48 years, required a four billion Swiss franc particle accelerator, and the efforts of thousands and scientists and engineers. While the Large Hadron Collider was under construction, particle theorists had plenty of time to refine their theories about the Higgs, then dream up new ones for New Physics beyond this. And having done that, they dreamed up some newer ones, and plenty of alternative side theories.
Hence we have a vast number of possible theories, some of which nobody, maybe not even the person who thought it up, believes is a true description of the Universe. But they are still interesting theories.
In the current economic climate, where the competition for research funding is as tough as ever, some may question why we need so many theoretical physics researchers. Would it not be better to spend the money on actually doing the science, instead of just thinking about it?
To which the theorists reply that they are much better value, as they only need the cost of their salaries (plus computing support and coffee), and they churn out loads and loads of research papers. While the experimentalists spend all this money on equipment, and they still haven’t found anything.
Hence we are paying particle theorists to write papers on alternative theories, ignored by the outside world, only read by a small number of people within their own community.
Put like that, it sounds an awful lot like fan fiction. Except fan fiction writers don’t get paid to do it.
Given all of the effort that goes into convincing the creator to reveal any more world building details, is it any wonder so many fans are doing all of this speculation? Still, headcanon is all well and good, but this is one area where knowing what the actual canon is quite important.
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And don't even get me started on the uproar that happens whenever they upset some widely held piece of fanon by releasing new canon. Or what happens when they have to do something nuts to reconcile conflicting bits of canon. I could really do without another particle-wave debacle.
The greatest trick the creator did was getting us to believe the proof of what we see.
Then use nothing but smoke and mirrors.
And D20.
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Yeah, count me among the universe fans who are still butthurt over Episode 100, "Strings of Life". I mean, what writer decided that we were actually 26-dimensional beings who could only observe or interact with four of them? It's like they're just trying to Joss my self-OTPs by making the mathematics too complex to support alternate universes.
And that Darkenergyverse? Nothing but memes.
Fanfiction all the way down.