.
Dimension 7-
When I mentioned the 4th dimension in the last post, I explained how you could connect the universe in one state to the universe in another state using a 4-dimensional line. I used the example of you now and you one minute ago, but in the biggest picture you could think of that line beginning at the big bang (assuming that's how the universe began) and ending with one of the possible endings to our universe (whether that be the big crunch, or just whatever).
Remembering that a point in the 4th dimension is the universe in a particular state (which encapsulates the entirety of the first 3 dimensions), a point in the 7th dimension then would encapsulate the entirety of the 3 dimensions below it. If you're following correctly (and I'm explaining well enough), then you understand that this means that everything that could, did, or will ever happen in the universe is contained in a point in the 7th dimension.
Dimension 8-
When we look at a point in the 7th dimension (which encapsulates everything that could or will have occured in the universe) we're only looking at part of the picture. And I know what you're thinking: How can there be anything else? Well, we're only looking at one scenario.
We have to be thinking about other scenarios where the initial conditions are not the same as in our universe (meaning the universe began differently than it did for ours), possibly resulting in different physical laws (where, for example, atoms could be unstable).** So to enter the 8th dimension we have to first imagine a 7-dimensional line, and a line, remember, needs at least 2 points. this means we first need a second point which I just explained would be a universe in which the initial conditions were different. Now we have a 7-dimensional line. For the 8th dimension then (like the 2nd dimension) we simply need a 3rd point in which we can draw a line branching off of the first and connecting it with. So, we've now entered the 8th dimension.
**Just something I'd like to note: Some physicists, when thinking of different initial conditions, automatically think of other (parallel) universes. I, personally, do not see this as being necessary. However, I'm not a certified physicist.
Dimension 9-
Just as the 3rd dimension was used to "teleport" from one 2D location to another, and the 6th dimension was used to travel from one 5D line to another, the 9th dimension would be used to travel from one 8D line to another. This means that you'd be traveling to a universe (again, look at the ** above) with a different set of initial conditions.
And finally, Dimension 10-
In the 4th dimension we considered the entirety of 3D space in a particular state as a single point in the 4th dimension, and in the 7th dimension we considered every possible branch of every possible timeline in a universe as a single point in the 7th dimension. The 10th dimension, too, is a point which encapsulates the 3 dimensions below it. In other words, a point in the 10th dimension includes all of the possible branches of all the possible timelines of all the possible universes.
If were going to continue the cycle, though, then we'd have to imagine a second 10-dimensional point in which to make a line. But this is where it all ends; there's no place else to go. Once we've imagined all of the possible timelines of all the possible universes as a single point in the 10th dimension we've gone as far as we can. There's nothing else to consider.
There is, however, something to discuss. Physicists tell us that in the 10th dimension are, possibly, an infinite number of super strings, which are microscopic (VERY microscopic, approximately 2 octillion times smaller than an atom) 1-dimensional "strings" of energy. These strings could be the most fundamental parts of our universe, meaning they, instead of atoms, could be the REAL building blocks of matter. I'd go into it here but it is a subject for another post (and even that would be tough to do). If you just can't wait for another time though, click the link I've provided at the end of this post.
Well, it's been an exciting journey through the 10 dimensions of our universe. Even though it's all currently just theory, physicists really are entertaining these ideas, and they really could have credibility in explaining the reality of our world. Thanks for reading! I'd appreciate some comments...good or bad!
Some sources: Michio Kaku, Lisa Randall, Rob Bryanton, Brian Greene
Google: String Theory
When I mentioned the 4th dimension in the last post, I explained how you could connect the universe in one state to the universe in another state using a 4-dimensional line. I used the example of you now and you one minute ago, but in the biggest picture you could think of that line beginning at the big bang (assuming that's how the universe began) and ending with one of the possible endings to our universe (whether that be the big crunch, or just whatever).
