2min chapter

Why This Universe? cover image

25 - Could Extra Dimensions Exist?

Why This Universe?

CHAPTER

The Colusa Miracle

In the original version of general relativity, there are 10 numbers built into the mathematics that kind of set the structure of the theory. So gravity comes out of this theory very well, but there's no room for anything else. This is in contrast to something like the standard model of particle physics, which can be tweaked to match our results from experiments.

00:00
Speaker 1
So in other
Speaker 2
words, since all of general relativity is based on these few principles, like the fact that the speed of light is the same for all observers, that means that if we ever discovered that general relativity is actually wrong, then one of those fundamental principles must be wrong. This is in contrast to something like the standard model of particle physics, which has lots of different inputs that can be tweaked to match our results from experiments. So
Speaker 1
it turns out when you take the original version of general relativity, the one in four dimensions, three plus one of time, there are 10 numbers built into the mathematics that kind of set the structure of the theory. And it turns that you need 10 numbers to describe gravity. So gravity comes out of this theory very well, but there's no room for anything else. When Colusa extended this to five dimensions, this same mathematical object, instead of having 10 numbers at 15. And that allowed to have enough room for gravity, along with four more numbers that you could use to describe electricity and magnetism. And then there was room for one extra component was we call a scalar field. But together, you could in this 5D version include things like gravity, electricity, magnetism, and a little bit extra stuff. So from this perspective, in Colusa's 5D version of general relativity, there wasn't really a distinction between gravity and electricity and magnetism. They were all part of the same thing. You could think of the forces of electricity and magnetism as part of gravity. This was sometimes called the Colusa
Speaker 2
miracle.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode