Geek Break II - Music of the Spheres

Ahh ... summer reading ... something easy on the eyes at the beach ... For me, it's Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos.

Hey, some people consider Jackie Collins light reading!!

I read (actually re-read) the two books and something was annoying me about some of the concepts. Greene uses characters in his books like George, Gracie, etc. to make a point and to inject some humor into the narrative. I decided to send the author an email:

Dear Dr. Greene:

I read your book, The Elegant Universe, and I enjoyed it very much. However, there was one gravity item that you had covered in string theory which has been on my mind and has been like an itch you cannot reach.

I am writing to you in the hopes that you can satisfy my curiosity. I'd like to illustrate with an analogy:

George, in addition to being a well-seasoned space traveler, also has perfect pitch and superlative hearing. His hobby while not jetting about the cosmos is to listen to and identify every powered garden tool by its sound. By looking at schematics and specifics about the engine, he claims he can identify any make and model lawnmower by sound alone.

Milton, his best friend, scoffs at George's boasts."Okay smarty, I'll bet you a steak dinner that you can't pick out lawnmowers!" George, seeing an easy way to a fine meal, agrees. He asks George for the schematics and engine diagrams of the equipment in question.

Milton (who happens to be the groundskeeper at the local football stadium) brings George to the playing field and blindfolds him. He motions to one of his assistants to start one of the machines and motions him to move it past George.

"That's a Briggs and Stratton Model X15", George declares. Milton is dumbstruck. George correctly identified the lawnmower. "Want to try again?" George taunts.

Milton agrees.

Milton motions to another one of his assistants who starts another machine and runs it past our star traveler.

"Hmmm. That's a Lawnboy Model AR3," is George's smug reply. Again, Milton is incredulous. How is he doing this? "I can just taste that steak now", George says. Milton is turning red as a beet. "One more time, okay?" he asks.

"Okay." Says George.

Milton now motions for both of his assistants to run the mowers past George.

"Milton, are you trying to trick me?", George laughs. "You just ran the X15 and the AR3 by me again and you added a Honda Weed-Whacker Model 33 to the mix."

"Aha!" says Milton. "You owe me dinner! Take off your blindfold!"

Now it is George's turn to be surprised. With both lawnmowers turned on, the harmonics sound just like the Honda. "Boy, do I have egg on my face. I never thought of that!"

Sorry to be a bit long-winded, but can you see where I'm coming from?

While string theory defines the specific vibrational pattern of gravity, we don't appear to find or feel gravity except in the presence of mass vibratory patterns. Could gravity's specific vibrational pattern be the result of interference or harmonics amongst the matter-based vibrations? Could gravity be an embedded quality of the universe, rather than a property unto itself?

If we use the lawnmower example again, the effects of gravity (or the sound of the weed-whacker) would be smaller (quieter) over long distances since the harmonics themselves interact less forcefully.

My issue is that strings not only vibrate, but in order to recognize the vibration is occurring (and to observe the specific properties that that vibration produces), they must affect their surroundings - namely the 11-dimensional space in which they are embedded. The vibration could have components in the lower 4-dimensional space, the higher 7-dimensional space, or some combination of both. Mass vibrations could produce a harmonic in the upper dimensional space which manifests itself as gravity in the lower dimensional space.

The gravitational feeling experienced during acceleration, then, could also be explained by the matter vibrational pattern being distorted and perhaps this "doppler howl" produces a similar harmonic. The same way that 2+2 and 3+1 yield identical results, so too could gravity and acceleration be explained by different harmonic interactions that yield a similar "tone".

Are there any Calabi-Yau shapes which explain the physical properties of the universe but only define the gravity vibrational pattern in the upper 7 dimensions?

Thank you for reading this, and I hope to hear from you soon.

What I'm finding absolutely hilarious at this point is that here I am, Ithilien Ranger, Gondorian Prince, descendant of Numenorean Sea-Kings, sword and bow wielder, discussing trans-dimensional geometry with a theoretical physicist ...