clifford_a-_pickover_surfing_through_hyperspacebookfi-org
clifford_a-_pickover_surfing_through_hyperspacebookfi-org
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14 <strong>surfing</strong> <strong>through</strong> hyperspace<br />
String theory may be more appropriate to departments of mathematics<br />
or even schools of divinity. How many angels can dance on the head of<br />
a pin? How many dimensions are there in a compacted manifold thirty<br />
powers often smaller than a pinhead? Will all the young Ph.D.s, after<br />
wasting years on string theory, be employable when the string snaps?<br />
—Sheldon Glashow, Science<br />
String theory is twenty-first century physics that fell accidentally into<br />
the twentieth century.<br />
—Edward Witten, Science<br />
Various modern theories of hyperspace suggest that dimensions exist beyond<br />
the commonly accepted dimensions of space and time. As alluded to previously,<br />
the entire universe may actually exist in a higher-dimensional space.<br />
This idea is not science fiction: in fact, hundreds of international physics conferences<br />
have been held to explore the consequences of higher dimensions.<br />
From an astrophysical perspective, some of the higher-dimensional theories<br />
go by such impressive sounding names as Kaluza-Klein theory and supergravity.<br />
In Kaluza-Klein theory, light is explained as vibrations in a higher spatial<br />
dimension. 2 Among the most recent formulations of these concepts is superstring<br />
theory that predicts a universe of ten dimensions—three dimensions of<br />
space, one dimension of time, and six more spatial dimensions. In many theories<br />
of hyperspace, the laws of nature become simpler and more elegant when<br />
expressed with these several extra spatial dimensions.<br />
The basic idea of string theory is that some of the most basic particles, like<br />
quarks and fermions (which include electrons, protons, and neutrons), can<br />
be modeled by inconceivably tiny, one-dimensional line segments, or strings.<br />
Initially, physicists assumed that the strings could be either open or closed<br />
into loops, like rubber bands. Now it seems that the most promising<br />
approach is to regard them as permanently closed. Although strings may<br />
seem to be mathematical abstractions, remember that atoms were once<br />
regarded as "unreal" mathematical abstractions that eventually became<br />
observables. Currently, strings are so tiny there is no way to "observe" them.<br />
Perhaps we will never be able to observe them. 3<br />
In some string theories, the loops of string move about in ordinary threespace,<br />
but they also vibrate in higher spatial dimensions perpendicular to our<br />
world. As a simple metaphor, think of a vibrating guitar string whose "notes"<br />
correspond to different "typical" particles such as quarks and electrons along