Our Universe may have a fifth dimension that would change everything we know about physics
All sci-fi lovers, you will be very interested to read this article because sci-fi movies and shows are all about imaginary dimensions and alternate realities which we all think could be true and a better version of us may exist somewhere.
In our life – we have known about 3 – dimensions of space but according to Albert Einstein as he portrays in his Special Theory of Relativity that space is closely connected to time through the speed of light – this pretty much explains that we live in four dimensions of space-time.
Before we jump to the 4th and 5th dimensions let’s be clear about our 3 dimensions.
The 2 dimensions are the space – that is east, west, north, south and the 3rd dimension is the time which is the past and the future.
The first theory about the 4th dimension was proposed by Oskar Klein and Theodor Kaluza in the 1920s. It was inspired by Einstein’s theory of gravity. The dimension showed mas warped in four-dimensional space-time. Remember the last few scenes of Interstellar? Yes, that was the 4th dimension when Cooper sent messages through the Tessaract.
Kaluza and Klein’s 5th-dimensional theory was contradicted when 2 fundamental forces came into the picture – strong and weak nuclear forces. However, the idea of extra dimensions was yet again revitalized half a century later by ‘string theory, according to this the Universe is not made of particles but tiny ‘strings’ of mass energy.
The 4 forces make the strings vibrate in 10-dimensional space-time with 6 other dimensions rolled on it that is much smaller than an atom.
The string theory gave a lot of explanations about why gravity is so weak than other fundamental forces. An extra 5th dimension may also explain one of the most intriguing cosmic mysteries – the dark matter!
For more breaking news, click here.