Timeline for The specificity of dimension $1+3$ for the real world
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
13 events
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| Aug 25, 2021 at 8:59 | history | edited | Glorfindel | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 2 characters in body
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| Nov 17, 2017 at 16:17 | comment | added | Qmechanic | Related: mathoverflow.net/q/47569/13917 | |
| Nov 17, 2017 at 14:38 | comment | added | Will Brian | Martin Rees explores this question a little bit in chapter 10 of Just Six Numbers (written for non-professionals). Glancing through it, I think his strongest point concerning why 1+3 is special is the one mentioned in Nemo's answer: orbits are stable under a force obeying an inverse square law, but not under one obeying an inverse cube law. | |
| Nov 17, 2017 at 13:54 | answer | added | Steve Huntsman | timeline score: 2 | |
| Nov 17, 2017 at 13:49 | answer | added | Francois Ziegler | timeline score: 13 | |
| Nov 17, 2017 at 12:58 | comment | added | Nemo | Also see the physics.SE discussion physics.stackexchange.com/q/10651/99268 | |
| Nov 17, 2017 at 12:32 | answer | added | Nemo | timeline score: 21 | |
| Nov 17, 2017 at 10:28 | comment | added | Sylvain JULIEN | It seems that some physics equations are related to the quaternionic version of Cauchy-Riemann equations characterizing holomorphy (precisely, continuity equation and wave equation) in a minkowskian metric. See my question whose title is something like "Riemann Zeta function, quaternions and physics" on MSE. | |
| Nov 17, 2017 at 10:16 | comment | added | M.G. | Fair enough. So, you are making a point that $3$ is the smallest number of dimensions that realizes Huygens principle, so there is no need for nature to go higher, so to speak? | |
| Nov 17, 2017 at 9:55 | comment | added | Denis Serre | @July. I do know that Huyghens principle prefers odd space dimension. However, it fails also in space dimension $1$. | |
| Nov 17, 2017 at 9:38 | comment | added | M.G. | With more spatial dimensions we wouldn't be able to tie our shoe laces. Moreover, $3$- and $4$-manifolds are rather mysterious both in their exceptional behavior and the difficulties they present (as opposed to their higher-dimensional counterparts). I always had a feeling that this should be somehow physically significant as to why $1+3$. | |
| Nov 17, 2017 at 9:31 | comment | added | M.G. | I'm sure you already know this, but the (general) Huygens principle for the wave equation testifies as to the importance of having odd number of spatial dimensions rather than that odd number being exactly $3$. For completeness sake, it also applies to sound. | |
| Nov 17, 2017 at 8:51 | history | asked | Denis Serre | CC BY-SA 3.0 |