A 5th dimension may explain quantum theory
We know that the universe has four dimensions, but why only four? Why not five?
String theorists claim that the universe has many dimensions: 10, 11, or 26, but that all but the four are curled up so small that we can’t detect them.
That’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about a real 5th dimension, one that is as big and uncurled as the other four.
The idea that the universe might have a fifth dimension came hot on the heels of the realization that the universe had four dimensions. In 1919, only four years after Einstein published his theory of General Relativity, a scientist named Kaluza proposed the idea and sent his paper to none other than Albert Einstein who loved it. The reason why he loved it, I’ll get to later, but the point was that Kaluza had to explain why the fifth dimension could exist while being invisible.
After all, if you and I agree to meet anywhere in the universe, all I need to give you are three numbers (like latitude, longitude, and altitude) and a time. I don’t have to locate our meeting somewhere in the fifth dimension. I don’t have to say, yeah, meet me at fifth and elm, in the fourth floor lobby, at 3 pm Tuesday and by the way, make sure you are in the 9th underworld.
