Well, here it is, such as it is. I decided to do this
in FAQ format after all. Please C&C with technical
points, formatting points, additional questions, etc.

Thanks,
Brian W.

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AA! MEGAMI-SAMA / AH! MY GODDESS / OH MY GODDESS!
                  TECHNICAL FAQ
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          Version 0.1: January 31, 2002

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. HOW DOES THE AMG UNIVERSE WORK?

2. WHERE IS HEAVEN?

3. WHAT IS THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE GODDESSES?

4. HOW POWERFUL ARE THE GODDESSES?

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1.  HOW DOES THE AMG UNIVERSE WORK?

Despite what one might assume from the light-hearted
tone of "Oh My Goddess!" and its roots in Norse
mythology, the AMG universe is in fact based upon the
same laws of physics and works in the same ways as our
own universe. Things like string theory and black
holes, and names like Maxwell and Schrodinger are
encountered throughout the manga. Besides liking
motorcycles, it seems Fujishima also has a thing for
hard physics.

To understand how the goddesses do things in AMG, you
have to understand what the superstring is and how it
works. During the Terrible Master Urd story arc, we
encounter the "universal superstring."  We are told
that if the superstring is cut, the universe will
cease to exist.  So, what is the superstring and why
is it so important to the existance of the universe?

According to string theory, the universe is made up of
lots and lots of tiny loops of string with radii of
approximately the Planck length (approx. 10e-33 cm). 
In fact, there is one string for each elementary
particle in the universe, so there are zillions of
them.  By the way, string theory was developed as a
way to explain some strange observed behaviors in
quantum mechanics (the study of how really tiny things
like electrons interact with other tiny things).  

Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman put a
twist on string theory by supposing that, instead of
zillions of individual loops of string, there might be
only ONE loop of string which, like the electron beam
drawing an entire image on a TV screen, would become,
sequentially, every particle in the universe. Of
course, such a string would have to move, as someone
once said, at a god-like (pun intended) rate of speed.
Also, since the superstring is, in fact, the entire
universe, if it were cut... you understand the
problem.

If this is confusing, then picture the universe as
being the image on a TV screen. The universe is not
the screen itself, but the image (picture) being
presented.  Now, in a standard CRT that picture is
made up of little red, green, and blue dots
(phosphors) which are lit up by a stream of electrons
from an electron gun located at the back of the TV's
picture tube. In our example the universe is the
image, and the superstring is the stream of electrons
which light the phosphors to create the image. Now, if
you can control the electron stream, then you can make
the image look like anything you want. That's what
Yggdrasil does. It controls the superstring by
changing the data the superstring uses to tell itself
how to create the universe, just like the video signal
coming into your TV tells the electron beam what
picture to paint on the screen. Therefore, everything
which exists in the universe can be affected by
Yggdrasil. In fact, problems in Yggdrasil can be
reflected as problems in this universe, things such as
unexplained earthquakes, etc.

Needless to say, if you were to "cut" the universal
superstring, the universe would cease to exist, just
as the image on a TV ceases to exist when you cut the
electron beam (turn off the TV). Unless, of course,
you had this wonderful computer system which could
both emulate and repair the superstring. This is what
happened in the manga, of course.  Note, however, that
when the superstring was cut in Terrible Master Urd,
it took all of Yggdrasil's processing power to emulate
and reconstruct the superstring. For all intents and
purposes, Yggdrasil was down for an extended period of
time (the moonrock bracelet chapters) while this
emulation and reconstruction took place.

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2.  WHERE IS HEAVEN?

Heaven and its inhabitants exist completely outside of
this universe and all associated parallel and pocket
universes.  We know this for two reasons. 

1. Yggdrasil was able to emulate the superstring after
the superstring was cut during Terrible Master Urd.
Because the supersting IS everything in the universe,
Yggdrasil could not have emulated the superstring if
Yggdrasil was in any way a part of our universe. Since
Yggdrasil is located in Heaven, then Heaven is also
completely separate from our universe.

Confused? Let's go back to the TV analogy. Yggdrasil
is like the TV station, VCR, or DVD player providing
the signal for your TV. If the electron beam
(superstring) were cut, that would of course not
affect the TV station, VCR, or DVD player (Yggdrasil)
because they aren't a part of the image (universe) on
the TV screen. Of course, Yggdrasil is much more
powerful than your ordinary TV station, VCR or DVD
player because it was able to emulate the electron
beam and keep the image alive on the screen. 

2. According to string theory our universe is 10
dimensional. However, looking around at our universe
we only see 4 dimensions; length, width, height and
time. Somehow, when our universe formed the other 6
dimensions never expanded along with the 4 we can see.
You might think of them as still being tied up in a
very tiny knot. They're still there, just too small to
see. However, since Yggdrasil was able to emulate and
reconstruct the 10 dimensional superstring, it must be
at least 10 dimensional itself.  Therefore, since
Yggdrasil is in Heaven and Yggdrasil must be operating
in at least 10 dimensional space, Heaven must exist in
at least 10 dimensional space. In other words, all 10
(or more) dimensions have expanded to fill Heaven's
universe. Therefore, Heaven's universe can't be our
own universe or any related parallel or pocket
universe (in all of which only 4 dimensions are
expanded).  Heaven is a very different place from our
own universe. 

