“Think of a bubble…”

So began Sir Kirkus Pennyson’s 1847 tome On Ebullic Origins, the first true scientific treatise on the structures and interrelationships of ebulli. Although the underlying explanations have evolved over time since then, Pennyson’s writings are still required reading at universities across the bubbles. The following is a modern update of his explanation.

Imagine a hypothetical planet, alone in space orbiting a glowing star. Now, this planet because of its great size warps dimensional space around it and within it. It therefore projects various reflections of itself into different dimensions. These reflections are in every perceivable way planets unto themselves. They may appear identical to the original planet or vary in any number of details, such as size. The true mass of the planet is also thus hidden away and accounts for much of the “dark matter” of the universe.

The barriers between the different ebulli are referred to as membranes, or generally just branes. Although it is possible to cross a brane by hopping from one bubble to another, we should not think of branes as separating worlds in three dimensional space. The geometric shape of each brane is transposed into n-dimensional space and, furthermore, affects the shape of adjacent branes. There is much research going into this field, but it has yet to produce a working explanation of pan-ebullic geometry.

The branes of different ebulli may touch at different points or even overlap. A naturally occurring instance of this is known as a nexus. Stable nexuses are few and far between; these sites can allow passage between different bubbles and in ancient times were considered magical. Through the use of modern technology, however, we are able to hop bubbles, even away from a nexus. Each ebullus is situated somewhere along the bubble well, a hypothetical construct showing how relatively easy it is to pass between two known ebulli, all else being equal. An ebullus at the bottom of the well is relatively easy to travel to, while an ebullus at the top is extremely difficult and/or takes a great deal of energy. Some theorists propose that there are ebulli so far up the well that we have never observed them.