Admin said:. Riddle me this. The extra dimensions of string theory are themselves supposed to be very very small. But this means those dimensions also have a size relative to the three ordinary spatial dimensions. Not sure that makes a lot of sense, given the definition of "dimension". Time is a dimension and time does not have any "spatial size".
That's what dimension means, a fundamental way of measuring some aspect of existence. But if that measurement itself has a spatial measurement, how fundamental is that. The other problem with string theory is that it strikes me as basically unverifiable.
Not to say that it violates Occam's razor big time. Plus there doesn't seem to have been a whole lot of progress in this area in the last couple of decades. A lot of highly ingenious mathematical thinking has obviously gone into the whole theory and I think this is a lot of its attraction. Einstein's General Relativity made specific, testable these days predictions.
And so far General Relativity has proven correct every time. None of the new theories can or have been confirmed through experimentation or observation. It's all math at this point, speculation. I don't even know the data being used to justify a theory to explain it.
I understand the goal is to unify General Relativity with Quantum Mechanics in a grand theory of everything but the Quantum side has not progressed vey much at all so far. Considering that the Universe as we know it represents only one living entity, there are probably many billions of other Universes that are unknown to us. Of course our Universe is in contact with them just like we are in contact with other people. We are each a "universe" unto ourselves.
So there are parts to this that I don't agree with. First, the statement that we would've noticed extra dimensions by now if they existed. I'm not sure that's true - after all, the ancient Greeks thought the same thing about stellar parallax they thought that they'd have seen it if it was there, so the Earth had to be the center of the universe.
We see the universe in a very specific way because we have a subjective view of space and time. We can't even visualize how to put a fourth axis on a standard Cartesian grid, so how would we even know what we are looking for when it comes to extra dimensions, and how could we be sure we'd recognize it if we saw it?
Second, the bit about the extra dimensions being very small seems like an unnecessary extra complication. Why would these extra dimensions be so tiny while x,y,z and t are not?
Yes, the math works out if you do this, but that could just as easily be a red herring. Physical evidence is very much needed. Their atheistic religion is looking like a Hale-Bopp justification of foolishness. For additional information, here's an article on Universe Today about parallel universes , and another on a parallel universe scientists thought they found that doesn't actually exist.
There are also some other great resources online. There is a great video that explains the ten dimensions in detail. It has a great page on the ten dimensions. You can also listen to Astronomy Cast. Explore further. More from Other Physics Topics. Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page.
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Share Twit Share Email. Home Physics General Physics. Superstring theory posits that the universe exists in 10 dimensions at once. Credit: National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli. The timeline of the universe, beginning with the Big Bang. According to String Theory, this is just one of many possible worlds.
Credit: NASA. Credit: A Hanson. Provided by Universe Today. This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only. Synthesizing nanomaterials from nature's blueprints 12 hours ago.
Relevant PhysicsForums posts Why can't gravity be just a form of magnetic attraction? Simple Acoustics Question -- Which neighbor hears the other better? No analogy comparing unobservable dimensions to objects in the observable world can ever be perfect, but this illustrates how something so fundamental to reality could be hiding in plain sight.
String theory states there must be at least 10 dimensions of space plus one dimension for time, but there are physicists who argue that there are more. Some posit a universe composed of 11 space dimensions. But to really blow someone's mind when they ask how many dimensions there are, say That's the magic number according to Bosonic string theory , and it's as high as mainstream physicists are willing to go for the time being.
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