Re:If gravity isn't a force, then why does it "need" a boson?
by elashri on Wednesday March 20, 2024 @10:57AM
(#39767544)
I'm sorry if I'm confusing. That's the term I use, usually assuming that it is obvious (like referring to C++ templates to a python developer without explaining what is that).
To be honest, it is hard to visualize, as it is counterintuitive of what we think of space. While I know many people would disagree, I really like the garden hose analogy [1]. The idea is to simply imagine a very long garden hose. From a great distance, it looks like a one-dimensional line. Now you get closer, and realize it has a second dimension, which is its circumference curled around that seemingly 1-D line. An ant walking on the hose can move along its length, but also in a circle around it. The extra dimension in KK is like this circumference. It is tiny, curled up so we don't directly notice it, but still potentially there.
[1] https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2004/06/30/extra-d...
You've just explained "compactified" in terms of being "curled up", but that doesn't really help (for me, at least). What does it mean for a dimension to be "curled up"?