Attractor Field

An Attractor Field is a cluster of world lines that lead to a single converging point.

While each individual worldline, a strand of an attractor field, may have slight deviations in known details, they're ultimately part of the same great structure, or Attractor Field, and yield the same end result.

The divergence number of any given Worldline is a percentage that signifies its difference from any given neighbor. One would write the exact divergence that identifies a specific worldline with a percent sign (%). For example, writing the first Alpha worldline as 0.000000%. This value of any given worldline is known as the divergence number, which signifies its distance from its neighbors.

However, to better convey when worldlines are part of a specific Attractor Field, the lowercase or uppercase Greek symbol of the Attractor Field is usually used in place of the percent sign. For example, the first worldline in the Alpha Attractor Field is typically written as 0.000000α.

All Attractor Fields originated from some point the past, and eventually, they will all converge onto each other once more. Each Attractor Field shown in the Steins;Gate body of works is summarized here.

Alpha
The Alpha Attractor Field is made up of all worldlines ranging from 0.000000α to 0.999999α divergence.

On most iterations of worldlines of this Attractor Field, Dr. Nakabachi's conference at the Radio Building is cancelled due to a mysterious object crashing into the roof, causing panic throughout the city. Kurisu Makise holds a speech on the implausibility of a Time Machine in Nakabachi's place, and she eventually joins the Future Gadget Lab as a result of Okabe catching her interest. Further experimentation and the design of the PhoneWave leads to the Time Leap Machine, and the attempt by SERN to take control of the result and the people involved to further their own goals.

The closer the divergence number is to 0.000000α, the more quickly the final convergent result of the Alpha Attractor Field is achieved as the influence of the Attractor Field and its converging points is stronger.

The final convergent result of the Alpha Attractor Field is the completion of the SERN Time Machine and the enslavement of humanity in a Dystopia headed by the Committee of 300.

Beta
The Beta Attractor Field is made up of most worldlines ranging from 1.000000β to 1.999999β divergence, with known exceptions being "Steins Gate", which is divergence number 1.048596%, and 1.049326χ, a worldline part the Chi Attractor Field.

On most worldlines in the Beta Attractor Field, Dr. Nakabachi's conference at the Radio Building takes place as scheduled, with Rintaro Okabe attending. Shortly afterward, Kurisu Makise is found dead by Rintaro, and he in a state of shock sends a text message about it to his friend Daru, unknowingly beginning his journey throughout time.

The future after this timeframe on most worldlines is known for Nakabachi almost always stealing Kurisu's thesis and defecting to Russia, sparking an arms race to secure all known information on the late Kurisu as to successfully build a time machine.

Although SERN attempts to conquer the world in this Attractor Field like they do in a majority of the others, they will not succeed in completing their time machine in this Attractor Field due to the panic brought about by the arms race, as well as their unawareness of the Lab, and thus the PhoneWave, and Time Leap Machine.

The closer the divergence number is to 1.999999β, the more quickly the final convergent result of the Beta Attractor Field is achieved as the influence of the Attractor Field and its converging points is stronger.

The final convergent result of the Beta Attractor Field is World War III, fought over Kurisu's Amadeus data & time travel thesis.

Gamma
The Gamma Attractor Field is made up of all worldlines ranging from 2.000000γ to 2.999999γ divergence.

On worldlines of this Attractor Field, Urushibara Luka's mother when pregnant, circa 1992, receives strange messages to her pager with a future date, ultimately resulting in SERN's plan to control the world finding success much earlier in comparison to worldlines of the Alpha Attractor Field.

A notable difference in this Attractor Field is the fact that Rintaro Okabe and Mayuri Shiina are separated as childhood friends as a result of SERN likely causing the Y2K Crash to successfully happen in worldlines of this Attractor Field, which they succeed in due to information gathered from analyzing the future text messages. Okabe lives a ruthless dual-life in all known worldlines in the Gamma Attractor Field, with many known details from the Alpha or Beta Attractor Fields to be grimly twisted or reversed as a result of his 7-year separation from Mayuri.

The final convergent result of the Gamma Attractor Field is the completion of the SERN Time Machine and the enslavement of humanity in Dystopia headed by the Committee of 300; however, this time Okabe is working with SERN, and becomes a high-ranking member of the Committee of 300, ruling Japan as the dictator "Hououin Kyouma".

