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[Girlinhat]

Not everything quantum is the same thing that appeared on one episode of one TV show once.  Yes, you're very cute for making a reference but I'm tired of the "lol quantum it's an angel" stuff that keeps cropping up during discussions.

[wierd]

Not everything quantum is the same thing that appeared on one episode of one TV show once.  Yes, you're very cute for making a reference but I'm tired of the "lol quantum it's an angel" stuff that keeps cropping up during discussions.

On the other hand, the gravitational anomalies, and their necessary relativistic consequences would definately give the tardis a tummyache.

[Maxmurder]

I have always imagined adamantine as strands of single protons tangled/woven together. With legendary strand extraction a dwarf could extract a single proton thick strand wich could then be woven/smelted.

[wierd]

The problem is that single protons won't stay together. Various nasty things like the exclusion principle, charge repulsion, and the like will cause the chain to fly apart.

Atomic nuclei require the stabilizing effect of the neutrons in the nucleus to hold it together. Too many neutrons, it blows apart. Too few, it blows apart.

This is mostly a very short distance interaction that is stronger than the strong-em force at very short distances, which is mostly mitigated by quantum spin. The different quarks in a neutron (compared to proton) creates a kind of spin entanglement/attraction that holds them (proton and neutron) together. When the proportions are outside the line of stability, the nucleus becomes radioactive, and it starts decaying until it reaches stability.

This is why the hypothetical "super iridium" I mentioned earlier would not be stable. The nucleus would literally blow itself apart almost instantly.

The second option I mentioned, would require a special series of things to occur:

The total quantum state of the nucleus would have to be a perfect resonance related to the higgs field, so that the higgs field doest not have any strong mechanism to interact with it.  (Or, interacts with it very aggressively, if slade.)  This makes an otherwise normal proton in that nucleus weigh radically less, because it can't deform the local spacetime, because it is "slippery" to the higgs field.  (Or, "sticky", in the case of slade).

This is why molar mass is meaningless for those elements. The protons and neutrons you are weighing have abnormal masses!

[MaximumZero]

I love you guys. Just wanted you to know that.

[Amallar]

Which only confirms its unorthodox nature.  Furthermore slade must be some type of quantum material, as it becomes superdense and unworkable when observed, but if you strike blindly then it's a pliable as shale or granite!  Perhaps all the issues we're observing with slade's impossible weight, is that it isn't heavy at all.  It only becomes massive when we determine it to be massive.

If slade is affected by quantum observation, though, then it indicates that slade cannot actually exist; a material that approaches slade's degree of hyperdensity and then reverts would cause chaos in space-time, to the extent that it destabilise all proximate matter as the quantum stresses of rapidly shifting mass in an extremely focused area are felt.

 It would be like a singularity randomly forming and deforming from regular matter of unequalised mass. A ridiculous amount of energy would be induced from nothing, as gravity from the singularity affects its surrounding environment; when the singularity suddenly dissipates into regular matter of uneven mass, though, we have significant gravitational inertia being focused into matter that does not have the mass to support it. This energy must turn into thermal energy or rebound outwards from a central axis; either way, we have a radial expansion of matter in the form of an "explosion" or simply kinetic repulsion.

A world with this occurring constantly within it would be so radically unstable that no life could ever exist on it; it would be like a flume of constantly expanding and contracting dust. If no life could develop on such a world, then slade is actually unaffected, and behaves as normal matter. But normal matter means that life could develop; if life could develop (which it has, as evidenced by our homicidal midgets), then as such, slade could be observed. And slade has been observed, every time we dig deep enough. There is no violent quantum activity, however; and as such, slade cannot actually exist in our dimension, or it would've created energetic chaos that we would've duly noted. Slade must exist outside of tangible existence, in a state that renders it observable; in another dimension of existence, would perhaps be most reasonable. Otherwise, those reactions would have occurred.

[wierd]

That ignores superposition, and the fact that high level observation of an aggregate does not decompose the superposition.

Eg, "double slit" shows you waves. It doesn't show you an epillepsy inducing lightshow as the photons suffer from indecision.

It shows 2 parallel lines when you try to watch which slit the individual photons pass through.

Meaning: don't look at either substance using a particle accelerator. Bad juju will happen if you do.

