Chapter 245: Exploring Four-Dimensional Space Fragments

Meanwhile, the three Sophons sent by the Trisolarans, which had been tailing, plunged into a Sophon Blind Zone, losing contact with the Trisolarans in an instant.

It was not feasible for the Trisolarans to dispatch more Sophons from other places to track them, as Sophons were unable to detect Sophon Blind Zones, and redeploying them could likely result in the same predicament, a risk too great for them to take.

Were they curious about humanity's destination? Before human scientists discovered new materials, the Trisolarans' Sophons had already encountered a Sophon Blind Zone, so they were unclear about the purpose of this mission.

Lin Sen temporarily evaded Trisolaran surveillance, thanks to the Sophon Shielding Room. Now, humanity's important conversations were held within the Sophon Shielding Room to ensure the secrecy of information.

In this era, the term Wallfacer had apparently become synonymous with the highest power and responsibility of humanity. It wasn't the laws that granted them authority, but their prestige that endowed them with power. They did not directly participate in the management of internal human affairs but held a more detached and superior position.

Trisolarans had grown accustomed to humanity keeping secrets, so Lin Sen's disappearance did not cause them too much concern.

At the same time, Lin Sen's fleet was advancing at three percent of the speed of light towards the mysterious space 800 astronomical units away, expecting to arrive in half a year.

Half a year later.

The Blue Space, leading the fleet, relayed information that its long-range observation system had detected thin, luminous lines appearing five astronomical units away, which were very fine and perfectly straight at the beginning, with lengths ranging from five thousand to thirty thousand kilometers and indiscernible in width to the naked eye.

They appeared suddenly, initially emitting blue light, which gradually reddened. The straight lines began to bend and break into many small segments before finally disappearing.

Upon receiving this message, Lin Sen finally breathed a sigh of relief. Four-Dimensional Space had been found at last!

Twenty days later, all 20 warships had decelerated and arrived at the edge of Four-Dimensional Space.

After some investigation, scientists found it strange that there was nothing to be found in this place, except for hydrogen and nitrogen elements, along with many heavy metal dust particles, mainly iron and silicon, which were left behind after the luminous lines disappeared.

All seemed to be related to those fine lines, the emergence of which was still unknown to humanity. And all these materials were new, with numerous small spacecraft dispatched to collect them.

Just when people thought there was nothing particularly unusual about this space, some odd occurrences began on board the spacecraft.

For instance, they discovered that part of the Universal Gravity battleship seemed to have disappeared, as if cut by an invisible colossal blade. Had this phenomenon been observed by just one person, it could have been dismissed as coincidence or an optical illusion. However, it was witnessed by every ship in the fleet.

The most bizarre part was that the Universal Gravity reported no problems.

This phenomenon unsettled and panicked the crew on the battleships. The unknown wasn't scary, but the unfathomable—beyond one's comprehension—was terrifying.

But scientists were somewhat exhilarated. This was yet another new phenomenon. The allure of science stems from the study of the unknown. Each new phenomenon could potentially conceal new scientific principles and theories, the lifelong pursuit of scientists.

After a series of precise experiments and studies, the secret of this space was soon unraveled by the scientists. It turned out to be Four-Dimensional Space, a discovery that thrilled them immensely, undoubtedly opening up a new frontier in science.

They soon found a way to enter Four-Dimensional Space as well, by using warp points.

Right then, Ding Yi was explaining to Lin Sen, "Warp points are visible to the naked eye, but the best method is to detect electromagnetic radiation. They emit an electromagnetic wave that's very weak, but its spectrum has very distinct characteristics, which the standard monitoring systems can detect and pinpoint.

"There are many warp points, everywhere. Generally, within a volume as large as a spaceship, there would be one or two warp points."

Lin Sen already knew these details but listened to Ding Yi's explanation regardless.

Lin Sen, "Then can we use these warp points to enter Four-Dimensional Space? What's the largest object they can accommodate?"

Ding Yi, "Warp points vary in size; some are only a few centimeters, others one or two meters in diameter, but some can be hundreds of meters wide.

"The reason part of the Universal Gravity went missing earlier was that the back third of it had warped into Four-Dimensional Space.

"We even have the chance to send the exploration spacecraft carried by the battleships in there. It must be vast inside, and according to our surveys, this Four-Dimensional Space has a projection nearly a thousand astronomical units in Three-Dimensional Space."