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3.  WHAT IS THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE GODDESSES?

Heaven and its inhabitants are at least 10 dimensional
entities, in other words able to perceive and function
in 10 dimensional space. We know this because:

1. Belldandy explains in the manga, shortly after
Skuld arrives, that the 3 dimensional forms of the
goddesses which we see are not their true forms and
must be constantly regenerated or else they will fade
from 3 dimensional space and we will no longer be able
to detect them. They will still be there, just not in
a form we can detect from 3 dimensional space. 

2. Yggdrasil and Heaven exist in a (at least) 10
dimensional space.  Since the goddesses are from
Heaven, they  must also be at least 10 dimensional
entities.

So what does this mean for our goddesses? Well, it
means that very little in 3 dimensional space will
have a significant effect on them or any other
heavenly being. Things which do affect them are
usually unexpected. Urd falls asleep when she hears
Austrian polkas (in the original manga, it's a
similarly stolid Japanese musical form), Belldandy
gets drunk from cola, etc. Things which we would
expect to cause problems such as poisons don't seem to
affect them (if you accept the Mini Goddess comic
strips as canon, anyway). From some of Urd's comments
on potions, it's plain that divine beings and humans
react very differently to various substances.

So, how does Belldandy generate a 3 dimensional form
for Keiichi to hold hands with? She simply tells
Yggdrasil to tell the superstring to draw a 3
dimensional Belldandy in the temple holding hands with
Keiichi. Her true form is also presumably right there,
only imperceptible to Keiichi. Note that generating a
3 dimensional form is a subconscious function,
requiring little power, kind of like breathing is for
us. In other words, even Skuld could do it without
problems, even during the moonrock bracelet episodes.

Final Note: The demons in OMG have similar abilities
as the divine beings. Though they don't have a direct
link with Yggdrasil and they don't even seem to have a
direct link to Nidhog (the demon's computer system),
probably everything said here applies to them as well.


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4.  HOW POWERFUL ARE THE GODDESSES?

First of all, AMG is all about relationships, about
love for each other despite the odds, about friends
and family. Even contemplating what it might take to
harm someone like Belldandy is distasteful to a true
AMG fan. However, this subject seems to come up
whenever fans of other series discover AMG so we'll
tackle it briefly here. The extra-dimensional nature
of the goddesses when in this universe combined with
Yggdrasil's control of the superstring puts our
favorite goddesses on a level that most of what passes
for deities in fiction, anime or otherwise, just can't
match. We'll use Belldandy as an example in this
section.

Consider when Mara attacks Belldandy. It doesn't look
like much to us, but remember that Belldandy's true
form is 10 dimensional. Therefore, Mara directs most
if not all of her attack into 10 dimensional space.
What Keiichi and we observe from 3 dimensional space
is just a shadow of the true attack. Of course,
deities and demons can destroy things in 3 dimensional
space as well, just as we can destroy a 2 dimensional
image.

However, can that 2 dimensional image do much to
affect us while we are looking at it from 3
dimensional space? Of course not. Likewise, there is
very little anyone attacking in 3 dimensional space
can do to significantly harm Belldandy. Even if her 3
dimensional form were destroyed, she would simply
regenerate it since she has to constantly do so
anyway. Of course, Belldandy isn't completely immune
to events in 3 dimensional space. Remember how she
gets drunk from cola? Little unexpected
vulnerabilities seem to be a part of goddesses and
demons alike.

We've seen how indestructible Belldandy is, so now
let's look at the other side of the coin. How powerful
are her attacks? Attacks come in basically 2 forms in
AMG. 

1. The first kind of attack is the raw power "blow
something up" attack, the kind of thing you find in
Dragonball. Remember that Belldandy's power is limited
by her limiter earring. Without her limiter she is
capable of Dragonball-like levels of destruction. With
it, she is much less powerful. 

2. The second kind of attack is the spell. While less
spectacular and requiring more time and effort on
Belldandy's part, it is virtually unstoppable by
anything in the universe. This is because spells in
AMG are actually programs running on Yggdrasil. When
she forms a spell, Belldandy is actually writing a
program on Yggdrasil. In fact, spells are often called
programs in AMG. Since Yggdrasil can change the
universe to look like or act like anything it wants,
nothing in this universe can resist one of Belldandy's
spells any more than the image on your TV screen can
resist when the video signal begins sending a new
scene. Let's consider an example. Belldandy is
confronted with a character who is capable of blowing
up the entire planet. Belldandy, of course, thinks
this would be a bad thing and tells Yggdrasil that the
character should become a turnip. Yggdrasil tells the
superstring, and voila! Instant turnip. Not a turnip
capable of destroying a planet (unless Belldandy
defined it as such), but a plain old, everyday turnip.
There is no possible defense to such an attack unless
the character can also control the superstring and
tell it that they are not, after all, a turnip. 

Given their (unsealed) raw power levels and ability to
re-define the universe at will, it is no wonder that
the behavior of both deities and demons is closely
regulated in AMG.