[MaximumZero]

What if the slade projects its quantum indecision on nearby materials, slightly straining the materials in question but not ripping them apart completely? That would explain why it's the material hell is made of. Infinite torture of being pulled apart at the seams, but it never actually happening...

[Blizzlord]

I can see that our arguments have lead to the disscusion of the forces in a nucleus (among other things). This is something not even the greatest minds of our generation understand fully understand. This inevitabely means someone will start preaching over something beyond their ability to comprehend.

The laws of quantum physics are unbelivablely complex. Teleportation! Duplication! Quantum entanglement! For Armoks sake I'm still in elementary school!

[Zargodia]

This is the best thread ever
you went from simply disscussing if an adamantine axe could kill somthing to calling it a metal that reduses the force of gravity on an object

[wierd]

I can see that our arguments have lead to the disscusion of the forces in a nucleus (among other things). This is something not even the greatest minds of our generation understand fully understand. This inevitabely means someone will start preaching over something beyond their ability to comprehend.

The laws of quantum physics are unbelivablely complex. Teleportation! Duplication! Quantum entanglement! For Armoks sake I'm still in elementary school!

"If you think you understand quantum theory, you don't understand quantum theory."-- Richard Feynman.

However, my personal take on the matter is that you should never divorce yourself from mystery, because when you do, you stop looking. When you stop looking, you fail to see, and by failing to see, you learn nothing.

You are never too old or too young to see, and so you are never too old or too young to learn. Simply because something has dizzying complexity, and it hurts your brain to comprehend it, does not mean you should recoil and look away. On the contrary, it means you should pout your very soul into to reach an understanding, no matter how faulted.

The sooner you look with your eyes and mind open, the more powerful your intellect will become.

I started learning algebra, human anatomy, and geology from my mom when I was in gradeschool, because I was curious, and she was taking them in college.  Saying "that's too much for me, I'm just a kid!" Is self-sabotage.  You most certainly can, if you want to, and have the opportunity.  As the addage goes, you never know until you try, so you should try everything you can, to see if you like it. If you do, and it fills you with wonder and desire, dig in and pursue it with all the strength you can muster.  Doesn't matter what the subject is. Only then can you really be the best that you can be.


The internet is fantastic.  It has all the world's knowledge right at your fingers. It is so much more than friends on facebook, movies on youtube, and porn on bittorrent. You just have to have an interest, and pursue it.

[dbay]

This reminds me of an old thread on the 3.5 D&D forums where me and some guys figured out how to abuse the laws of physics with magic. Stuff like polymorphing rocks into positrons (boom.), using free action divinations to locate everything (can I teleport this grain of sand to X,Y,Z? How about X+1,Y,Z? ad infinitum) and dropping the moon with locate city and Explosive Spell.

You guys are the greatest. I'm a classical studies major and understood you guys up to about page three, but that doesn't make this any less fantastic.

Also: I think adamantine projectiles deserve a little love, here. I don't know the science, but I think a decent bow would solve the main problem of adamantine - implementing the proper force or whatnot - because it's the bow you have to bend back, and the adamantine arrow would go flying off at the speed of sound. The light weight would actually work for you, assuming it doesn't just cause the arrow to bounce off the other guy, I think.

I really have no idea, but it seems to make common sense logic.

[Kilroy the Grand]

Best. THREAD. EVER.

[TheLinguist]

Ah, breaking physics in D&D... In my case, I've been led to believe that Bad Things will happen if I ever let the physics major in our group have access to two Ring Gates. The same guy has also figured out that if you take the rules at face value, a +19 Ride bonus to mount/dismount a horse as a free action, plus a sufficiently large line of horses, would let you circumnavigate a planet in what works out to be zero time.

And don't get me started on the hacks he's come up with based on the "ready an action" rule...

[bombzero]

Also: I think adamantine projectiles deserve a little love, here. I don't know the science, but I think a decent bow would solve the main problem of adamantine - implementing the proper force or whatnot - because it's the bow you have to bend back, and the adamantine arrow would go flying off at the speed of sound. The light weight would actually work for you, assuming it doesn't just cause the arrow to bounce off the other guy, I think.

I really have no idea, but it seems to make common sense logic.

hmm... a well built longbow can fire a projectile faster than the eye can follow, aproaching the speed of bullets fired by early guns, an adamantine arrow would pass through somebody clean due to the cutting power of adamantine and that the force was provided by a strong bow, possibly negating the negative effect of adamantines weight.