scientific hypothesis
idea that proposes a tentative explanation about a phenomenon or a narrow set of phenomena observed in the natural world (primary features of a scientific hypothesis: falsifiability, testability)
dark energy
repulsive property with constant energy density theorized to make up most of the universe’s energy content to account for its observed expansion
two-source hypothesis
solution to the synoptic problem, stating that Matthew and Luke were based on Mark and a hypothetical sayings collection ("Q")
Rare Earth hypothesis
hypothesis that complex extraterrestrial life is a very improbable phenomenon and likely to be extremely rare
matching hypothesis
hypothesis in social psychology that people are more likely to form and succeed in a committed relationship with someone who is equally socially desirable
PAH world hypothesis
Hypothesis about the origin of life
father tongue hypothesis
hypothesis that humans tend to speak their father’s language, such that language distribution correlates better with (patrilineal) Y-chromosome rather than (matrilineal) mitochondrial DNA
grand tack hypothesis
in the early days of the Solar System, Jupiter moved inward then reversed course ("tacked") to its current orbit
lead and crime hypothesis
hypothesized effect of blood lead levels on criminal behavior
protein leverage hypothesis
dietary theory centred around protein consumption
universal language
hypothetical language that is supposed to have been spoken by all or most of the world's population
cold fusion
hypothetical type of nuclear reaction
continuum hypothesis
hypothesis that no set has a cardinality between that of the integers and that of the real numbers
laryngeal theory
hypothesis that Proto-Indo-European had laryngeal consonant phonemes beyond those reconstructed through comparison
cosmic censorship hypothesis
conjecture that, in general relativity, there is no naked singularity (i.e. one visible from future null infinity) generically
Lysenkoism
pseudoscientific biological theory
expanding Earth
hypothesis
Armenian hypothesis
hypothesis in historical linguistics that the Urheimat of proto-Indo-European is in the Caucacus
Actinide concept
Proposal of a a a second inner transition series in the periodic table
firewall
hypothetical phenomenon where an observer falling into a black hole encounters high-energy quanta at the event horizon
nuclear winter
hypothetical climatic effect of nuclear war
black hole electron
hypothesis that the electron (and other elementary particles) may be viewed as microscopic black holes
mathematical universe hypothesis
theory stating that external physical reality is a mathematical structure
superfluid vacuum theory
theory of fundamental physics
jumping-Jupiter scenario
a scenario of the giant planet migration
centrifugal mechanism of acceleration
proposed theory for ultra-high-energy cosmic rays exceeding the Greisen–Zatsepin–Kuzmin limit
Nice model
astrophysical model of planetary migration in the Solar System
Anatolian hypothesis
hypothesis
ensemble interpretation
interpretation of quantum mechanics that considers the quantum state description to apply only to an ensemble of similarly prepared systems, rather than supposing that it exhaustively represents an individual physical system
Prout's hypothesis
early model of the atom that did not account for mass defect
hidden sector
hypothetical collections of yet-unobserved quantum fields and particles
lexical integrity hypothesis
hypothesis in linguistics, based on transformational grammar, stating that syntactic transformations do not apply to subparts of words, implying that e.g. endoclitics do not exist
manifold hypothesis
posits ability to interpolate within latent manifolds
many-worlds interpretation
interpretation of quantum mechanics which denies the collapse of the wavefunction
language of thought hypothesis
hypothesis of philosopher Jerry Fodor
Omphalos hypothesis
argument that God created the world recently
giant impact hypothesis
theory that the Moon formed out of the debris left over from a collision between Earth and an astronomical body the size of Mars, approximately 4.5 billion years ago
efficient-market hypothesis
economic theory that asset prices fully reflect all available information, so that it is impossible to "beat the market" consistently on a risk-adjusted basis
group selection
proposed mechanism of evolution
Proto-Uralic homeland
earliest location in which the Proto-Uralic language was spoken
Sahara pump theory
hypothesis about migration of species between Africa and Eurasia
Marcan priority
hypothesis that the Gospel of Mark was used as a source by the other synoptic gospels (Matthew and Luke)
input hypothesis
hypotheses of second-language acquisition
pocket universe
a concept in inflationary theory, proposed by Alan Guth
biological rule
generalized principle to describe patterns observed in living organisms
expensive tissue hypothesis
hypothesis in evolutionary biology
Copenhagen interpretation
probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics involving wavefunction collapse
pilot wave theory
interpretation of quantum mechanics
ergodic hypothesis
hypothesis that typical physical systems studied in statistical mechanics are ergodic, such that time averages equal phase space averages