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PHY.10:2 - Problem

Agreement with an observed response can have several physical explanations. A parameter can compensate for a missing interaction. A particular drive can make two response laws coincide. Different hidden dynamics can produce the same aggregate decay.

Collecting more data under the same uninformative conditions can leave the disagreement intact. Conversely, changing conditions to enlarge a predicted difference can introduce a new interaction, defeat the detector or leave the range in which either account was proposed.

A discrepancy also tests the combined account of the subject, preparation and observation. It need not identify the disputed physical premise by itself. The practitioner needs a comparison that exposes that premise while retaining the alternatives introduced by the apparatus and operating conditions.