From: "JACK L. URETSKY (C)1998; HEP DIVISION, ARGONNE NATIONAL LAB ARGONNE, IL 60439" <JLU@HEP.ANL.GOV>
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 23:44:01 -0500
Dear Katherine-
You write:
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I know I dont' understand it fully, but my question was just if the extra
dimensions were implied in general relativity, but science doesn't accept
them because it seems more like pseudo-science than actual provable facts.
I am aware of M-theory, which is a combination of string theory and 11-D
super gravity... it is very controversial in itself, and the outcome is
still murky, but that was the reason I was wondering. If general relativity
proved that M-theory really had some merit.... The answer might be beyond
me, but I would think even if I didn't' understand the reason, I would at
least have a "yes" or "no" answer, or even "it is still unresolved" answer.
My only concern is that I don't really understand the math yet, but I can
understand and visualize the concepts involved without too much difficulty.
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I don't know how to begin to answer your questions, because I cannot
tell from your posting the extent to which we have a commom language. I can
touch on a couple of issues (and I'm no expert on M-theory). M-theory is
constructed to include ordinary general relativity; there cannot be any conflict
between the two, by definition. 11-d theories (and 26-d) theories are made
credible by "rolling up" all the dimensions beyond 4 -whatever that means (if
you can visualize it, then you should be teaching me).
When you talk about science, and "provable facts", you need to be
careful. It is not possible to "prove" any theory. A bright guy I know once
wrote that "a successful theory is one that relates two experiments that were
previously unrelated." (That was an approximate quote.) But then another
experiment may come along to show that the previous theory needs to be revised.
If you want to pursue your questions, then please find someone knowledgeable
who will sit down with you and engage with you in some conversations that really
probe in depth what it is that you want to know. More importantly, you and
that person should explore the "concepts" that you can understand and visualize.
Maybe we can learn something from your understanding.
Sincerely,
Jack
"These several facts prove nothing, for one cannot deduce a principle from so
few examples, but they do at least indicate that the ability to learn to spell
correctly is a gift; that it is born in a person, and that it is a sign of
intellectual inferiority. By parity of reasoning, its absence is a sign of
great mental power."
Mark Twain, "Extract from Eve's Diary'.