-- On 13 Feb 2003 at 16:51, Eric Cordian wrote: > If the small scale structure of the universe isn't > manifold-like, then a theory which says it is an > 11-dimensional manifold is not a great leap over a theory > which says it is a 4-dimensional manifold.
As one approaches the plank length, the structure of space time will become more like fractal quantum foam, with an increasingly complex topology. Therefore, at distances comparable with the plank length, spacetime will not have a definite dimensionality. It might be that in the limit of very small distances, it becomes eleven dimensional, or it might be that the description of spacetime at distances smaller than the plank length cannot be given any definite dimensionality. > The measure of the usefulness of a new theory is the > increment in predictive power over the prior way of thinking > about it. Not how many pages you can cover with > indecipherable equations that are "Friggin' Hard." The shape of standard particle physics suggests that all of what we think of as physical law is the result of spontaneous symmetry breaking, merely a particular solution to a set of highly non linear equations, that have an infinite number of possible solutions, most of which correspond to universes nothing like our own -- that at sufficiently small scales and sufficiently high energies we encounter a metaphysics, capable of generating an infinite variety of systems of physical law. Suppose we had the ultimate theory of everything handed to us on a platter by supercilious aliens. In order to test it we first would have to find the solution, out of an infinite number of solutions, that corresponds to the normal physics of the universe. It seems likely that just finding the solution that corresponds to our vacuum would be very difficult indeed. Suppose we had the theory of everything, and suppose we could solve it, and suppose we could manipulte energies trillions of trillions of times larger than those we can now manipulate, with precision trillions of trillions of times larger than we can now control. Then we could remake a small region of space time to have physical laws that we might find more convenient for some purposes. All of this, however, seems hard. --digsig James A. Donald 6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG ok+QpWKWbKVF8q5f7HW4Ghw4PpqAPEr2FG3ocN2v 4Bd0OSE0YuN4HkOpXceSnWYuUaZou9XXgseFFRkXv