Hyperspace

1. Hyperspace HYPERSPACE A presentation by Ivan Botev, Preslav Rachev and Tseno Stoyanov A presentation by Tseno Stoyanov Ivan Botev and Preslav Rachev

2. What is Hyperspace A hyperspace is a space with more than the "usual" 4 dimensions, that is 3 spatial dimensions and 1 time dimension (the 3 spatial and 1 time dimensions are collectively referred to as "spacetime"). Whether this actually exists or not is still a matter of debate. Conventional physical theories like general relativity, quantum mechanics and electrodynamics require only 4 dimensions. However, some of these theories are incompatible with each other in certain physical regimes: for instance, general relativity doesn't work very well at describing systems where quantum mechanics is important, and vice-versa. Many physicists are therefore trying to develop "unifying" theories, or theories that interpret the Universe at a more fundamental level than the ones we currently have do. Theories like quantum mechanics and general relatvity could then be "derived" from the same unified theory, resolving the compatibility issues. Many popular unifying theories operate in many-dimensional hyperspaces; a good example is string theory, which invokes 11 dimensions! Although these theories are partially successful at reproducing conventional physics, they remain very incomplete and largely unproven.

3. Hyperspace Theories Hyperspace theories are concerned with theoretical systems that have more than the familiar three spatial dimensions. Hyperspace theories are largely a mathematical theory but their developers often attempt to make them of use to physicists. Hyperspace theorists generally believe that the laws of nature are simpler in higher dimensions. Hyperspace is also known as the way to travel faster than light speed in Science Fiction. Superstring theories are a particular class of hyperspace theories that are of interest to physicists who are attempting to find a fundamental physical theory that unites all known physical forces and particles. Such hyperspace theories suggest the possibility that everything in the universe can be described in terms of fundamental physical components that vibrate within the constraints imposed by the multiple extended and compact dimensions of hyperspace. Current mathematical methods suggest that there are only a few "natural" possibilities for the number of these comparable directions.

4. A brief history of hyperspace theory Albert Einstein in 1915 introduced the idea that gravity is to be explained as the warping of four-dimensional (4-d) spacetime. Whatever doubts physicists had - and there were many - about the reality of the 4-dimensionality of spacetime (as a unified geometrical whole which could be warped) were erased by the dramatic verification of Einstein's gravity theory (called the General Theory of Relativity) in 1919, when a group of British astronomers led by Arthur Eddington measured the bending of starlight grazing the sun during a solar eclipse. The decade of the 1920s was the most revolutionary decade in physics and astronomy. I will mention only the highlights. In quantum physics: deBroglie's wave-particle duality; Heisenberg's matrix mechanics, and the uncertainty principle; Bohr's complementarity principle; Pauli's exclusion principle; Schroedinger's wave function equation; Dirac's antimatter equation (which unified quantum theory and Einstein's special relativity) The Swedish physicist Oscar Klein in 1926 spoke to both these questions by publishing his version of the 5-d theory, in which the 5th dimension is not visible to us because it is an extremely small compact dimension; in other words, each point of 4-d spacetime is replaced by a tiny circle whose radius is around 10-33 cm. This is the Planck length, which is named for Max Planck who defined this size as the basic unit of size in the quantum world. Since general relativity and quantum theory are gigantic worlds unto themselves (and hardly on speaking terms with each other), it is not surprising that in order to unify these two theories as sub-theories of a larger theory physicists have envisaged many new consequences, chief among them being the hyperdimensional (10-d) spacetime.

5. Flat theory of Hyperspace • There is a completely separate class of hyperspace theory where "hyperspace" is generally seen as the flat space 'above' (ie faster than) ordinary space. These are called 'Flat hyperspace' theories because they generally assume that space is completely flat and rigidly tied at three spatial dimensions that are fixed in dimensionality up to the largest scales. In most of these theories time is regarded as a single point and not seen as a separate 'dimension'. Obviously gravity cannot then be explained by spatial curvature and another explanation is needed - one method is to allow local inertial frames that can accelerate relative to each other, other possibilities include quantum theories of gravity which are based on things like gravitons or quantum states. These hyperspace theories obviously conflict with some parts of relativity, and are not generally seen today as part of mainstream science. There is a completely separate class of hyperspace theory where "hyperspace" is generally seen as the flat space 'above' (ie faster than) ordinary space. These are called 'Flat hyperspace' theories because they generally assume that space is completely flat and rigidly tied at three spatial dimensions that are fixed in dimensionality up to the largest scales. In most of these theories time is regarded as a single point and not seen as a separate 'dimension'. Obviously gravity cannot then be explained by spatial curvature and another explanation is needed - one method is to allow local inertial frames that can accelerate relative to each other, other possibilities include quantum theories of gravity which are based on things like gravitons or quantum states. These hyperspace theories obviously conflict with some parts of relativity, and are not generally seen today as part of mainstream science.

6. Hyperspace in Science Fiction Along side these stories which more or less toe the line with special relativity, proclaiming that FTL travel is impossible are stories that took the next step following the developments in Einstein's General Theory of relativity. Authors began, tentatively at first and then with increasing boldness, to find technological solutions to space travel that did not involve moving through ordinary 3-dimensional space with its nasty "thou shalt not exceed the speed of light" edict. These methods might be termed 'inter dimensional travel' since that is often the manner in which the problem is solved. This sub-genera of writing probably had its inception when authors began exploring certain conceptual ideas in general relativity. As they became more comfortable with the ideas of multi-dimensional space, developed an increasing array of applications for it. At first, these journies were limited to laboratory experiments that went badly wrong. Rog Phillips in The Cube Root of Conquest(1948) proposes that we co- exist along with other universes in space, but are separated in time. These universes are separated from one another along a 3-dimensional time continuum which are in the 'imaginary' direction from normal 3-dimensional space. Travel to these parallel worlds requires solving a cubic equation, whose roots give the proper time-like shift to enter these worlds. In 1947, Asimov's short story Little Lost Robot has 'Hyperatomic Drive' shortened to 'Hyperdrive' and goes on to describe how "...fooling around with hyper-space isn't fun. We run the risk of blowing a hole in normal space-time fabric and dropping right out of the universe". SF has been with us as a recognizable literary genera for nearly a century and represents an evolving network of ideas that develope almost parallel to revolutions in scientific thinking. Jules Vern's submarines and airships were almost patentable. Then came atomic powered rockets of the Buck Rogers variety, followed by a progressive refinement of drive technology into 'warp engines', hyperdrive and teleportation. As the technology of SF has become more sophisticated, it has also found itself more in the league of magic. It has all but left the real world, or reasonable extensions of it. Only the setting (the Galaxy) and the human condition ( greed, power, love, war) remain as fixed reference points operating in recognizable ways. Has SF finally evolved beyond its own definition?

7. C:\Documents and Settings\ibb060\Desktop\Hyperspace_.jpg Thank You For The Attention