Physicists: “We are on the threshold of the discovery of the fifth dimension”

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have carefully studied the structure and characteristics of well-studied silicon and found the signs of the “fifth force”.

According to the published press release, this discovery will help us expand our knowledge about nature.

Simply put, we need to understand that the world is three dimensions of space, namely north-south, east-west and up-down, and one dimension of time (past-future). However, as the great physicist Albert Einstein suggested, mass distorts space and time.

In addition to gravity, the only known electromagnetic force, in the 1920s Oskar Klein and Theodor Kaluza proposed a five-dimensional hypothesis to explain the forces of nature.

When physicists decide to apply string theory to explain why gravity is so weak, the idea of ​​a fifth dimension pops up that could explain the presence of dark matter.

To better understand the crystal structure of silicon, the NIST researchers bombarded it with neutrons and measured the intensity. When neutrons pass through a crystalline structure, they generate persistent waves between atomic rows.

When these waves collide, they generate subtle patterns (Pendellesung oscillations) that give information about the strength of the neutrons that the neutrons collide with inside the structure.

Each force is mediated by carrier particles whose range is inversely proportional to their mass.

As a result, a particle without mass, such as a photon, has an infinite range, and vice versa. By limiting the range over which a force can act, one can also limit its power.

Recent tests have made it possible to limit the strength of a hypothetical fifth force on a length scale of 0.02 to 10 nanometers, defining the range in which one can look for the fifth dimension in which this force operates.

According to the researchers, further research in this area may lead to the discovery of the fifth dimension.