Physics in fiction Physics in fiction Antimatter or contra-terrene matter is matter that is composed of the antiparticles of those that constitute normal matter. If a particle and its antiparticle come in contact with each other, the two annihilate and produce a burst of energy, which results in the production of other particles and antiparticles or electromagnetic radiation. In these reactions, rest mass is not conserved, although (as in any other reaction) energy ( E=mc²) is conserved. ...more on Wikipedia about "Antimatter"
In a Lorentzian manifold, a closed timelike curve (CTC) is a worldline of a material particle in spacetime that is closed. This possibility was raised by Willem Jacob van Stockum in 1937 and by Kurt Gödel in 1949. If CTCs exist, their existence would seem to imply at least the theoretical possibility of making a time machine, as well as raising the spectre of the grandfather paradox. ...more on Wikipedia about "Closed timelike curve"
The term delta ray has these meanings:- ...more on Wikipedia about "Delta ray"
A directed-energy weapon is a type of energy weapon that directs energy in a particular direction by a means other than a projectile. It transfers energy to a target for a desired effect. Some of these weapons are real or practicable; some are science fiction. The energy is in various forms:- ...more on Wikipedia about "Directed-energy weapon"
A domain wall is a term in physics which can have one of two distinct meanings in either string theory or magnetism. Domain wall is also used as technobabble in science fiction. ...more on Wikipedia about "Domain wall"
Faster-than-light (also superluminal or FTL) communications and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of light. This concept is a staple of the science fiction genre, and is also the subject of ongoing scientific study. ...more on Wikipedia about "Faster-than-light"
The flux capacitor is the core component of Dr. Brown's fictional time traveling De Lorean in the popular 1985 movie Back to the Future, its two sequels, and its animated series. We learn from Doc Brown that the flux capacitor "is what makes time travel possible." ...more on Wikipedia about "Flux capacitor"
In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Heisenberg compensators are part of the transporter system. ...more on Wikipedia about "Heisenberg compensator"
A fictional concept presented in the 1998 comic book series The Kingdom, hypertime is both a catch-all explanation for any continuity discrepancies in DC Universe stories, and a variation—in fact, a superset—of the Multiverse that existed before Crisis on Infinite Earths. ...more on Wikipedia about "Hypertime"
The Langston Field is a fictional device featured in the CoDominium series of science-fiction novels. ...more on Wikipedia about "Langston Field"
A morphogenetic field (a subset of morphic field) is a hypothetical biological (and potentially social) field that contains the information necessary to shape the exact form of a living thing, as part of its epigenetics, and may also shape its behaviour and coordination with other beings (see also morphogenesis). ...more on Wikipedia about "Morphogenetic field"
The science-fiction media franchise Star Trek has borrowed freely (but very loosely) from the scientific world to provide storylines. Episodes are replete with references to tachyon beams, baryon sweeps, quantum fluctuations and event horizons — though often the uses of scientific jargon is half-correct at best, and more frequently, great artistic license is taken with real scientific concepts. Star Trek is first and foremost a vehicle for entertainment, and the primary aim of the writers is to deliver drama, not science. Many of the technologies "created" for the Star Trek universe were done so out of simple economic necessity — the transporter was created because the budget of the original series in the 1960s did not allow for expensive shots of spaceships landing on planets. ...more on Wikipedia about "Physics and Star Trek"
The interstellar epic Star Wars uses science and technology in its settings and storylines, though they are not considered " hard" science fiction. ...more on Wikipedia about "Physics and Star Wars"
In Robert A. Heinlein's classic novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, rebelling Lunar colonists convert a kilometers-long mass driver system that delivers grain shipments to Earth into a basic railgun that lobs metal-clad rocks. Throughout the book it is called a "catapult". ...more on Wikipedia about "Railguns in science fiction"
Rubber science is a tongue-in-cheek science fiction term describing a quasi-scientific explanation for an aspect of a science fiction setting. Rubber science explanations are fictional but sound convincing enough to avoid upsetting the suspension of disbelief. Rubber science is a feature of most genres of science fiction, with the exception of hard SF. ...more on Wikipedia about "Rubber science"
It was not long before science-fiction writers picked up this evocative concept, often using it in a humorous vein. Several have taken the thought experiment a step further, pointing out or extra complications which might arise should the experiment actually be performed. For example, in his novel American Gods, Neil Gaiman has a character observe, "if they don't ever open the box to feed it it'll eventually just be two different kinds of dead." Likewise, Terry Pratchett's Lords and Ladies adds the issue of a third possible state, in the case of Greebo, "Bloody Furious". Douglas Adams describes an attempt to enact the experiment in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. By using clairvoyance to see inside the box, it was found that the cat was neither alive nor dead, but missing, and Dirk's services were employed in order to recover it. ...more on Wikipedia about "Schrödinger's cat in fiction"
Superluminal communication is the term used to describe the hypothetical process by which one might send information at faster-than-light (FTL) speeds. Scientific investigation has thus far produced no empirical evidence for superluminal communication. ...more on Wikipedia about "Superluminal communication"
A tachyon (from the Greek ταχύς takhús, meaning "swift") is any hypothetical particle that travels at superluminal velocity. The first theoretical description of tachyons is attributed to German physicist Arnold Sommerfeld; however, the concept has recurred in a variety of other contexts, such as string theory. Many strange properties have been attributed to tachyons, which also play a role in some popular science fiction. In the language of special relativity, a tachyon is a particle with space-like four-momentum and imaginary proper time. A tachyon is constrained to the space-like portion of the energy-momentum graph. Therefore, it can never slow to light speed or below. ...more on Wikipedia about "Tachyon"
Temporal mechanics is an entirely theoretical area of quantum physics devoted to thought experiments regarding time and causality, and the effects of time travel on them. It can be used to describe the logical accuracy of movies (most of which suffer from logical fallacies, even ignoring the method of time travel) depicting time travel and as a concrete area of physics in Star Trek. There are several interpretations of temporal mechanics, each allowing certain occurrences and paradoxes in the delicate fabric of time. ...more on Wikipedia about "Temporal mechanics"
The timestream is a metaphorical conception of time as a stream, a flowing body of water. This conception has been widely used in mythology and in fiction. This analogy is useful in several ways: ...more on Wikipedia about "Timestream"
A Tipler Cylinder is a hypothetical cosmological object theorized to be a potential mode of time travel—an approach that is conceivably functional within humanity's current understanding of physics, construction of the device notwithstanding. ...more on Wikipedia about "Tipler Cylinder"
Fast shortopedia
Active Mass Balance Auto Control (AMBAC) is a fundamental technology that allows for thrusterless manoeuvring in the zero-G of space by mobile suits by means of precise movement control of their limbs. The AMBAC technology in conjunction with the fusion reactor developed by Dr. Y.T. Minovsky made mobile suits feasible. ...more on Wikipedia about "Universal Century Technology"
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