Fourth dimension

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For other uses, see Fourth dimension (disambiguation)}}}.

The concept of a fourth dimension is one that is often described in considering its physical implications; that is, we know that in three dimensions, we have dimensions of length (or depth), width, and height. The fourth dimension is orthogonal to the other three spatial dimensions. The cardinal directions in the three known dimensions are called up/down (altitude), north/south (longitude), and east/west (latitude). When speaking of the fourth dimension, an additional pair of terms is needed. Attested terms include ana/kata (sometimes called spissitude or spassitude), vinn/vout (used by Rudy Rucker), and upsilon/delta.

Usually, the fourth dimension is identified with time. In this case, the concept of an additional spatial dimension would be referred to as the fifth dimension.

Cube with fourth-dimensional directions (ana/kata) creating a hypercube.

Contents

1 Concepts

1.1 The Fourth Dimension and Orthogonality
1.2 Vector spaces
1.3 Dimensional analogy

2 Fourth dimension in science fiction and popular culture
3 See also
4 External links

Concepts

The Fourth Dimension and Orthogonality

A right angle is defined as a one quarter of a revolution. Cartesian geometry arbitrarily chooses orthogonal directions through space which means they are at right angles to one another. Three orthogonal dimensions of space are known as, say the length, breadth and height . The fourth dimension is therefore the direction in space that is right angles to these three observable directions.

Vector spaces

Demonstration of objects with 0 to 5 dimensions

A vector space is a set of vectors, which we can think of as arrows, fixed from some single place in space which we call the origin (geometric vectors), that point to other places in space. We can look at the following intuitive concepts to build up a definition of dimension.

A point is a zero-dimensional object. It has no extension in space, and no properties. If we were to think of this point as a geometric vector, like an arrow, it would have no length. This vector is called the zero vector and, on its own, is the simplest vector space.

A line is a one-dimensional object. If we pick some nonzero vector in some direction, this vector has some definite length. That vector has a head at some point in space and a tail at the origin. If we think of stretching that vector so it is twice as long, three times as long, and so on and even stretching it backwards so it takes all possible lengths it can (even zero length, to get the zero vector), we get a single line with one dimension of length. All the vectors that describe points on this line are said to be parallel to each other. Even though any line we can draw must have some small thickness (so that we can see it), this idealized line does not.

A plane is a two-dimensional object. It has length and breadth but no thickness — somewhat like a sheet of paper (but paper too has some thickness). Thinking of a plane in terms of vectors is a little more difficult. If we think of taking one vector and moving it so that its tail is touching the head of the first and forming a vector with its tail at the origin and the head at the head of the repositioned second vector, we have a reasonable way of talking about adding vectors. If we have two vectors that are not parallel, we can talk about all the points we can reach by stretching either only one or none of the vectors, and, adding these vectors together, these points form a plane.

Space, as we perceive it, is three-dimensional. We can think of putting a line together with a plane. These planes are "stuck together" like a sandwich. To get to some point in space, we can imagine travelling up the line and then moving across the plane to the point. We then have three vectors to think about, one to travel some distance up the line and two to get to some point in space.

The fourth dimension, then, can be described by "sticking together" several three-dimensional spaces in a row. To get to some point in the four-dimensional space, one travels along the three-dimensional spaces, and also across the fourth dimension. The total number of vectors involved is four.

Dimensional analogy

A net of a tesseract

To make the leap from three dimensions into four, a device called dimensional analogy is commonly employed. Dimensional analogy is studying how (n – 1) dimensions relate to n dimensions, and then inferring how n dimensions would relate to (n + 1) dimensions.

For example, in Edwin Abbott Abbott's book Flatland, he writes about a square that lives in a two-dimensional world, like the surface of a piece of paper. A three-dimensional being has seemingly god-like powers from the perspective of this square: such as being able to remove objects from a safe without breaking it open (by moving it across the third dimension), see everything that from the two-dimensional perspective is enclosed behind walls, and remaining completely invisible by standing a few inches away in the third dimension. By applying dimensional analogy, one can infer that a four-dimensional being would be capable of similar feats from our three-dimensional perspective. Rudy Rucker demonstrates this in his novel Spaceland, in which the protagonist encounters four-dimensional beings who demonstrate such powers.

A useful application of dimensional analogy in visualizing the fourth dimension is in projection. A projection is a way for representing an n-dimensional object in n − 1 dimensions. For instance, the screen you are looking at is two-dimensional, and all the photographs of three-dimensional people, places and things are represented in two dimensions by removing information about the third dimension. In this case, depth is removed and replaced with indirect information. The retina of the eye is a two-dimensional array of receptors but it can allow the brain to perceive the nature of three-dimensional objects using indirect information (such as shading, foreshortening, binocular vision etc.). Artists use perspective to give three-dimensional depth to two-dimensional pictures.

Similarly, objects in the fourth dimension can be mathematically projected to the familiar 3 dimensions, where they can then be more conveniently examined. In this case, the 'retina' of the four-dimensional eye is a three-dimensional array of receptors. A hypothetical being with such an eye would perceive the nature of four-dimensional objects using indirect information contained in the images it receives in its retina. Perspective projection from four dimensions produces similar effects as in the three-dimensional case, such as foreshortening. This adds four-dimensional depth to these three-dimensional pictures.

Dimensional analogy also helps in understanding such projections. For example, two dimensional objects are bounded by one-dimensional boundaries: a square is bounded by four edges. Three-dimensional objects are bounded by two-dimensional surfaces: a cube is bounded by 6 squares. By applying dimensional analogy, one may infer that a four-dimensional cube, known as a tesseract, is bounded by three-dimensional volumes. And indeed, this is the case mathematically: the tesseract is bounded by 8 cubes. Knowing this is key to understanding how to interpret a three-dimensional projection of the tesseract. The boundaries of the tesseract project to volumes in the image, not merely two-dimensional surfaces. This helps in understanding features of such projections that may otherwise be very puzzling.

Likewise the concept of shadows can help us better understand the theory of four dimensions. If you were to shine a light on three dimensional object, it would cast a two dimensional shadow. Therefore light on a two dimensional object would cast a one dimensional shadow (in a two-dimensional world), and light on a one dimensional object in a one-dimensional world would cast a zero dimensional shadow, that is, a point of non-light. This idea can be used in the other direction; light on a fourth dimensional object would cast a third dimensional shadow.

Being three dimensional we are only able to see the world with our eyes in two dimensions; a fourth dimensional being would see the world in three. Thus it would be able, for example, to see all six sides of a box simultaneously.