Brane Worlds

According to increasingly popular models of the universe, our entire perceivable world is confined to a "membrane" consisting of three dimensions of space and one of time, represented below by a grid plane. This four‑dimensional space‑time is only a small slice of a much larger "bulk" beyond, which is below the grid in the illustration. Other branes might also float in this bulk, influencing our universe. and vice versa. For example. although matter and light can't escape from our brane, gravity can "leak" off shown below by shimmering waves in the bulk. This could explain why gravity appears to be so weak compared with electromagnetic and nuclear forces. At the same time, the matter in another, unseeable brane might be the "dark matter" whose gravitational pull holds galaxies together in our universe but is otherwise undetected.   Read the Brane New World Story Published in LA Times

1700           1800          1900         1910        1920      1930

Evolution of ideas about space, from Newton until now

1940       1950        1960          1970      1980         1990     2000

Source- “The Universe in A Nutshell”  by Stephen Hawking

1687 Isaac Newton's "Principia" published Newtonian Space is a passive, three dimensional stage on which particles move and forces interact in time

 Special and general relativity 1905‑1915

Albert Einstein shows that space and time are interwoven into a fu dimensional fabric of space‑time that warps under the influence of massive objects, "causing" gravity.

Kaluza‑Klein theory

Theodore Kaluza sends a letter to Einstein introducing a fifth dimension as a way of linking gravity and electromagnetism. Oscar Klein shows how the invisible dimension could be undetectable if curled up on subatomic scales.

String theory   1975

 Experts say string theory sprang directly from Kaluza‑Klein theory. All fundamental particles and forces are explained as the vibrations of subatomic "strings" in as many as 10 dimensions.

 Branes  1995 -  2000 

Proponents say strings attach to membrane‑like surfaces in higher dimensions that can be infinitely large, yet remain undetectable to everyday senses.