Remembering that a point in the 4th dimension is the universe in a particular state (which encapsulates the entirety of the first 3 dimensions), a point in the 7th dimension then would encapsulate the entirety of the 3 dimensions below it. If you're following correctly (and I'm explaining well enough), then you understand that this means that everything that could, did, or will ever happen in the universe is contained in a point in the 7th dimension.
Dimension 8-
When we look at a point in the 7th dimension (which encapsulates everything that could or will have occured in the universe) we're only looking at part of the picture. And I know what you're thinking: How can there be anything else? Well, we're only looking at one scenario.
We have to be thinking about other scenarios where the initial conditions are not the same as in our universe (meaning the universe began differently than it did for ours), possibly resulting in different physical laws (where, for example, atoms could be unstable).** So to enter the 8th dimension we have to first imagine a 7-dimensional line, and a line, remember, needs at least 2 points. this means we first need a second point which I just explained would be a universe in which the initial conditions were different. Now we have a 7-dimensional line. For the 8th dimension then (like the 2nd dimension) we simply need a 3rd point in which we can draw a line branching off of the first and connecting it with. So, we've now entered the 8th dimension.
**Just something I'd like to note: Some physicists, when thinking of different initial conditions, automatically think of other (parallel) universes. I, personally, do not see this as being necessary. However, I'm not a certified physicist.
Dimension 9-
Just as the 3rd dimension was used to "teleport" from one 2D location to another, and the 6th dimension was used to travel from one 5D line to another, the 9th dimension would be used to travel from one 8D line to another. This means that you'd be traveling to a universe (again, look at the ** above) with a different set of initial conditions.
And finally, Dimension 10-
In the 4th dimension we considered the entirety of 3D space in a particular state as a single point in the 4th dimension, and in the 7th dimension we considered every possible branch of every possible timeline in a universe as a single point in the 7th dimension. The 10th dimension, too, is a point which encapsulates the 3 dimensions below it. In other words, a point in the 10th dimension includes all of the possible branches of all the possible timelines of all the possible universes.
If were going to continue the cycle, though, then we'd have to imagine a second 10-dimensional point in which to make a line. But this is where it all ends; there's no place else to go. Once we've imagined all of the possible timelines of all the possible universes as a single point in the 10th dimension we've gone as far as we can. There's nothing else to consider.
There is, however, something to discuss. Physicists tell us that in the 10th dimension are, possibly, an infinite number of super strings, which are microscopic (VERY microscopic, approximately 2 octillion times smaller than an atom) 1-dimensional "strings" of energy. These strings could be the most fundamental parts of our universe, meaning they, instead of atoms, could be the REAL building blocks of matter. I'd go into it here but it is a subject for another post (and even that would be tough to do). If you just can't wait for another time though, click the link I've provided at the end of this post.
Well, it's been an exciting journey through the 10 dimensions of our universe. Even though it's all currently just theory, physicists really are entertaining these ideas, and they really could have credibility in explaining the reality of our world. Thanks for reading! I'd appreciate some comments...good or bad!
Some sources: Michio Kaku, Lisa Randall, Rob Bryanton, Brian Greene
Google: String Theory
Dimension 4-Let's recap. Dimension zero was a point, 1 was a line, 2 was a branch, and 3 was a fold. This pattern, as you will see, actually repeats itself. To describe the first 3 dimensions, we use the words "length," "width," and "depth." What word, then, can we use to describe the 4th dimension? One word would be "duration." If you think about yourself one minute ago, and then think about yourself now, we could draw a line connecting the one minute ago version to the right now version with a line in the 4th dimension. This line is often called "time."
