Posted on 05/05/2016 6:53:04 PM PDT by MtnClimber
The question of why space is three-dimensional (3D) and not some other number of dimensions has puzzled philosophers and scientists since ancient Greece. Space-time overall is four-dimensional, or (3 + 1)-dimensional, where time is the fourth dimension. It's well-known that the time dimension is related to the second law of thermodynamics: time has one direction (forward) because entropy (a measure of disorder) never decreases in a closed system such as the universe.
In a new paper published in EPL, researchers have proposed that the second law of thermodynamics may also explain why space is 3D.
"A number of researchers in the fields of science and philosophy have addressed the problem of the (3+1)-dimensional nature of space-time by justifying the suitable choice of its dimensionality in order to maintain life, stability and complexity," coauthor Julian Gonzalez-Ayala, at the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico and the University of Salamanca in Spain, told Phys.org.
..... The scientists propose that space is 3D because of a thermodynamic quantity called the Helmholtz free energy density. In a universe filled with radiation, this density can be thought of as a kind of pressure on all of space, which depends on the universe's temperature and its number of spatial dimensions.
Here the researchers showed that, as the universe began cooling from the moment after the big bang, the Helmholtz density reached its first maximum value at a very high temperature corresponding to when the universe was just a fraction of a second old, and when the number of spatial dimensions was approximately three. The key idea is that 3D space was "frozen in" at this point when the Helmholtz density reached its first maximum value, prohibiting 3D space from transitioning to other dimensions.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
4 of them. We experience time, x, y, z and who’s to say they’re aren’t much more.
Speak for yourself.
it would almost have to be.
Well WTF, did they think it was flat? Were there actually ignorant flat spacers out there?
Well WTF, did they think it was flat? Were there actually ignorant flat spacers out there?
so let me see...
first there were zero dimensions, then there was a BANG, and then there was 1 -> 2 -> 2.9XXXXXXX dimensions. great! spontaeous dimensional order generation from nothing at gazillion degrees, etc., etc, and then dimension 4 kicks in right at 3.0, and disorder started, ugh! but wait, thanks to disorder increasing (time), we reach the point of disorder where solar systems form and then seas and then organic chemicals (ain’t disorder great), and finally cells, and you know the rest.
SMH amazing! these people must be ohhh soooo smart.
Because if it wasn’t we’d bump our noses all the time.
M-Theory claims there are ii dimensions.
The trick is to recognize that time has an absolute value of zero at the event horizon of a black hole, so, in theory, whatever exists beyond that horizon is traveling backwards in time (which may allow a general explanation of eternal time because everything eventually collapses back to the beginning and the cycle repeats).
It really is an elegant theory in that it seems to explain the observable universe very concisely, and has a bunch of really interesting corrolaries. For example one corollary states that a massive body at zero absolute velocity has zero gravity, which can be used as the definition of absolute velocity in the first place. Another one is that the universal gravitational constant is neither universal nor constant but is a variable.
Using a single datum point, the acceleration of gravity on Earth, I was able to calculate that the absolute velocity of our solar system is ~0.1c (29,999 km/sec), but I also believe that I screwed up the calculation of the permitivity of free space, so I'm not ready to vigorously defend that calculation.
Like I said, a work in progress.
“It actually is. We only perceive three of them.”
Yes, we only PERCEIVE three, but that does NOT mean that there are not other, real dimensions, which are too small for us to even try to perceive, much less move into.
Reminds of a joke told by a Nebraskan:
Why do they have astroturf on the field at the University of Iowa stadium?
To keep the cheerleaders from grazing during half-time.
You’ve been reading too much Parmenides or Plotinus.
Not too hot, not too cold, just right!
BTW: it also easily explains the so called dual nature of light (both wave and particle behavior). I have done some work on trying to figure out how to test the theory, but so far, it looks like it would take a budget of roughly the entire cost of WWII. A bit pricey for a weekend warrior to put together.
"Three shall be the number of thy dimensions, and the number of thy dimensions shall be three. Five is right out...."
“Seriously, dimensions are a property of the mind”
You’re spot on. I was just going to say the same thing.
“Elements that make up the planet: Earth, wind, water...
Father, Son, Holy Spirit...
H2O...three molecules...
CO2....Three molecules...
Liquid, solid, vapor...
Just to name a few...
.............
Don’t forget paper, rock, scissors.
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