Talking in a Bubble: Using Physics to Explain Dialects

When you know the laws of the universe, many things become predictable--the next full moon, the trajectory of a bullet, and even the fate of the Earth. Physics can be an excellent tool for predicting how objects behave under certain conditions. It turns out that physics may also be a valuable tool for predicting where dialects emerge, according to research published this week in the American Physical Society journal Physical Review X.By applying concepts developed to describe the physics of bubb...