When I was a grad student, I'd get exactly the kind of inquiries you are talking about just because my email was on the website. Professors got even more. One e

When I was a grad student, I'd get exactly the kind of inquiries you are talking about just because my email was on the website. Professors got even more. One emeritus collected the most colorful work and stored it on a shelf in the institute's hallway and labeled it "black physics" [1]. These kind of requests have an extremely low signal to noise ratio (as in: I never heard once coming something out of this) and no one wastes their time with this. I also think it's basically impossible to contribute to my former field, theoretical physics, without a formal education. Sorry, I know it's not fair. If you're a just a curious layman with an honest question that doesn't imply you solved the world's most difficult problems, you may get a few pointers to ressources, but I wouldn't expect a research collaboration. [1] https://www.rnz.de/region/heidelberg_artikel,-Uni-Heidelberg-Warum-Weltformeln-und-wilde-Theorien-in-einem-Giftschrank-in-der-Theoretischen-Phys-_arid,479156.html https://www.rnz.de/region/heidelberg_artikel,-Uni-Heidelberg... (sadly paywalled now)