What’s your opinion on
String theory? Does this theory excite you? Mathematically, it seems perfect
and quite amazing. Few aspects about it propose not one but several diverse
dimensions, ones we’re not usually aware of, however we may be interacting with
some of them all the time, entirely oblivious. If these dimensions are to be
true, what would these dimensions look like and how might they affect us? And
what is a dimension anyway?
Two dimensions is just a
point. We may remember the coordinate plane from math class with the x and
y-axes. Then there’s the third dimension, depth (the z-axis).
Another way to look at it is
latitude, longitude, and altitude, which can locate any object on Earth. These
are followed by the fourth dimension, space-time. Everything has to occur
somewhere and at a certain time. After that, things get weird.
Superstring theory, one of
the leading theories today to explain the nature of our universe, contends that there are 10 dimensions. That’s
nine of space and one of time. Throughout the 20th century,
physicists erected a standard model of physics. It explains pretty well how
subatomic particles behave, along with the forces of the universe, such as
electromagnetism, the stronger and weaker nuclear forces, and gravity. But that
last one standard physics can’t account for.
Even so, this model has
allowed us the startling ability to peer back to the moments just after the Big
Bang took place. Before that, scientists believe that everything was
condensed into a single point of infinite density and temperature, known as the
singularity, which exploded, forming everything in the observable universe
today. But the problem is, we can’t peer back beyond that point. That’s where
string theory comes in. The innovations it provides can account for gravity and
help explain what existed before the Big Bang.
So what are these other
dimensions and how might we experience them? That’s a tricky question, but physicists
have some idea of what it might be like. Really, other dimensions are related to other
possibilities. How we interact with these is difficult to explain. At
the fifth dimension other possibilities for our world open up.
You’d be able to move
forward or backward in time, just as you can in space, say while walking down a
corridor. You’d also be able to see the similarities and differences between
the world we inhabit and other possible ones. In the sixth dimension, you’d
move along not a line but a plane of possibilities and be able to compare and
contrast them. In the fifth and sixth dimensions, no matter where in space you
inhabit, you’d witness every possible permutation of what can occur past,
present, and future.
In the seventh, eighth, and
ninth dimensions, the possibility of other universes open up, ones where the
very physical forces of nature change, places where gravity operates differently
and the speed of light is different. Just as in the fifth and sixth dimensions,
where all possible permutations in the universe are evident before you, in the
seventh dimension every possibility for these other universes, operating under
these new laws, becomes clear.
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In the higher dimensions, you’d witness every
possible world future, past, and present, simultaneously.
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In the eighth dimension, we
reach the plane of all possible histories and futures for each universe,
branching out into infinity. In the ninth dimension, all universal laws of
physics and the conditions in each universe become apparent. Finally, in the
tenth dimension, we reach the point where everything becomes possible and
imaginable.
For string theory to work,
six dimensions are required for it to operate in a manner that’s consistent
with nature. Since these other dimensions are on such a small scale, we’ll need
another way to find evidence of their existence. One way would be to peer into
the past using powerful telescopes which can hunt for light from billions of
years ago, when the universe was first born.
String theory has an answer
for what came before the Big Bang. The universe was made up of nine perfectly
symmetrical dimensions, the tenth being time.
Meanwhile, the four fundamental
forces were united at extremely high temperatures. The structure was under high
pressure. It soon became unstable and broke in two. This became two different
forms of time and led to the three dimensional universe we recognize today.
Meanwhile, those other six dimensions shrunk way down to the subatomic level.
As for gravity, string
theory contends that the basic units of the universe are strings— infinitesimally small, vibrating filaments of energy. They’re
so tiny, they’d be measured on the Planck scale—the smallest scale known to
physics.
Each string vibrates at a specific frequency and represents a certain
force.
Gravity and all the other forces are therefore a result of the
vibrations of specific strings.
One problem is that this
theory is hard to test, outside of advanced mathematical equations. Some
experiments have been done using supercomputers, which can run simulations and
make predictions.
That isn’t exactly enough to prove that it’s true, but it’s
helpful and lends support. Besides astronomical observations, physicists are
hopeful that experiments with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, on the
Franco-Swiss border, may offer evidence of extra dimensions, lending string
theory greater credence.
