Tractism

Tractism is an artificial force that is carried by tracton particles. This force can be generated to push or pull on any object made of matter, in a similar manner to Gravity or Electromagnetism. Unlike Electromagnetism, however, it does not require the material to be magnetic, and unlike Gravity, it does not require enormous quantities of mass to be generated.

Thus, tractism can be used to create various types of "antigravitational" technology, including repulsorlifts, gravity generators, tractor beams, momentum compensators as well as cranes and similar mass-moving systems.

Function
Tractism can be either positive or negative, with positive tractism being an attractive force and negative tractism being a repulsive force. Negative tractism is especially useful for all manner of vehicles, aircraft and spacecraft, allowing them to travel without the need for wheels, wings or (in the case of spacecraft) rockets.

Tractism requires energy to be generated, but very little energy is needed to maintain the tracton field. Therefore, vehicles using tractism can remain hovering above the ground for long periods of time while consuming little power. Transporting a spacecraft from a planet's surface into orbit using tracton beams costs orders of magnitude less money and energy than using rockets.

Tractism is limited to interactions between matter. Tractism is useless if there is nothing for it to push against. Pushing against the Higgs Field requires Telism. Antitracton fields can interfere with Tractism, and thus can prevent the use of repulsorlift vehicles within them. Military operations can take advantage of such energy fields, preventing Tractism-based vehicles from being used and forcing opponents to use wheeled vehicles and winged aircraft instead.

Generation
Tractism requires nuclear tori to be generated. Such porous nuclei typically have an atomic mass of over 1000, and thus require Ligism to remain stable. Electrons (among other particles) driven through the tori can generate tractons. Whether Tractism is positive or negative depended on the type of torus material used, among other factors.