From: news@sifon.cc.mcgill.ca
Subject: Re: Role Master Physics question
Organization: McGill University
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 18:02:29 GMT

In article <2444@cix.cict.fr> maillet@tls-cs.cert.fr (Luc Maillet) writes:

>  Oh. And how, pray tell, do you "model" magic, which is essentially non-reality?
>I believe magic screws up most of the physical laws as we know them, and replaces
>them with a "variable set" of laws. So if a physical law is defied by magic, the
>magic ALWAYS wins ( as long as it is active, of course ). RM implies that in
>spell descriptions ( "when the spell duration ends, the object is again subject
>to physical laws..." says it all ).

Hmmm. That *is* a bit pat, is it not, considering that we (you, I and
all of us) know so little about the subject of magic? First off, as a
physicist, I have been taught to never reject *any* theory without
clear disproof (after all, actually *proving* laws of nature is quite
futile). As such, I have no qualms about believing that "magic" may,
in fact, be for real! However, as a physicist, I feel that if magic
*is* real, it will have to obey some natural laws. That said, there
is no reason to assume, a priori, that the laws which govern magic
will necessarily void or take precedence over the existing physical
laws! The Standard Model of the electroweak interaction did not void
Quantum Electrodynamics: it *incorporated* it, for example.
     In my opinion, and, I should add, in all of my campaign worlds
where magic exists, I assume that magic obeys basic and fundamental
physical laws that ensure that (i) magic does not become so ultimate
that there is no reason for *any* other force of any kind to even
exist and to ensure that (ii) magic is *self-consistant*. I assume
that magic is a fifth-force interaction, and affects all matter
(for those in the know, I assume the fermion fields carry magic
quantum numbers -- those who don't know: don't worry). I then assume
that the interaction has all the properties of physical interactions
in general: mass-energy equivalence (obeys relativity), probabilistic
mechanics and wave-particle duality (obeys quantum mechanics), the
possibility for extreme sensitivity to initial conditions (chaos)
and a requirement that the laws of thermodynamics be observed
(energy conserved, entropy increasing, etc...). By assuming that
the brain is composed of matter which is not merely capable of
producing complex electromagnetic fields, but also of producing
complex *magical* fields (using similar physics), we need not
stretch our imagination too far to explain why humans can "do
magic". By assuming that the magic field, just like all the other
fields of physics, permeates all of space and has a local energy
density, we can explain where the energy for magical effects
comes from and why, locally, magic does not always work. By
assuming that the magic interaction exhibits some macroscopic
properties, just as electromagnetism yields conductivity,
elastic modulii and viscosity, or as the nuclear interactions
yield radioactivity, we can explain why some substances are
magical, and macroscopically observable as being magical.
     A bit of scientific knowledge and a bit of imagination
allows magic to be both fun and realistic!
    (For all you physicists: my magic interaction is mediated
by "manaons" and obeys a Yang-Mills field theory. I have no
idea what the gauge group is, except that it should be large.
Perhaps there are couplings to the gauge fields of other
interactions as well? There goes renormalizability....)

>  Physics also tend to prevent such things as Giants, and that is trouble for
>many fantasy worlds...

Giants? Hmm....all we have to do is assume that the magical
interaction provides a gravitational shielding potential
through some set of simple and concise rules...

>  Of course, magic notwithstanding, the physical laws OF THE LOCAL UNIVERSE
>(which are not necessarily the ones we know) apply. SO, if it was your idea all
>along, please do not be offended. (just an afterthought).

Hmm again. I assume that the local universe will have the same
physical laws as all of the universe. If you assume *multiple*
universes (and I do, in my games), then for sure, the laws of
physics can differ from universe to universe. One of the big
problems with the "locality" argument is that, on the field
theory level, physics is constructed so as to be the same in
*all* of the universe (for the enlightened: I'm talking about
gauge invariance under interactions, and Lorentz invariance).
In a different universe: well, you may have only 2 space
dimensions. Or five. Or three time dimensions. Or just a
weird metric....and there may be different interactions!
I assumed that the force of gravity was not r**2 but some
other power in my Hell adventure...boy was it Hellish :-)

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