Calabi-Yau Writing Fiction Question

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of Calabi-Yau manifolds in the context of writing fiction, particularly in a fantasy setting. The original poster seeks to understand the implications of using such mathematical structures in their narrative, specifically regarding the existence of spaces within the manifold that could house universes.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • The original poster expresses interest in the idea of a six-dimensional Calabi-Yau manifold and questions whether there are restrictions on its relative size.
  • The original poster wonders if it is plausible to conceive of a Calabi-Yau manifold containing universes within its folds, despite acknowledging the speculative nature of this idea.
  • Some participants propose that the visual representations of Calabi-Yau manifolds may suggest spaces between folds, but they caution that these are likely artifacts of the visualization method.
  • Another participant emphasizes that the Calabi-Yau manifold is inherently six-dimensional, suggesting that popular two-dimensional representations do not capture its full complexity.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that the visual representations of Calabi-Yau manifolds may not accurately reflect their mathematical properties, particularly regarding the existence of spaces between folds. However, the discussion remains unresolved regarding the feasibility of the original poster's fictional concept.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights limitations in understanding the mathematical properties of Calabi-Yau manifolds and the potential misinterpretations arising from visual representations. There is also an acknowledgment of the speculative nature of applying these concepts in a fictional context.

Misericorde
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Hi, this is my first post, so if it's in the wrong place please let me know. I'm writing a bit of fiction, more fantasy than science fiction, but I don't want to immediately offend the sensibilities of everybody who knows something about science. I really like the idea of a six dimensional Calabi-Yau manifold,and I was wondering if there's any restriction on the relative size of such a structure.

I don't understand the math of them but I have seen visual representations of them, and it looks as though their spaces between the folds, I'm not sure that's the right word. Could you had a situation in which you had a Calabi-Yau manifold made of space-time and obviously two other dimensions was able to house universes within the folds? I realize this is well outside of the range of physics as it exists today, but again I just want to remind you that this is supposed to be a work of pure fiction.

I kind of like the idea the Calabi-Yau manifold as a knot and worlds or universes existing in the gaps that exist, however small relatively speaking, that you'd find in any kind of knot or structure.

I have a few other writing questions but I'm not sure is the place to ask them, and I guessed that would be a good idea to ask one specific question first.this doesn't need to be hugely accurate, I just need to know this is a completely lunatic idea, inasmuch as maybe there are no spaces within the Calabi-Yau manifold, and it's just an artifact of the visualization.
 
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Misericorde said:
I don't understand the math of them but I have seen visual representations of them, and it looks as though their spaces between the folds, I'm not sure that's the right word.
No, I don't think those spaces between the folds mean anything. That's just an artifact of a particular method of representing the manifold visually.
 
bcrowell said:
No, I don't think those spaces between the folds mean anything. That's just an artifact of a particular method of representing the manifold visually.

Also remember that Calabi-Yau manifold is 6-dimensional and so the popular picture you see is just only a "2-dimensional representation" of it.
 
OK, I thought that might be the case, thanks for the fast answers!
 

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