What Would Falsify the Design
Named experiments and outcomes that would prove the current burner design point wrong, stated in advance so the study is testable.
A testable design, not an unfalsifiable one
A design study earns trust by naming what would refute it. For Aegis, several concrete outcomes would falsify the current design point and force a redesign or a different machine — and we would report them as such.
Why name them
Unfalsifiable claims are not science. By listing the outcomes that would end the current design, we commit to following the evidence — including evidence that the 26.49 T plug or the design regime cannot be reached as specified.
What follows a falsification
A falsified point does not necessarily end the program; it moves the design. The tandem-mirror core, the D–3He fuel, and direct energy conversion could survive a plug redesign. Honesty about falsification is how the study improves.
Naming what would refute the design is what separates a testable study from an unfalsifiable claim. If no coil reaches margin at 26.49 T, or if regime experiments reveal fatal loss channels, the current design point is falsified and we will report it as such. A falsification moves the design; it need not end the program, since the tandem-mirror core and D–³He fuel could survive a plug redesign.
See the risk register and the plug question.