We live in a three-dimensional universe with three spatial dimensions and one additional in the form of time. However, experiments of two groups of scientists have shown that the presence of the fourth spatial measurement is indeed possible and it is not limited to simple directions up and down, left and right, and also forward and backward.
It should immediately be taken into account that such conclusions contradict the known laws of physics, were based on very complex calculations, partly theoretical experiments and using the laws of quantum mechanics.
Comparing the results of the observation of two specially created two-dimensional media, two independent teams of scientists from Europe and the USA were able to discover the way to the fourth spatial dimension, generating the so-called quantum Hall effect, the conductivity phenomenon of a two-dimensional gas at low temperatures in strong magnetic fields.
"Physically, we do not have a 4-dimensional space, but we can achieve a 4-dimensional quantum Hall effect with a low-dimensional system, because a high-dimensional system is encoded in its complex structure," says Macael Rechtsman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
"Perhaps we can come up with a new physics in a higher dimension, and then create devices that have this advantage in lower dimensions."
In other words, three-dimensional objects discard two-dimensional shadows, by which you can guess the shape of these objects. While observing some real physical three-dimensional systems, we can understand something about their four-dimensional nature, since, according to physicists, three-dimensional objects can represent shadows of four-dimensional objects appearing in lower dimensions. All this can lead to some new fundamental discoveries in science.
Thanks to the very complex calculations for which the Nobel Prize was awarded in 2016, we now know that the quantum Hall effect indicates the existence of a fourth dimension in space. The latest experiments of two teams of physicists, published in the journal Nature, give us an example of the effects that this fourth dimension can have.
The European team of scientists cooled the atoms to a temperature close to absolute zero, and with the help of lasers placed them in a two-dimensional lattice. Applying a quantum "pressure pump" to excite the trapped atoms, the physicists noticed small variations in motion that correspond to the manifestations of the four-dimensional quantum Hall effect, which indicates the possibility of access to this fourth dimension.
The American team of physicists also used lasers, but to control the light passing through the glass block. Simulating the effect of the electric field on charged particles, scientists also were able to observe the consequences of the four-dimensional quantum Hall effect.
According to scientists, both experiments perfectly complement each other.
Of course, we do not have physical access to this four-dimensional world (since we are trapped in three-dimensional space), but scientists believe that through quantum mechanics we will be able to learn more about the four-dimensional space and expand our limited knowledge of the universe.
For clarity, we recommend you watch the video below. It shows how a character from a two-dimensional platformer suddenly finds himself in a three-dimensional world. According to our perspective, it will seem to us that we are still in a two-dimensional world, but as we move in it we will see some distortions of space, as the three-dimensional world will be superimposed on a two-dimensional plane. Similar distortions were seen by scientists in the experiments described above. They pointed to the existence of a four-dimensional space that we can not see physically, but the effects of which are superimposed on our three-dimensional plane.
Despite the fact that physically we can not get into four-dimensional space, we have received proof of its existence and a clearer picture of how it works. Scientists, in turn, want to use the results of these observations for more detailed analysis. Who knows, perhaps during their future work they will be able to make other discoveries.
The article is based on materials .
Comments
Post a Comment