Tom knew that solving the material property changes caused by particle collisions at high navigation speeds was only one aspect of the technology of a third-tier Strong Nuclear Civilization.
Beyond this technology, a Strong Nuclear Civilization must also possess other advanced technologies to match it.
Propulsion technology, energy technology, detection technology — all comprehensively surpassed those of a second-tier Electroweak Civilization.
And the core of all these advanced technologies was the Unified Strong Nuclear Force.
In physics terms, it meant merging SU(3) × SU(2) × U(1) into a larger group such as SU(5) or SO(10).
