The Universe's Fourth Dimension
Herman Minkowski, Albert Einstein, and the Creation of Space-Time
One of the fundamental results of Einstein's theory of Special Relativity was the discovery of the inherent interconnectedness of the dimensions of space and time.
When Albert Einstein developed his equations for time and space dilation within the context of his special theory of relativity, one of the consequences was to show that the three dimensions of space possessed a very definite relationship with the dimension of time. The very fact that the very same relativistic equations could be utilized to define them both was quite a remarkable achievement, and led to scientific advancements which could not possibly have been predicted.
The Theories of Minkowski
Soon after the publication of Einstein’s theory in 1905, the German Mathematician Hermann Minkowski became one of the first scientists to fully recognize the significance of the theory (it didn’t exactly set the world on fire immediately) and attempt to carry it even further from a mathematical perspective.
Minkowski, who had consequently been a professor of Einstein’s years before at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (though he had not been impressed with Einstein at the time, coining the phrase “lazy dog” in reference to his yet-to-become-famous pupil), became the first person to develop a fully-functional and highly advance mathematical foundation upon which the special theory of relativity could be based.
With his mathematics, the four dimensions of space-time became impossible to fully separate from each other, for they were all part of the same universe.
Like so many other aspects of theoretical physics, adding a fourth dimension to the three dimensions of space works very well on paper, and becomes an invaluable mathematical tool for understanding the still-unraveling laws of physics, but it creates no end of difficulties when one attempts to visualize exactly what this looks like. In this sense, it is simply something we have to accept as a consequence of special relativity, which declares that as your motion changes, so also does your relationship to both space and time.
In the context of Einstein’s General theory of relativity, developed eleven years later, this fourth-dimensional thinking becomes even more important, as it explains how both space and time can be affected by the affects of gravity and how both space and time can be made to curve.
More Than Four Dimensions
In today’s physics, which has grown to include such seemingly bizarre topics of research as String theory and Many-Worlds theory, there has become newly-intensified uncertainty as to how many dimensions actually exist in our universe. According to some of the most popular string theories, in fact, there could be as many as ten dimensions – the three of space and one of time that we are aware of, plus six more space dimensions somehow curled up into tiny little invisible balls (at the risk of over-simplifying). Some scientists believe there to be an almost infinite number of little dimensions all over the place.
With this in mind, shouldn’t be nearly as difficult for a person to be able to fathom the universe as existing in four dimensions. It’s important to put things in perspective.
References:
Einstein, A. (1961). Relativity: The Special and the General Theory - A clear Explanation that Anyone can Understand. New York, NY: Random House.
Davies, P. (1995). About Time - Einstein's Unfinished Revolution. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Randall, Lisa. “Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions.” Harper Perennial. 2006