Delta
The Delta Attractor Field is made up of all Worldlines ranging from 3.000000δ to 3.999999δ divergence. The sorldlines of this Attractor Field are noted for their seeming peacefulness, with neither the threat of SERN nor World War III as a looming threat.

While the PhoneWave does exist much like as known in the Alpha Attractor Field, it is not central to the Future Gadget Lab's work in the worldlines of the Delta Attractor Field, and instead takes a backseat while they focus on the creation of more harmless Future Gadgets, such as "Darling, You Idiot!" and a dream reading device.

It should be noted that SERN's influence is incredibly weak when the divergence number is closer to 3.999999δ, with known pawns of SERN from the Alpha and Beta Attractor Fields becoming completely safe individuals in higher Delta divergences who live fulfilling lives as ordinary people. However, as the deviation on the Divergence Meter dips lower, the presence of SERN seems to grow stronger and known members are once again living a secret dual-life.

Epsilon
Not much is known about this Attractor Field.

Chi
The Chi Attractor Field is made up of one known worldline, 1.049326χ. This Attractor Field is a next door neighbor to "Steins Gate", and it is only possible to land on this Attractor Field if Okabe decides against undoing Luka's D-Mail and 3 extra days are spent on the Alpha Attractor Field. Notably, Luka will decide to time-leap, and eventually succeed in reversing the D-mail she sent herself.

The final convergent result, nor the future of the Chi Attractor Field is known. This worldline could potentially have a peaceful future since Okabe is brought to the hospital for a wound on August 21st 2010, much like in the "Steins Gate" worldline. He refuses to explain how he got the wound in this Attractor Field, however. This is purely speculation, as the presence of the Divergence Meter is ominous; it could imply that time travel and the existence of world lines will emerge in this Attractor Field, or else the Divergence Meter would likely cease to exist.

Omega


The Omega Attractor Field is made up of all worldlines ranging from -0.000000Ω to -0.999999Ω divergence. The starting number is negative, hence the lack of a starting number on the Divergence Meter. Official source material shows that the proper way to write Omega Worldlines is "-0", even though such a number doesn't actually eixst.

Little is known about the future of the worldlines in this Attractor Field. It is vastly different from the others in that Okabe does not start the Future Gadget Lab, nor does he know any of his friends except Faris. On -0.275349Ω, the only known worldline on the Omega Attractor Field from Okabe's perspective, he participates in "Rai-Net Access Battlers" tournaments with Faris and is her lover.

It can be assumed that SERN won't complete its time machine in worldlines of this Attractor Field, because the lab isn't together to create the Phone Microwave and subsequently the Time Leap Machine. This is purely speculations, as the presence of the Divergence Meter is ominous; it could imply that time travel and the existence of world lines will emerge in this Attractor Field, or else the Divergence Meter would likely cease to exist.

Steins Gate
The Steins Gate Worldline carries a divergence number of 1.048596%. As it is under the influence of both the Alpha and Beta Attractor Fields, it does not reach the final convergent result found in either field. Since this worldline doesn't converge upon the Committee of 300 and SERN's dystopia, nor World War 3, there was no need for Suzuha Amane to travel back to 2010 on this worldline.

This worldline is where the true ending of the main plot occurs, and it is dubbed as "Steins Gate" by Okabe. The main draw of this worldline is its unknown future—World War 3 over Kurisu's knowledge and SERN's dystopia are averted on it, as well as specific character deaths which were unavoidable on either the Alpha or Beta Worldlines encountered in the main story.

However, none of the aforementioned details guarantee that the future of the Steins Gate worldline is peaceful. The very presence of the Divergence Meter is ominous; it could imply that time travel and the existence of world lines will emerge in this Attractor Field, or else the Divergence Meter would likely cease to exist. As is demonstrated by the rest of the Science Adventure series, the Committee of 300 is still apt to carry out various other schemes in an attempt to gain control of the world on this worldline.

Trivia
In the anime Robotics;Notes the series starts by showing the numbers 1.048596, those of the Steins Gate Worldline, on the Divergence Meter.