Let's think about those 2-dimensional creatures again. Because they are only 2-dimensional, they are limited to 2 dimensions in sight as well. If a 3D object passed through their 2D world, they would see 2-dimensional cross sections as the object passed through. Think of an orange passing through their world. They would see a small, orange circle begin to form, grow into a larger circle, and then shrink again until the orange went all the way through. Here's a visual:
We can apply this same principal to ourselves concerning the 4th dimension. If you could see your body in the 4th dimension, you'd be like a long wavy snake. You'd see your embryonic self at one end, and your deceased self at the other. Just like that 2D creature, though, who can only see 2-dimensional cross sections of that 3-dimensional orange, we, as 3D creatures, can only see 3-dimensional cross sections of our 4-dimensional self (this is also known as "aging"). If you look at yourself right this second, you're only see a cross-section...not the whole 4-dimensional you. Freaky huh?
Dimension 5-
In the last post, I noted that when we move down here in the lower dimensions, we are unaware of our movement in the dimensions above. Time, a line in the 4th dimension, feels like a straight line to us; we're moving from the past to the future. However, that is only an illusion. Once again, like that 2D creature twisting around in 3 dimensions on that Mobius strip, the 4th dimensional line on which we are traveling is actually twisting around in the 5th dimension.
At any given moment, an almost infinite amount of lines are branching off of that 4D line. These branches are paths that we could take. For you right now, one branch involves you still reading this, another involves you taking a bathroom break, and yet another involves you completely stopping reading this and going to watch TV. Those different branches are there due to your own choice, chance, and the actions of others. Quantum physicists tell us that simply by the act of observation we are collapsing waves of probability, and these collapses result in the subatomic particles that make up our world.
So, you can start to see how we, at every moment in our lives, are collapsing the amount of probable futures (lowering the number of branches) on our personal 4D lines we're experiencing as time.
Dimension 6-Ok, so you're beginning to notice the pattern; line, branch, fold. For the first dimension we had a line. We entered the 2nd dimension by adding another line that branched off of the first, and then folded those two branches together to enter the 3rd dimension. We have the same thing here: In the 4th dimension we had a line, and from that line at any given moment were a myriad of lines branching off of it. So, logicially, next would be another fold.
Let's say you wanted to go back and visit yourself as a kid. You can imagine folding the 4th dimension through the 5th, jumping back through time and space to get there. But let's say that you wanted to get to the world where you were famous and rich. There'd be no way to go through time from your current position and end up in that world. There are only two ways to get there.
The first option would be to travel back in time to when you were a kid, somehow trigger the events that'll make you famous and rich, and then travel forward in time to see one of the possible new futures you have just created for yourself. Believe it or not though, this would be taking the long way. The shorter way would be to fold the 5th dimension through the 6th which would allow you to instantly jump to another 5th dimensional line.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Tomorrow, the final four dimensions (7, 8, 9, and 10)!
Some sources:
Michio Kaku, Lisa Randall, Rob Bryanton, Brian Greene.
Let's think about those 2-dimensional creatures again. Because they are only 2-dimensional, they are limited to 2 dimensions in sight as well. If a 3D object passed through their 2D world, they would see 2-dimensional cross sections as the object passed through. Think of an orange passing through their world. They would see a small, orange circle begin to form, grow into a larger circle, and then shrink again until the orange went all the way through. Here's a visual:
We can apply this same principal to ourselves concerning the 4th dimension. If you could see your body in the 4th dimension, you'd be like a long wavy snake. You'd see your embryonic self at one end, and your deceased self at the other. Just like that 2D creature, though, who can only see 2-dimensional cross sections of that 3-dimensional orange, we, as 3D creatures, can only see 3-dimensional cross sections of our 4-dimensional self (this is also known as "aging"). If you look at yourself right this second, you're only see a cross-section...not the whole 4-dimensional you. Freaky huh?
Dimension 5-
In the last post, I noted that when we move down here in the lower dimensions, we are unaware of our movement in the dimensions above. Time, a line in the 4th dimension, feels like a straight line to us; we're moving from the past to the future. However, that is only an illusion. Once again, like that 2D creature twisting around in 3 dimensions on that Mobius strip, the 4th dimensional line on which we are traveling is actually twisting around in the 5th dimension.
