Suppose You Can Have Three Dimensions of Space, but Not Four Dimensions

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If you want to imagine a a bunch of dimensions that start small and some of them start expanding, there's a very set of cute models from brandenberger and wafa based on string theory. But they have a way why only three dimensions of space would start expanding. So i think dynamically, given curved space time, you're allowed either way. You can have em all small and let some grow, or you can haveem all big and let some shrink. That's interesting. I mean, in a sense, this is a quintessential, not particularly easy mathematical physics problem,. But but that, i mean, it's interesting.

It’s not easy, figuring out the fundamental laws of physics. It’s even harder when your chosen methodology is to essentially start from scratch, positing a simple underlying system and a simple set of rules for it, and hope that everything we know about the world somehow pops out. That’s the project being undertaken by Stephen Wolfram and his collaborators, who are working with a kind of discrete system called “hypergraphs.” We talk about what the basic ideas are, why one would choose this particular angle of attack on fundamental physics, and how ideas like quantum mechanics and general relativity might emerge from this simple framework.

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Stephen Wolfram received his Ph.D. in physics from Caltech. He is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, and the creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha, and the Wolfram Language. Among his awards are a MacArthur Fellowship. Among his books is A New Kind of Science. He recently launched the Wolfram Physics Project.

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