I had this recent idea for a system which would allow for beings to defy our understanding of physics while being based on real theoretical physics, but I'd like some advice on how to make it work in a self-consistent and interesting manner.
The foundations of this system comes from two main ideas: firstly, that gravity is much weaker than the other fundamental forces. The electromagnetic force is 10^36 times stronger than gravity and the strong and weak nuclear forces are similarly strong compared to gravity.
Additionally, most formulations of string theory predict a much higher number of spatial dimensions than the three that we know of (plus one for time). I've read that some models predict 10 or 11 spatial dimensions, for example. These two facts come together to form the core of my system.
In my idea, the two key points are:
- The additional dimensions predicted by string theory are real, and these can be exploited by advanced technology
- Gravity is much stronger when these other dimensions are considered (possibly similar to the other fundamental forces), but most of it is dissipated through these other spatial dimensions, which causes it to be measured as significantly weaker by beings which cannot exploit these dimensions
This would create the effect that beings that could manipulate these spatial dimensions would be able to use gravitational forces which dissipated through those spatial dimensions to attract large objects in 3D space and otherwise move stuff around, and they would be able to use the additional spatial dimensions to bypass barriers in 3D space. This would naturally be dangerous due to the attractive forces in the higher dimensions, meaning that you would need to be skilled to use this safely. Plus, I don't think these would actually be helpful in moving long distances in secret as moving in these dimensions wouldn't actually get you anywhere.
One possibility I thought of how this could work is if the "magic" works through "stretching out" the additional spatial dimensions using advanced technology, which would be usually exist in sort of "loops". My story would probably involve Earth being attacked by aliens who have greater understanding of string theory and higher dimensions. The protagonist would be a theoretical physicist leading a group who needs to work out how the aliens exploit higher dimensions and how to use this knowledge to field a successful defence (possibly by building a device that could contract the traditional dimensions in 3D space to use as a bargaining chip to force the aliens to leave?).
My main questions would be:
- What would be other consequences of this system and how it could be exploited?
- How to make this be more in line with theoretical physics and not just be based on a pop-science interpretation?
- Are there better ways that this could be implemented while still having the fundamental foundations of the system work?
(note: this has probably made it painfully obvious I don't understand string theory all that well. Any ways to make this more in line with our understanding of it would be appreciated)
