"theoretical discovery" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
You can use it to refer to a discovery made through research or speculation, rather than through observation or experimentation. For example: "Albert Einstein's theories of relativity marked a major theoretical discovery in physics."
Their theoretical discovery, which came in 1973, concerned the strong force, or the "color force" as it is also called, the academy said.
This was a major theoretical discovery, which enabled Edison to devise a "pressure relay" using carbon rather than the usual magnets to vary and balance electric currents.
The official citation for Englert and Higgs read: "For the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the Atlas and CMS experiments at Cern's Large Hadron Collider".
Zobel used a design technique based on his theoretical discovery that the impedance looking into the end of a filter chain was practically the same (within the limits of component tolerances) as the theoretical impedance of an infinite chain after only a small number of sections had been added to the chain.
It was also an example of the "linear argument" in the history of science that was expounded by Vannevar Bush, James Conant and other academics who were involved in World War II's scientific endeavors and wanted to encourage continued government funding of pure research: The theoretical discoveries of pure science would lead to applied science breakthroughs and new technological inventions.
Theoretical discoveries by Moon et al. (2007), optimal angle should lie between 35° and 90°.
See Goodnight and Stevens (1997) for an excellent summary of the empirical and theoretical discoveries enabled by Wright-style group selection models.
Crystallization has long been considered an art rather than a science, although recent theoretical discoveries and new analytical techniques have produced a change in this historic position.
Here, we revisit salient examples of these cutting-edge theoretical discoveries regarding SMA deformation along with discussions on pertinent experimental evidences.
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Physicists Francois Englert of Belgium and Peter Higgs of Britain won the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for their theoretical discoveries on how subatomic particles acquire mass.
GamePros Dan Morris said "As the single-player campaign builds to its final showdown, the ramifications of the final theoretical discoveries elevate Alpha Centauri from great strategy game to science-fiction epic".
