Basic Research

[LoAmi 0]

<<OOC: This one was supposed to go out last week, but it's still relevant to catching everyone up so we're all on the same page, especially the science nerds 8-) >>

 

About a decade ago, a younger Arphazad Lo'Ami had been among those who worked on a problem of basic physics, the microstructure of subspace. Years of research by multiple groups before him led to small incremental discoveries, but the essence of the problem was never solved. What did subspace look like at the smallest scale, approaching the quantum limit? What does the background energy landscape look like? It seemed like such a fundamental question, that it must have been answered before to everyone's satisfaction. After all, the subquantum structure of real-space had been revealed centuries earlier. But, doing the same experiments in the environment of subspace had proven difficult. All previous experiments either explored a size scale orders of magnitude too large to really probe energetic structure at so small a level, or their results were rendered unusable by the matter-based probes that existed in real-space.

 

The theorists kept sending out new theories, and two had entered the spotlight. In both theories, the energetic microstructure of subspace resembled a rough surface. It was the nature of the roughness in which they differed. In one theory, it was like a series of level surfaces. Almost as if the whole of subspace were filled with a grid containing rows upon rows of equally sized cubic boxes. But, some of the boxes were stacked on top of each other, and others weren't. This implied a quantum structure, with a chance for a discontinuity between each point in the grid. In the other theory, it resembles a grid filled with pyramids, alternating between ones pointing upwards, and ones pointing downwards. At the tip of each pyramid is an infinitessimally small spike pointing upwards, an energetic infinity. The second model disposes of the discontinuity of the square-grid model, but gains an unwieldy infinity. Both theories are supported by pages and pages of mathematics, and even more pages of journal papers with contradictory experimental results.

 

Gaining an understanding of the problem would not only advance basic physics, but might also help engineers develop better, more efficient, and less polluting warp drives.

 

Now, with the science department of a starship at his disposal, he thought it may be time to revisit the previously intractable problem.

 

Neutrinos are the most non-reactive matter particles. As such, they're also the most difficult to detect. While neutrino detection technology had been in use on starships since at least the 22nd century, their precision had not been sufficient to do single-particle detection, until now. Recent advances in neutrino detection have made a low-particle-yield neutrino interferometer a real possibility. The interference of two neutrinos in pure subspace at specially chosen frequencies could probe subspace for discontinuous microstructural energy barriers. Finding a discontinuity would suggest quantum levels. Finding high-energy barriers at regular spatial intervals would suggest the pyramidal structure. With Arcadia spending so much time at warp, he and his department would have plenty of opportunity to make measurements in relatively empty subspace. Detecting rare interference events would require skill, and, above all, patience. Interpreting them would be an even greater challenge. One he hoped his team would be up to.

 

Lo'Ami put in a request for the nonstandard parts required for the interferometer to starbase 143. Then, he made sure to take some time playing a role other than the chief science officer.