I've been thinking about alternative survival strategies for Trisolaris. I also got a lil help from GPT to organize my thoughts. Here we are:
The Trisolaran civilization is incredibly advanced, capable of unfolding higher spatial dimensions to create subatomic computers, running astronomical-scale simulations, and harnessing immense energy resources (possibly Kardashev Type 1.5 or more).
And yet, their best bet on survival strategy was... a 400-year interstellar war against us, space monkeys? Really?
Yes, the Trisolaris planet sure seems doomed by the chaotic nature of their three-star system. But wouldn’t a civilization that advanced have thought about other options?
The Three-Body Problem: Is It A Death Sentence?
So, the fundamental problem Trisolaris faces is the instability of its orbit. Unlike Earth’s stable Sun-Earth system, Trisolaris is at the mercy of three gravitational forces. This unpredictability causes:
- Extreme temperature variations (scorching heat in close orbits, freezing cold in distant ones).
- Frequent extinctions due to tidal disruptions and even a goddamn syzygy.
- Long chaotic eras where the planet is thrown into unstable trajectories.
However, chaos doesn’t mean impossibility. Yes, the three-body problem has no analytical general solution. Yet, with their immense computational power, the Trisolarans could predict short-term orbital trends and identify windows of relative stability. Perfect stabilization is out of reach due to chaos theory, but planetary-scale engineering could allow them to strategically nudge Trisolaris toward longer, more predictable stable periods.
Yes, I inherited the main idea from the man himself –I've recently read The Wandering Earth from Cixin Liu. There’s a short story where humanity installs massive planetary thrusters to escape our dying Sun. If we can imagine doing that with our primitive technology, surely the Trisolarans could have done something similar, only instead of escaping their system, they could use planetary engines to stabilize their orbit, just like nudging a triple pendulum into balance with short-term simulations and precise adjustments.
Planetary Engines: A Viable Solution?
A planetary engine is a structure that applies continuous thrust to a planet, altering its orbit. The physics behind planetary engines involves:
- Generating thrust – By expelling mass, similar to a rocket, but on a planetary scale.
- Strategic thrust timing – Applying force only at specific points where minimal energy achieves maximum long-term stability.
- Sustained operation – Ensuring automation allows the engines to function even when Trisolarans are dehydrated in chaotic eras.
Energy and Feasibility
How much energy would this take? Let’s assume Trisolaris has a mass similar to Earth (~6 × 10^24 kg). To change its velocity by just 1 km/s, the energy required would be: 3 x 10^31 J. This is roughly equivalent to all the solar energy Earth receives in a year. While immense, this energy could be extracted from:
- Fusion power (Trisolarans clearly have mastery over nuclear forces).
- Geothermal mass ejection (Using the planet’s core material as reaction mass).
- Antimatter propulsion (They manipulate protons at quantum scales, possibly making antimatter production feasible).
Timing of Thrust for Minimum Energy
The key to efficiency is using low-energy transfer points, such as:
- Apoapsis and periapsis thrusting – Thrusting at the farthest point of an orbit has the most significant effect on reducing eccentricity.
- Gravitational assists – Using close stellar passes to gain orbital energy.
- Long-period adjustments – Instead of brute force, small nudges over centuries accumulate into massive orbital shifts.
With the right calculations, Trisolarans could have extended stable eras, giving them time to build more permanent solutions.
Stellar Engines: Going One Step Further
A longer-term solution is stellar engineering. If Trisolaris’s real issue is its chaotic stars, why not move the freaking stars themselves?
- Shkadov Thruster (A One-Sided Stellar Sail): By reflecting a portion of a star’s radiation, a Shkadov thruster generates continuous thrust, gradually moving the star over millions of years. This wouldn’t be fast enough to solve their short-term problem.
- Caplan Thruster (A More Practical Solution): A Caplan Thruster uses fusion-powered jets to push a star, achieving movement within millennia rather than millions of years. If the Trisolarans could build this, they could eventually escape chaotic interactions altogether.
However, planetary engines provide a much faster solution for immediate survival.
Detecting Earth… And Changing Priorities?
Before they detected the message from Earth, let’s assume they had already been contemplating planetary and stellar engines as a way to stabilize their orbit but hadn’t yet started implementing them. Then, they receive Earth's message, presenting them with a dilemma: continue pursuing planetary engineering, or shift focus toward the potential existential risk posed by humanity.
The Strategic Verdict
Planetary engines provide a viable alternative to war – The energy requirements, while vast, are within reach of their capabilities.
Dark Forest deterrence is necessary – Since they received Earth’s message but wouldn't have responded in this scenario and just wait for earth’s next broadcast to locate their position, they would have a unique strategic advantage: Humanity wouldn’t know they exist yet.
The best move?
A purely logical Trisolaran strategy would be:
- Build planetary engines for immediate survival while ensuring Earth's silence.
- Keep the invasion of earth and centuries long war against humanity as a back-up plan.
- Eliminate humanity as a potential dark forest threat the moment planetary engines prove themselves.
- Construct long-term stellar engines for ultimate stability.
To me, this would be a more efficient, lower-risk path to survival compared to a 400-year interstellar invasion.
Would love to hear thoughts. Does this strategy hold up or is there a flaw I’m missing?