But Clifford didn’t find him really a bad guy for all that.
Right now, Massey wasn’t too happy about the way in which Clifford was handling things. He didn’t give a damn whether the paper ended up being published or not, but it bothered him that somebody from his section didn’t seem to be putting up a good fight to speak his case. The name of the platoon was at stake.
“What Brad means is, the subject matter of his paper relates purely to abstract theoretical concepts. There’s nothing about it that could be thought of as having anything to do with national security interests.” Massey glanced from Edwards to Corrigan and back again. “You might say it’s kinda like a hobby . . . only Brad’s hobby happens to involve a lot of mathematics.”
“Mmm . . .” Edwards rubbed his thumbs against the point of his chin and considered the proposition. Abstract theoretical concepts had a habit of turning into reality with frightening speed. Even the most innocent-looking scraps of trivia could acquire immense significance when fitted together into a pattern with others. He had no idea of the things that were going on in other security-blanketed research institutions of his own country, not to mention those of the other side. Only Washington held the big picture, and if they went along with Clifford’s request, it would mean getting mixed up in all the rigmarole of referring the matter back there for clearance . . . and Washington was never very happy over things like that. Far better if the whole thing could be killed off right at the beginning.
On the other hand, his image wouldn’t benefit from too hasty a display of high-handedness . . . must be seen as objective and impartial.
“I have been through the paper briefly, Dr. Clifford,” he said. “Before we consider your request specifically, I think it would help if you clarified some of the points that you make.” He spread his hands and rested them palms-down on the table. “For example, you make some remarkable deductions concerning the nature of elementary particles and their connection with gravitational propagation. . . .” His look invited Clifford to take it from there.
Clifford sighed. At the best of times he detested lengthy dissertations; the feeling that he was pressing an already lost cause only made it worse. But there was no way out.
“All the known particles of physics,” he began, “can be described in terms of Maesanger k-functions. Every particle is a combination of high-order and low-order k-resonances. Theory suggests that it’s possible for an entity to exist purely in the high-order domain, without any physical attributes in the dimensions of the observable universe. It couldn’t be detected by any known experimental technique.”
“This isn’t part of Maesanger’s original theory,” Edwards checked.
“No. It’s new.”
“This is your own contribution?”
“Yes.”
“I see. Carry on.” Edwards scribbled a brief note on his pad.
“I’ve termed such an unobservable entity a ‘hi-particle,’ and the domain that it exists in, ‘hi-space’—the unobservable subset of k-space. The remaining portion of k-space—the spacetime that we perceive—is then termed ‘lo-space.’
“Interactions are possible between hi-particles. Most of them result in new hi-particles. Some classes of interaction, however, can produce complete k-functions as end-products—that is, combined hi- and lo-order resonances that are observable. In other words, you’d be able to detect them in normal space.” Clifford paused and waited for a response. It came from Massey.
“You mean that as far as anybody can tell, first there’s no particle there—just nothing at all—then suddenly—poof!—there is.”
Clifford nodded. “Exactly so.”
“Mmm . . . I see. Spontaneous creation of matter . . . in our universe anyway. Interesting.” Edwards began stroking his chin again and nodded to Clifford to continue.
“Since all conventional particles can be thought of as extending into hi-space, they can interact with hi-particles too. When they do, the result can be one of two things.
“First off, the interaction products can include k-resonances—in other words, particles that are observable. What you’d see would be the observable part of the k-particle that was there to begin with, and then the observable part of the k-products that came later. What you wouldn’t see is the pure hi-particle that caused the change to take place.”