Paradoxical Moment-of-Inertia Changes Due to Putative Super-Solids is a paper written by Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter and in the episode "The Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization", with Sheldon coming up with the idea and Leonard designing the experiment that proved the theory. A dispute between the two over who should take credit eventually causes a public rift between the two scientists during a seminar for presenting the paper.
Background
In "The Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization", Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper are invited to present the discoveries that they made in this paper. However, Sheldon threw out the invitations without Leonard's knowledge, causing the two to argue. For the paper, Sheldon came up with the idea and Leonard designed the experiment that proved the theory. However, Sheldon doesn't believe that the theory needed proving because people should just take his word for it. Leonard wants to go to the seminar and present the paper's finding, but Sheldon doesn't want him to and them forbids him from going.
In the end, Leonard decides to go without Sheldon, and Penny helps Leonard find something to wear for the presentation. Leonard says that there is no way to compromise with Sheldon because he's "bat-crap crazy". Penny tries to help to fix the argument, but couldn't after revealing to Sheldon that Leonard thinks Sheldon had a "lucky hunch" with this idea. As such, Leonard believes that he is the main body of the paper, causing Sheldon to tell Leonard to never to speak to him again. Sheldon later also attend the seminar, but in disguise so that he would not be noticed. Sheldon tells the audience how he was walking in a park and saw children on a Merry-Go-Round, which gave him the idea for the paper. Sheldon and Leonard get into a physical fight after Sheldon tried to (unrealistically) blow up Leonard's head. Howard videos the fight and puts it online and naming it "Physicists Gone Wild".
Trivia
- Sheldon and Leonard went alphabetically surnames on the paper.
- Leonard wears a reversible tie to the presentation
- Sheldon compares Leonard's and his fight to be bigger than Galileo and The Pope.
- Due to their fighting, Sheldon was consipated.
- Leonard wears a corduroy suit.
- Penny, Howard Wolowitz and Rajesh Koothrappali go with Leonard.
- There were about 20-25 people at the conference.
- Sheldon says he doesn't need validation from lesser minds than him.
- Leonard got his doctorate at 24.
- Leonard admits he's an egotist.
- The pair discovered a previously unknown state of pattern