scifiwriter said:
Ok, I am no physics major…. I am a writer, but I truly need to get some Physics information. I am sure that should I get this work in progress published, some physics major will be able to blow huge holes in my idea, as it stands today. So I would like to throw out some suppositions here and let those who know what they are talking about discuss my idea here. This will help my work in progress to be more realistic for my sci-fi audience.
So here goes….
1) My Protagonist’s (female) mother was kidnapped by my Antagonist and hidden in another Dimension.
2) My Protagonist follows my Antagonist and My Protagonist’s Mother into that Dimension.
3) My Antagonist has the ability,when in this dimension, to manipulate Strong Force, Weak force, and Electromagnetic Force to cause them to be what he wants. I see him considering himself a kind of cosmic computer simulation programmer in this Dimension.
4) I see this Dimension as having more instability in these forces than our own.
5) When my Antagonist or someone of his race it not existing in this dimension long-term cohesion is not possible.
I know this supposition is tenuous at best. But what Can I say, I am a sci-fi writer. What I am asking is the following questions.
Say such a dimension actually exists….
1) What would it be like to exist here even for a billionth of second without cohesion? What I mean is if My Antagonist simply held her together but not the rest of the proto- matter around her?
2) How might to human brain try to process what it was experiencing in this dimension?
3) What universal Laws would have to exist in order for this dimension to exist?
4) What would this proto-matter look; act; and be like? What it be a corrosive, or alkaline substance? Would it be Liquid, semi- solid, or gas? Would it be none of the above?
5) Since my Antagonist doesn’t actually come from this dimension but another dimension that allows him to move very quickly (say the speed of light) how would this supposed Proto-matter react to his presence.
6) What other things would you all be able to suppose about my hypothetical dimension?
1) Extra dimensions have been hypothesized before as reasoning for the disparity in the strengths of gravity and other forces. At the Planck distance general relativity isn't effective at evaluating gravity, but delving into string theory and quantum mechanics could quite possibly be a bit to sci fi for your readers, but it's an options. You have the other options, although slightly cliched- for example wormholes, singularities, whatever. I'd go for something fresh and apply some poetic licence.
2) This is more of a philosophical question. Well, what's this dimension like? Do we still have light, sound, matter, energy? You need to describe it first. However I think something that applies is Plato's allegory of the cave, where puppeteers cast shadows which restrained prisoners watch. After a long time of watching the shadows and accepting them as reality and truth, if they were to be released (Plato hypothesized a philosopher would be able to escape), they would not accept the real world, even though it's obvious. They still think of the world as being made up of shadows, light and dark, even though they can now see the sunlight, and the trickery of the puppeteers. The truth is blindingly obvious, but they cannot accept it, and some would even wish to return to watching she shadows, which they consider to be the truth and the real world, even when they have learned of the real truth. The idea of Plato's cave was played on in the Matrix, for a common perspective. When Neo is awoken from the matrix (turns around, looking at what casts the shadows, rather than at the shadows), he cannot accept it. The truth is obvious- but he is not willing to accept it to begin with. If this dimension is observably different, you would probably have a reaction similar to the subjects of Plato's cave- they would be unwilling to accept it, and unbelieving of it, even if it is obviously the truth.
3) I wouldn't invent additional forces, especially ones that have absolutely no grounding in reality or feasibility in any model of physics or the universe. You do have poetic license on your side here, but do exercise some modesty. You could probably change no laws and be fine- after all, we cannot disprove an infinite number of alternate universes exists.
5) Tieing in with #3, you could toy with some laws. We view c as a universal speed limit- perhaps in this dimension the universal speed limit is far lower, etc. Don't be afraid to change things- afterall, a science fiction novel based on nothing but present day fact could be rather dull. Personally, I'd rather see manipulations of existing physics, rather than new, completely groundless happenings.
6) I have no idea. It's your blank canvas to create. You have a lot you can play with. For example the thought experiment Schrodinger's Cat postulates that there are branch points, alternate universes, identical but unreachable that peel off every time and instance happens in a certain way. For example- think of it like this. You fall down the stairs, and at the instant before you fall another universe peels off, one in which you don't fall. And another universe for every single thing- one for hitting the 8th stair with your right arm, one for not hitting it there. Depending on your interpretation of it, a lot of universes could peel off. This is of course a thought experiment, and we could not view or interact with any universes that occur from it.
But you could change things around- maybe a universe is created every time a critical choice, or event occurs. Life or death, whatever. Now of course the normal population is completely unaware of this, but the protagonist can transcend into the other universes somehow. Hell, he could go to a universe where Adam never ate the apple if he wanted. Of course- this is different to how you envisage your story, but it's simply an example of how you can apply things.
One big thing I'll warn you of, that I'll assume you're aware of as a writer, is that this story, with the dimensions and protagonists abilities seems, to me at least, to be incredibly vulnerable to ending with a deux ex machina.