Lin Sen, "We are three-dimensional beings. Are you sure it's safe for us to enter Four-Dimensional Space?"

"For example, I've heard a theory that, for instance, the force of electrical charge in an atom is inversely proportional to the square of the distance, whereas in four-dimensional space, the force of electrical charge in an atom is inversely proportional to the cube of the distance."

"In that case, the force of the charge would drop off so swiftly that atoms could not maintain their structure."

Ding Yi: "There's a fundamental error in that assertion, which is the assumption that the laws from three-dimensional space apply to four-dimensional space as well."

"Four-dimensional space has its own independent set of physical laws, which do not intersect with our three-dimensional ones."

"Just as Sophons can utilize high-dimensional space for faster-than-light communication, which is impossible in three-dimensional space."

"If we were to enter four-dimensional space, our bodies would still be governed by the physical laws of three-dimensional space."

"The major issue with your statement is that it assumes once we enter four-dimensional space, we become four-dimensional beings, while in four-dimensional space, we're still 'two-dimensional paper people'."

"Entering four-dimensional space, the paper people's perspective and knowledge remain of the paper people's domain, only that this 'paper person' can move or 'float' within four-dimensional space, thereby perceiving more information, all of which are still projections of four-dimensional space into three dimensions."

"If one were to remain absolutely still relative to four-dimensional space, of course, that's impossible. What you perceive wouldn't be any different from the three-dimensional world, there would be no infinite detail to observe."

"Thus, when we enter four-dimensional space, we are fundamentally still in three dimensions, except this three-dimension is merely a cross-section of the four-dimensional one. The sole difference is that this cross-section can 'drift' in four-dimensional space."

Lin Sen: "That is to say, after we enter the fourth dimension, we are still in a three-dimensional state, it just means that we're exposed to a larger amount of information."

"We can move within four-dimensional space and even a movement of just one nanometer is like receiving countless instances of information from the three-dimensional world."

"The physical laws of four-dimensional space don't impact or only have a limited impact on the three dimensions, just as many three-dimensional physical rules have no impact on two-dimensions, like mass and volume... The two-dimensional world definitely lacks these concepts, and its physical laws are beyond our comprehension."

Ding Yi: "Yes, the physical rules of all higher dimensions could be completely different from ours, aside from mathematics and logic, I can't think of anything else that would be universally applicable."

"We are planning to dispatch an initial fleet of 10 exploration ships to look around in four-dimensional space to uncover its various secrets. There's likely to be many more secrets there."

"If we ascertain that there are no dangers, all our scientists will enter four-dimensional space to conduct research."

"At the same time, we could also utilize four-dimensional space to study basic physics. It's certain that the physical theories of four-dimensional space must encompass those of three-dimensional space."

Lin Sen: "Isn't it that basic physics can only advance by breaking the shells of particles using particle accelerators to detect the inner world of particles?"

Ding Yi: "Yes, but in four-dimensional space, any matter would expose infinite details, and we could design detection equipment suitable for four-dimensional space."

"For instance, when one particle directly enters another particle from a higher dimension, just through a warp point to return them to the same three-dimensional space, they would inevitably split open, and we would thus be able to see inside them."

"This would be equivalent to conducting a particle collision experiment, perhaps even more effective than a Solar System Accelerator. This is just a metaphor to aid your understanding; the reality is much more complex."

"If we can't break the particle's shell, then we will go directly into the inside of the particle to see."

PS: I have read some theories contradicting the concept of four-dimensional space on Zhihu, stating that in four-dimensional space, the force of charge is inversely proportional to the cube of the distance, as are gravity, the strong force, and the weak force, arguing that the matter constituting the human body would collapse instantly in four-dimensional space.

Such theories typically assert that three-dimensional matter becomes four-dimensional upon entering four-dimensional space, which is certainly unreasonable.

The author believes that matter entering the fourth dimension remains three-dimensional, only now able to perceive more information.

The infinite detail observed is not the scenario of four-dimensional space, but rather the projection of four dimensions onto three.

As for viewing endlessly overlapping situations, like seeing countless mirrors replicated within a mirror, that is due to moving within four-dimensional space, causing the three-dimensional projection to change and receive more four-dimensional information.

In four-dimensional space, we are blind, for we can only forever perceive information received within our own three-dimensional realm. Beyond three dimensions, we cannot see at all. However, we can move ourselves to other locations to perceive the information of other places within four-dimensional space.