Since long, we have been said that our universe works on only three physical dimensions – up and down, left and right, and forward and backward. And when the 4th dimension is mentioned, we immediately think of time travel. In 1905, Albert Einstein introduced the ‘Theory of Relativity’ in which he talked about the fourth spatial dimension called Time. He said we could move in time making time travel possible.
But now, for the first time, the scientists of the latest study have put light on the fourth dimension, a new spatial dimension. Through what’s known as the quantum Hall effect, two teams of scientists from Switzerland, USA, Germany, Italy, and Israel have shown that a fourth spatial dimension could reach beyond the limits of other three physical dimensions.
To those who don’t know, ‘Quantum hall effect’ happens when a moving electron experiences a high magnetic field, applied by an external source, strictly moving in just two dimensions, at a very low temperature. Due to this, electrons travel in fixed paths and with the application of a certain magnetic field by the scientists, an electron can move along the edges of the solid material. Researchers believe something similar would happen with particles in the fourth dimension.
The theoretic concept given by the lead author of the research portrays that a fourth dimension exists where people can move forward and backward in time. According to researchers, it is not possible to feel the 4D spatial system physically, but they managed to get a quick look at the fourth dimension.
“Physically, we don’t have a 4D spatial system, but we can access 4D quantum Hall physics using this lower-dimensional system because the higher-dimensional system is coded in the complexity of the structure,” Penn State University’s professor Mikael Rechtsman said, adding, “Maybe we can come up with new physics in the higher dimension and then design devices that take advantage the higher-dimensional physics in lower dimensions.”
The study appeared in the journal Nature.