At any given moment, an almost infinite amount of lines are branching off of that 4D line. These branches are paths that we could take. For you right now, one branch involves you still reading this, another involves you taking a bathroom break, and yet another involves you completely stopping reading this and going to watch TV. Those different branches are there due to your own choice, chance, and the actions of others. Quantum physicists tell us that simply by the act of observation we are collapsing waves of probability, and these collapses result in the subatomic particles that make up our world.
So, you can start to see how we, at every moment in our lives, are collapsing the amount of probable futures (lowering the number of branches) on our personal 4D lines we're experiencing as time.
Dimension 6-Ok, so you're beginning to notice the pattern; line, branch, fold. For the first dimension we had a line. We entered the 2nd dimension by adding another line that branched off of the first, and then folded those two branches together to enter the 3rd dimension. We have the same thing here: In the 4th dimension we had a line, and from that line at any given moment were a myriad of lines branching off of it. So, logicially, next would be another fold.
Let's say you wanted to go back and visit yourself as a kid. You can imagine folding the 4th dimension through the 5th, jumping back through time and space to get there. But let's say that you wanted to get to the world where you were famous and rich. There'd be no way to go through time from your current position and end up in that world. There are only two ways to get there.
The first option would be to travel back in time to when you were a kid, somehow trigger the events that'll make you famous and rich, and then travel forward in time to see one of the possible new futures you have just created for yourself. Believe it or not though, this would be taking the long way. The shorter way would be to fold the 5th dimension through the 6th which would allow you to instantly jump to another 5th dimensional line.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Tomorrow, the final four dimensions (7, 8, 9, and 10)!
Some sources:
Michio Kaku, Lisa Randall, Rob Bryanton, Brian Greene.
I have a treat for you all this time. I'm assuming that if you're reading this post you know little or nothing about modern-day physics and the "out there" ideas physicists are actually entertaining. This post is specifically about extra dimensions. Many physicists tell us that there are, in all, 10 dimensions. (Yes, you read that right, 10...ten...9+2-1.)
What's a dimension? It's a degree of freedom. In other words, a dimension is room in which you can move. The 3 dimensions we experience ever day of our lives (and the first 3) are up-down, left-right, forward-back. Those are the only directions in which you can move.
Let me rephrase: Those are the only directions in which you can sense that you're moving. To make sense of this idea, I'm going to start with dimension zero and work my way up to the 10th. This will allow your mind to better imagine higher dimensions. So....here wo go!:
Dimension zero-I'll start with a point. A point is just that, a point. You know it from geometry as a position in a system. A point is of indeterminate size; it has no length, width, or depth.
Dimension one-
A line is made by connecting two points. A line is a 1-dimensional object, it has no width or depth.
Dimension two-
If we draw a second line over the first, we enter the 2nd dimension. Our object now has length and width. It'll be more convenient for us, though, when talking about higher dimensions if we enter the second dimension by drawing a line that branches off from the first one. So now we have a shape that looks like a "y."
Now let's imagine a race of 2-dimensional creatures. A 2-dimensional creature would only have length and width; no depth. So think about them this way: these creatures couldn't possibly have a digestive tract because the pipe from their mouth to their bottom would divide them into two pieces.
The amazing thing about dimensions being stacked on one another is that when we move down here in the lower dimensions we are unaware of our movement in the dimensions above. Think about it this way. If you take a Mobius strip (take a strip of paper, give it one twist and tape the ends together) and draw a line down the middle of it you will, somehow amazingly, end up at the beginning of the line you started. This means that a Mobius strip must be a representation of a 2-dimensional object.
Now, let's think of our 2-dimensional creature traveling down the line we just drew. You can imagine that right? The Mobius strip involved taking a strip of paper and giving it a twist. This creature, when traveling down the line, would be unknowingly moving with this twist around the paper until it ended up where it began. You could also think of this by imagining a human circumnavigating the world. To the human, it would seem he was moving in a straight line, but he is actually following the curve of the earth all the way around until he ended up when he started.
