Multiverse Physics

The overarching discipline that studies the physics of the multiverse—the laws, forces, and phenomena that govern not just one universe but the entire multiversal landscape. Multiverse physics asks questions like: What determines the laws of individual universes? How do universes interact, if at all? What is the origin of the multiverse itself? This physics is highly speculative, drawing on string theory, quantum gravity, and cosmology, but it's also the most ambitious intellectual enterprise ever attempted—nothing less than the explanation of all reality, everywhere, in all forms. Multiverse physics is either the ultimate science or the ultimate fantasy, depending on your tolerance for untestable theories.

Example: "She studied multiverse physics and could now explain why our universe has the laws it does: it's just one random outcome in an infinite multiversal landscape, no more special than any other. The explanation was either profound (we're not special) or trivial (things are the way they are because they could be otherwise). She wasn't sure which, but she had a PhD."

by Dumu The Void February 17, 2026

Outer Physics

A speculative field studying the physics of outer spacetime regions—universes beyond our own, dimensions beyond the four we know, realms where different physical laws apply. Outer Physics asks: if there are other spacetimes, what physics operates there? It's physics extended to the multiverse, physics as a local phenomenon rather than universal law. The field is necessarily speculative—we can't observe outer regions—but it's a necessary thought experiment for understanding whether our physics is unique or just local.

"Our physics works here—but what about there? Outer Physics studies the physics of other spacetimes, other dimensions, other realities. Not science fiction, but necessary speculation: if the multiverse exists, it has physics. Outer Physics is the attempt to imagine what that physics might be."

by Dumu The Void March 5, 2026

Retroentropy (Physics)

A hypothetical physical phenomenon where entropy—the measure of disorder—would decrease over time within a closed system, effectively running backwards. In our universe, entropy always increases (the Second Law of Thermodynamics). Retroentropy would describe a cosmos where spilled milk leaps back into the glass, smoke reassembles into a cigarette, and scrambled eggs unscramble themselves. It's the physics of a world where time flows in reverse, order emerges spontaneously from chaos, and the universe gets younger and more organized with every passing moment.

Retroentropy (Physics) Example: "Watching the DVR replay of the vase shattering and then magically reassembling, I joked that my living room must be a local zone of retroentropy."

by Dumu The Void March 11, 2026

Retrothermodynamics (Physics)

The hypothetical physics of heat, energy, and work operating in reverse temporal direction. In retrothermodynamics, heat would flow spontaneously from cold objects to hot ones, friction would accelerate objects instead of slowing them down, and engines would run by absorbing exhaust fumes and fuel while outputting work and air. It's what you'd get if you took a video of normal thermodynamic processes and played it backward—a universe where every energy transaction is perfectly reversed, and the arrow of thermal time points the other way.

Retrothermodynamics (Physics) Example: "The movie scene where a character's breath unfreezes and returns to their mouth is a charming moment of cinematic retrothermodynamics."

by Dumu The Void March 11, 2026

Retromechanics (Physics)

A speculative branch of physics concerned with mechanical systems operating under time-reversed conditions. If you could reverse time, Newton's laws would still hold (they're time-symmetric), but every collision, every trajectory, every mechanical interaction would play out backward. Retromechanics describes this reversed world: balls un-bouncing, pendums unsweeping, planets un-orbiting. It's a useful thought experiment for understanding why the Second Law of Thermodynamics (which isn't time-symmetric) gives time its direction, even though the underlying mechanics don't care which way the clock runs.

Retromechanics (Physics) Example: "The simulation showed planets orbiting backward, demonstrating retromechanics—gravity doesn't care about time's direction, even though everything else does."

by Dumu The Void March 11, 2026

Anti-Physics

A broad term for any proposed physical framework that would systematically oppose or invert the known laws of physics. Unlike specific branches like anti-gravity (which opposes one force), anti-physics imagines wholesale replacement of physical law: anti-matter behaving opposite to matter in every way (not just charge), anti-entropy being the default, anti-inertia governing motion. It's the physics of mirror universes, of worlds where up is down, attraction is repulsion, and every "law" we depend on is systematically violated.

Example: "The novel's alternate dimension operated on anti-physics—light bent away from massive objects, friction accelerated things, and nothing made sense by our standards."

by Dumu The Void March 11, 2026

Negative Physics

A conceptual framework for describing physical quantities that can take on negative values in meaningful ways, beyond just mathematical convenience. Negative energy densities (predicted by quantum field theory), negative temperatures (achieved in laser systems), negative pressure (driving cosmic inflation), and negative mass (hypothetical) all fall under negative physics. It's the study of the physical regimes where our intuitive sense that "more" means "bigger positive number" breaks down, and the universe reveals stranger possibilities.

Example: "The Casimir effect proves negative energy densities are real—a genuine phenomenon of negative physics where empty space has less than zero energy between two plates."

by Dumu The Void March 11, 2026