The Higgs bubble
"The Higgs bubble is the one hand-wavy non-physics bit which we admit, but then be as hard-core physics for the rest as possible." (Mark, 2026-10-01)
The ship travels inside a spherical pocket, 100 m in radius, made by the ship's generator. The
canon, physics/higgs-bubble.md,
defines it by exactly three properties. Everything else is derived from them with ordinary
physics, and every number has a check value (HB-n) that the tests, the simulation and the
in-game Archive cite.
The three properties
- The wall. It blocks every massive particle, in both directions. It is transparent, both ways, to light of every energy and to neutrinos.
- Tunable inertia. Seen from outside, the whole pocket has an effective inertial mass that can be made tiny but never zero. A zero-mass pocket would have to move at exactly c, and the crew's proper time would stop.
- The interior is its own frame. The pocket's acceleration is not felt inside. The generator holds a steady 1 g "down", toward aft. That 1 g is a comfort setting, not a consequence of thrust.
The name is a label for the hand-wave. The Higgs field gives a proton only about 1% of its mass, and zeroing it would dissolve atoms. Inside the bubble physics is normal; "Higgs" names the one thing that was invented.
What follows, exactly
| Consequence | Why | A check value |
|---|---|---|
| Boost, cruise, brake. Minutes of ship time to reach cruise, no midpoint flip, no zero-g coast | Property 3 hides the acceleration; property 2 makes it cheap | γ at 0.999999c = 707.107 (HB-18) |
| A photon drive. Only light leaves the bubble, so momentum goes out as light: E = m_eff c² φ per boost | Property 1 | 2.379 × 10¹⁷ J per kg of m_eff, rest to 0.99c (HB-35) |
| The interstellar gas is the enemy. In the ship frame the ISM is a proton beam; the wall reflects it elastically, so there is drag but no heating | Property 1 | Drag energy to α Cen at 0.99c: 1.37 × 10¹⁷ J (HB-53) |
| No proton may cross. At γ 707 the ISM would arrive as a 660 GeV beam | Property 1 | 663.5 GeV (HB-59) |
| The crew sees the true relativistic sky. Light crosses unchanged, so aberration, Doppler and the forward CMB are exactly what is on the window | Property 1 | Forward CMB at γ 707: 3,853.7 K (HB-63) |
| Glazing still matters. Starlight ahead is blueshifted to soft X-rays; the wall passes it, the dome glass and hull absorb it | Property 1 passes light of every energy | |
| Tides are not shielded. The wall stops particles, not curvature; near a small black hole the tide across 100 m is lethal | Gravity is geometry | Gaia BH1, at 10 r_s: 1.14 × 10⁶ g (HB-72) |
Not every row runs in the game yet: the planner, the energy ledger and the commit rule do (M2), the forward CMB renders (M1.8), and black holes are planned (M3). See the roadmap.
Why the strictness
A hard-SF game earns its strangeness by refusing to cheat anywhere else. Because only one thing is invented, players can trust everything they see, and learn from it: why the sky crowds ahead, why sideways stars dim, why the trip costs 0.62 years for you and 4.4 for home. See the physics.