Dimension 3-
The 3rd dimension is the easiest for us to imagine because we experience it every day of our lives. We can move in those 3 directions I mentioned in the intro. It'll be easier for us to think of higher dimensions though if we think of the 3rd dimension in this way: the 3rd dimension is what you fold through to jump from one place to another in a 2-dimensional world. Let me give you an example. Think of an ant walking on a flat (2-dimensional) newspaper. If we fold the paper in the middle, it'll bring both ends of the paper together. The ant, that was on one of the edges, can now instantaneously jump from its current position on one edge to the other edge without having to travel across the whole length of the paper. Here's a visual:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I'm going to stop here for now. I'll continue further with the next 3 dimensions (4, 5, and 6) in the next post (probably 2/18). If I didn't, this would be one hell of a long post. I hope to see you here tomorrow! Interesting topic isn't it?!
Some sources:
Michio Kaku, Lisa Randall, Rob Bryanton, Brian Greene.
What's a dimension? It's a degree of freedom. In other words, a dimension is room in which you can move. The 3 dimensions we experience ever day of our lives (and the first 3) are up-down, left-right, forward-back. Those are the only directions in which you can move.
Let me rephrase: Those are the only directions in which you can sense that you're moving. To make sense of this idea, I'm going to start with dimension zero and work my way up to the 10th. This will allow your mind to better imagine higher dimensions. So....here wo go!:
Dimension zero-I'll start with a point. A point is just that, a point. You know it from geometry as a position in a system. A point is of indeterminate size; it has no length, width, or depth.
Dimension one-
A line is made by connecting two points. A line is a 1-dimensional object, it has no width or depth.
Dimension two-
If we draw a second line over the first, we enter the 2nd dimension. Our object now has length and width. It'll be more convenient for us, though, when talking about higher dimensions if we enter the second dimension by drawing a line that branches off from the first one. So now we have a shape that looks like a "y."
Now let's imagine a race of 2-dimensional creatures. A 2-dimensional creature would only have length and width; no depth. So think about them this way: these creatures couldn't possibly have a digestive tract because the pipe from their mouth to their bottom would divide them into two pieces.
The amazing thing about dimensions being stacked on one another is that when we move down here in the lower dimensions we are unaware of our movement in the dimensions above. Think about it this way. If you take a Mobius strip (take a strip of paper, give it one twist and tape the ends together) and draw a line down the middle of it you will, somehow amazingly, end up at the beginning of the line you started. This means that a Mobius strip must be a representation of a 2-dimensional object.
Now, let's think of our 2-dimensional creature traveling down the line we just drew. You can imagine that right? The Mobius strip involved taking a strip of paper and giving it a twist. This creature, when traveling down the line, would be unknowingly moving with this twist around the paper until it ended up where it began. You could also think of this by imagining a human circumnavigating the world. To the human, it would seem he was moving in a straight line, but he is actually following the curve of the earth all the way around until he ended up when he started.
Dimension 3-
The 3rd dimension is the easiest for us to imagine because we experience it every day of our lives. We can move in those 3 directions I mentioned in the intro. It'll be easier for us to think of higher dimensions though if we think of the 3rd dimension in this way: the 3rd dimension is what you fold through to jump from one place to another in a 2-dimensional world. Let me give you an example. Think of an ant walking on a flat (2-dimensional) newspaper. If we fold the paper in the middle, it'll bring both ends of the paper together. The ant, that was on one of the edges, can now instantaneously jump from its current position on one edge to the other edge without having to travel across the whole length of the paper. Here's a visual:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I'm going to stop here for now. I'll continue further with the next 3 dimensions (4, 5, and 6) in the next post (probably 2/18). If I didn't, this would be one hell of a long post. I hope to see you here tomorrow! Interesting topic isn't it?!
Some sources:
Michio Kaku, Lisa Randall, Rob Bryanton, Brian Greene.
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