Quantum mnemonics are a set of tools used to manipulate the fabric of time and space.

The principle behind quantum mnemonics is that the universe can be reprogrammed if you know the right code, but that the code requires processing of such a high order that only the most advanced races in the universe can (a) write it, and (b) memorise it.

Any being that can perceive a mathematical model of the universe in its head is capable of altering its fabric, but performing such a function is a one-time event. Quantum mnemonics are shortcuts that turn the full code into a universal "macro" which can be applied when needed by someone who understands the fundamental principles.

Quantum mnemonics tend to come in three forms - symbolic, mimetic, and oral.
A symbolic mnemonic is a sign or seal known as a vever (taken from the vodun word for a religious sigil). Once scribed the vever is permanent, and can be activated only by someone whose mind is trained to understand the mathematical nature of the universe.

Oral or mimetic mnemonics are embedded idea committed to memory. They are harder to create and more limited in scope than vevers. Those able to create them tend to use words (hence oral) or hand gestures (mimesis) to focus their thoughts, resulting in a single effect which resembles spellcasting.

Quantum mnemonics were created by Adrian Middleton for an unpublished Doctor Who novel, The Fugue, and first appeared in print in the fanzine Apocrypha in 1993. They were used by Craig Hinton in his second novel, Millennial Rites, in 1995. Mimesis was introduced by Lance Parkin in his novel Cold Fusion, published in 1996.

Quantum Mnemonics on-screen

Quantum mnemonics have not, to date, appeared on-screen (having first been used in Virgin's New Adventures), although the Doctor Who story School Reunion by Toby Whitehouse refers to the Skasas Paradigm, which would appear to be the way of thinking needed to manipulate the fabric of time and space (thereby unlocking the power of quantum mnemonics).

Direct manipulation of time and space (albeit inside a black hole) is demonstrated in The Three Doctors, where it is called psychosynthesis. This ability is referred to in the audio Death Comes to Time by Colin Meek as "the power of the fourth".

Block transfer computations, seen in Logopolis, would appear to be the long form calculation for which quantum mnemonics provide a shortcut.

The History of Quantum Mnemonics

Quantum mnemonics were originally used by the Great Old Ones that occupied a previous universe, and were the means by which Yog Sothoth (aka The Great Intelligence) originally transported them into the current universe. The black hole by which they entered the universe is synonymous with the original Azathoth.

The secret of quantum mnemonics was discovered by Rassilon, and was instrumental in creating both the web of time and the Great Seals and Covenants used to imprison the Great Old Ones.

When the Time Lords originally surveyed the universe, they used navigational markers known as tychomnemonic arrays. These devices can, in emergencies, be used to trigger hidden powers that can turn Time Lords into killing machines.

The vevers used to store Quantum Mnemonics are recorded in certain books known to have been available in the Library of St. John the Beheaded around the turn of the millennium.

The Physics of Quantum Mnemonics

Quantum mnemonics have no basis in real science, but represent the means by which an intelligent race can exert its influence upon the nature of the universe (in accordance with the anthropic principle).

Any civilisation capable of understanding and using quantum mnemonics would be capable or a "technological singularity event", allowing that race to shape the laws of the universe to its own ends. They work by triggering a predetermined mathematical formula which must be understood by the user for the mnemonic to work. This formula rewrites the local laws of space and time, but in doing so creates a singularity - a hole in the fabric of time and space. Most singularities created by this process evaporate quickly as their information is synthesized into a new form by the controlling mind (hence the term psychosynthesis).

Quantum Mnemonics in role-playing

Game Mechanics

OGL	FASA	Time Lord