Dimensions of Reality

Did you know there is a prevailing possibility that we may be zapped out of existence at any point in time? The fact that we won’t see this danger coming when it happens, makes it even more spine-chilling. Ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays are bashing into each other all the time around us. These have enough energy to create a tiny black hole, which would exist for a fraction of a second before disappearing. And this process is happening all the time, everywhere. Probably hundreds of such processes happened next to you while you read this sentence.

A black hole, as we know, is a region whose gravity is so strong that it pulls everything, including light. And nothing can escape a black hole, even light! So if such tiny black holes are forming everywhere, we should have been zapped out of existence a long time back. The reason this doesn’t happen or hasn’t happened yet is that such tiny black holes need to suck gravity when they are formed, to remain in existence. This process would effectively create an interdimensional space where the laws of physics are different than ours. If this space was large enough and had enough gravity, it would suck everything at the speed of light and destroy us even before we know what is happening. These tiny black holes do not form in the three dimensions we know i.e. length, breadth, and height. According to string theory, there are multiple dimensions – at least 10. If they did, we would have been able to detect it or sense it with our senses in the same manner as we perceive everything else. This implies that these tiny black holes exist in other dimensions. However, the only reason that the black holes haven’t been able to grow or sustain is that these higher dimensions are ultra-tiny (in the range of nanometers). So their gravity is way too small to change or affect anything in our world. Hence, our existence is proof that dimensions higher than three are smaller than microscopic. Otherwise, this process would have happened hundreds of times already. Let’s look at some basic questions that everyone has on dimensions.

What are dimensions really?

This concept of multiple dimensions is studied by string theory. The fans of the show The Big Bang Theory would immediately relate to this being the favorite subject of study for Sheldon Cooper. The world as we know it exists in three spatial dimensions – length, breadth, and height. Look at anything in front of you right now. It extends in three different directions. For understanding, you can do a small task. Stand at a fixed spot. Now walk front and back. You are walking in the first dimension. Next, walk left and right. This is the second dimension. Finally, jump up and down. This is the third dimension.

It is easy to relate when you watch a 3D movie. A normal movie is in 2D which you see on the screen. In 3D movies, they give you special glasses so the objects appear to come out of the screen, just like real life.

Other than spatial dimensions, there is a dimension of time. But string theory says that we have more dimensions apart from these. But they are so tiny (in the nanometer range) that we cannot sense, detect or perceive it.

How can we visualize the idea of dimensions higher than three?

As we live in a three-dimensional world, it can become difficult to visualize what the higher dimensions can possibly look like. But, the first step is to visualize the idea that dimensions higher than three can exist. Let’s see how it can be visualized. All you need is a flashlight, and a sheet of aluminum foil or a small ball.

Step 1: Take a flashlight and place it on a table such that a wall is illuminated. You can use your phone also as a flashlight.

Step 2: Now, crumble the aluminum foil to make a ball.

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Step 3: Hold the ball in front of the light. You will see a shadow on the wall in a circular shape.

Simple right? This circle on the wall has a length and breadth, but no height. We are not changing the actual size of the ball, but changing its position in one dimension is changing its shadow in the two other dimensions. This means by analogy that you move the ball in the third dimension, which is bringing about a change in the first two dimensions. If a creature did not know how to see the third dimension, it will be magic to them. Similarly, if a creature can perceive the fourth dimension and makes changes to it, we will see changes in three dimensions. In that case, we will see it as magic, but it’s just physical reality.

Does that mean we live in a multidimensional world?

The short answer is: We don’t know if we can call it that.

Long answer: The dimensions as we can sense and detect are just three. Just because we can’t detect the dimensions beyond this, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. The appropriate answer would be that we live in a multidimensional world where three of them are accessible to humans. String theory says we have 10 dimensions, M theory says we have 11 dimensions and the Bosonic string theory says we have 26 dimensions. There are more such theories like the F theory etc. that suggest higher dimensions. In short, we have many physical and mathematical studies to suggest that our world extends beyond the four known dimensions (three spatial + one time).

Now that we get the idea of multiple dimensions, it is time turn it up and make our way into the the higher dimensions! Wait for the next part. Coming soon…

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Cover image credit: Alexander Antropov from Pixabay