The Shape of Inner Space

The leading mind behind the mathematics of string theory discusses how geometry explains the universe we see. What if you were told that we actually live in a 10-dimensional universe - that the leading theory of nature posits only 4 out of 10 are accessible to our everyday senses? How do we account [...]
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The leading mind behind the mathematics of string theory discusses how geometry explains the universe we see. What if you were told that we actually live in a 10-dimensional universe - that the leading theory of nature posits only 4 out of 10 are accessible to our everyday senses? How do we account for the other 6 dimensions? What do they look like, where are they hiding, and what, if anything at all, do they do? In "The Shape of Inner Space", geometer and leading string theorist Shing-Tung Yau unpacks the widely-held belief that these undetected dimensions are tightly curled in elaborate, twisted shapes called "Calabi-Yau manifolds". Yau explains that these spaces are so miniscule that humans will probably never see any of them directly. Amazingly, this hidden realm may hold the answers to some of the most profound questions we have about our universe. In examining his life's work, Yau emphasises his most important finding: proof of the manifold's mathematical existence. This discovery has been critical in advancing our understanding of geometry and string theory, and, more broadly, physics and the universe.With this acquired knowledge, string theorists can go beyond the concept of the universe that Einstein left us with, and possibly expose some of nature's greatest mysteries. A fascinating exploration of a world we are only just beginning to grasp, "The Shape of Inner Space" will change the way we think about mathematics, cosmology, and our quest to learn the shape of the inner universe.