BY JACK HARRIS
Engish 9/Mr. Davis
Los Alamos High School

 “The beauty of science is to imagine more than we can prove. And string theory gives you a radically different interpretation of the universe.” – Ashoke Sen. 

In this Op. Ed,  I will argue that Dimensions Greater than the 4th Dimension exist, and that our universe could possibly Hold up 10 Dimensions all compactified within it. This idea comes from string theory which is a possible solution to quantum gravity, and just as the quote above states, string theory could radically change our view of the universe. 

You might be thinking that this sounds like science fiction; well, it isn’t fiction, at least not if you believe in string theory. String theory is a theory that requires ten dimensions; generally it states that the elementary particles are the result of strings vibrating (Zwiebach, p 8). However, to fully grasp this topic we must understand how the extra dimensions could arise, for this we have two options. The first option is the extra dimensions compactified to form what is known as a Calabi Yau Manifold. Compactification is sort of when dimensions seem to close up around each other. This would hide the dimensions to a far away observer. Making it appear as there are less dimensions than there actually are (Yau, ch. 6). The extra dimensions in string theory would compactify to form a “Calabi Yau Manifold” which is a “special space” the Calabi Yau Manifold is taken to be six dimensional in string theory applications. (Yau, p 9).

A Calabi Yau manifold is represented in a 3d image below. With both compactification, and a Calabi Yau manifold, we have found a way to hide dimensions so that they are hidden from our perception, but there is another way to hide the other dimensions.

Another way to hide the dimensions is called a brane world. In string theory, we believe that the particles arise just from different vibrations of strings. A string is a one dimensional thing which vibrates. Now there are higher dimensional versions of strings. A membrane is a two dimensional thing that vibrates, and a brane is a three dimensional thing which vibrates, and it could vibrate through higher dimensional space, or be higher dimensional itself (Wired). 

And so a brane world is a world in which physicists will assume our universe to be a four dimensional subspace of another greater dimensional thing. This is like how the area of the base of a cube is merely one part of the cube. Interestingly, in this scenario force, carrying bosons are made by strings which are attached to our 4D  subspace, and gravity is made by closed strings propagating through the larger space. This provides an explanation for how gravity is significantly weaker than all the other fundamental forces (Randall). 

Now that we have the possible ways that extra dimensions can be added via string theory. There is one issue with string theory however, String theory doesn’t make experimental predictions, meaning it is unprovable experimentally (Segal, p 6). Do not give up just yet; String theory does make mathematical predictions, of which, every single one has been proved right (Segal, p 6). Another reason why string theory is favored by so many is how “elegant” the mathematics of it seem to work out, the math of string theory when worked out seems to just have gravity “appear”. There are also several issues with quantum theories of gravity utilizing the point particle. The issues arise with how we represent gravity in these theories, we represent gravity with a particle called a graviton. The issue is that when a graviton interacts strongly with another particle it can begin an infinite feedback effect of the graviton interacting with its own field which ends up causing black holes to appear in the math (PBS Space Time). 

The arguments against string theory seem to be contradictory and dismissive of string theory because of a single fault it has currently. What I mean is that several people seem to dismiss string theory because it doesn’t make experimental predictions currently. However its mathematical predictions are very accurate and incorporate gravity elegantly (Segal, p 6: PBS Space Time). The contradiction comes from an article on americanscientist.org written by Peter Woit as he states “A simple argument in string theory indicates that the cosmological constant should be at least around 55 orders of magnitude larger than the observed value. This is perhaps the most incorrect experimental prediction ever made by any physical theory that anyone has taken seriously.” However in the article Peter Woit fails to explain how this prediction is made by string theory merely stating that string theory does make this prediction, after stating earlier in the article that string theory doesn’t make experimental predictions.

The concept of extra dimensions is a surreal thought. Just imagine how that would change the universe as we know it. This thought is made possible by string theory and its two explanations for how this could happen. While it does have a unique drawback of not making experimental predictions, it also makes accurate mathematical predictions. String theory also isn’t faced with the issues gravity causes in the point particle explanation of our world. These reasons are why string theory is so attractive to new physicists, and why the idea of 10 dimensions could be a very real idea.

Annotated Bibliography 

PBS Space Time. “Why String Theory Is Right.” YouTube, 7 Nov. 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTTa9YcTe1k.‌

Provided the issues that come with point particle theories of quantum gravity and the infinite feedback loop which creates blackholes.

Randall, Lisa, and Raman Sundrum. ‘An Alternative to Compactification’. 8 June 1999, http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/9906064. Accessed 4 May 2024.

Provided the idea of the brane world and how it would work to create the forces which make up our universe.

Segal, Ed. THE INCREDIBLE PREDICTIVE POWER of STRING THEORY the Incredible Predictive Power of String Theory. http://www.homepages.ucl.ac.uk/~ucaheps/papers/string%20theory.pdf. Accessed 5 May 5 2024

Provided information on issues and successes of string theories predictions.

WIRED. “Physicist Explains One Concept in 5 Levels of Difficulty | WIRED.” YouTube, 16 Oct. 2019, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KC32Vymo0Q.

Provided explanations on strings, membranes, and branes additionally helped with understanding the cosmological constant..

Woit, Peter. “Is String Theory Even Wrong?” American Scientist, 6 Feb. 2017, http://www.americanscientist.org/article/is-string-theory-even-wrong#:~:text=A%20simple%20argument%20in%20string. ‌

Provided arguments against string theory and how string theory doesn’t make experimental predictions.

Yau, Shing-Tung. ‘The Shape of Inner Space: String Theory and the Geometry of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions’. Nadis, 2010. Accessed 4 May 2024

Provided explanations on compactification and the Calabi Yau manifold.

Zwiebach, Barton. A First Course in String Theory. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Print.

Provided basic information on String theory and how many dimensions it requires.