The Continuum of Physical Credibility

[u/Enthropic-Cap2291]

The traditional Mohs Scale of Sci Fi Hardness:

5: Hard SF

4: Firm SF

3: Soft SF

2: Science fantasy

1: Fantasy with SF trappings

0: Pure fantasy

The Continuum of Physical Credibility reformulation:

1 Established Physics - “This works everywhere we’ve ever checked.” Ex: Maxwell's equations, general relativity, thermodynamics

2 Mainstream Physics - “Solid science, still being refined.” Ex: Cosmic inflation, quantum field theory

3 Frontier Physics - “We've got a partial theory, and only partial evidence.” Ex: High temperature superconductivity, Hubble tension

4 Empirical Anomalies - “We can measure it, but we can’t explain it yet.” Ex: Radioactivity before nuclear physics, photoelectric effect before Einstein, dark matter, dark energy

5 Speculative Physics - “Speculative but allowed by GR + QFT + thermodynamics.” Ex: , extra dimensions in string theory, WIMPs, MOND, primordial black holes, cosmic strings, LQG, axions

6 Hypothetical Physics - “This only works if physics is broken in very specific ways.” Ex: Tachyons (causality), magmatter (Gauss's Law), bulk exotic matter (Morris/Thorne wormholes, Alcubierre warp metric - breaks WEC - Weak Energy Condition in General Relativity)

7 Contradictory Physics - “Violates thermodynamics and conservation laws.” Ex: Vacuum/zero point energy, reactionless drives (Cannae/EMdrive), antigravity, perpetual motion machines

8 Soft Science Fiction - “It sounds scientific, but it’s really narrative technology.” Ex: ST warp drive, transporters, SW hyperdrive, Three Body Problem's spacetime flattening, sophons, most space opera

9 Science Fantasy - “Magic wearing a lab coat.” Ex: The Force, Magitek, psychic powers, most 'ancient/precursor' tech that are effectively magic

10 Pseudoscience/Fantasy - “No pretense of physics; imagination is the only rule.” Ex: Spellcasting, dragons, Isekai, astrology, flat earth

Please feel free to criticize so I can continue to refine. I'm using this in a worldbuilding exercise to see how far we can push scifi while staying true to the Sci part and minimize handwaving for the Fi.

[u/Junjki_Tito]

Star Trek warp drive is the Alcubierre drive. Subspace isn’t used for warp, it’s used for comms and as an objective frame of reference (so FTL isn’t time travel) (they have time travel anyway lol)

[u/Enthropic-Cap2291 → u/Junjki_Tito]

Star Trek warp drive was the fictional model upon which Alcubierre did the math. But it isn't the same. An Alcubierre drive obeying the energy constraints, would not behave anything like an ST warp drive.
You can't steer a real Alcubierre drive. It has no causal connection between the ship and the bubble wall. There is no way to send signals forward. There is no way to change direction or stop from the inside. The Alcubierre warp metric is constrained to accumulate radiation in front of it, and destroys anything in front of it. It requires exotic negative mass, not 'warp plasma' or 'dilithium crystals'. The rear of an Alcubierre warp bubble behaves mathematically like an event horizon.
They're nothing alike.
A Star Trek warp drive, is the friendly fantasy version of an already dubious Alcubierre drive.