Volume 4: Spacetime Singularity Chapter 22 Peeling an Apple
"I've always had a question... How can we decide where to go if we can only move in a line..."
Ning Yu'an always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell exactly what was wrong.
"Are you asking how we can move on a three-dimensional Earth if we walk on a two-dimensional plane?"
"Emmmm... is that what I mean? Actually, I just feel that something is not right, but it is hard to describe. Anyway, you can understand what I want to say."
Fang Cheng himself had thought about this problem before. His movement on a two-dimensional plane would cause his position in the three-dimensional space of the earth to change, which sounded very unreasonable.
"I've also thought about this question. Although I haven't come to a clear conclusion, I do have a guess..."
"You can think of it a bit like peeling an apple... the surface of the apple is a two-dimensional sphere, but the path of the fruit knife when peeling the apple is one-dimensional, and as it rotates we can traverse the entire plane."
However, there is a prerequisite, that is, the peeled apple peel has a width.
Fang Cheng did not continue to think about this question, after all, it would involve more and more doubts. Just like if we want to define a torus, we must add another dimension in addition to the one-dimensional one. If we want to define a curled ring, we must introduce a new dimension. The space they are in now must not be three-dimensional.
Now he couldn't even figure out what space was. The concept of space and time that he had accumulated from a long period of physics training had long been shattered by the aliens. Now he was only willing to do minimal thinking.
Time was still moving slowly in the space where they were. The two people slowly moved to a position close to the ground. The earth gradually grew from the size of a palm to fill their field of vision. The various people and objects that were completely still on the ground also became extremely clear.
This is the small city where they live.
At this moment, this small seaside town, which originally had a small population, became even more deserted. After the curfew was implemented, basically no one went out for a stroll. Fang Cheng even felt that there were fewer seagulls.
A few minutes later, the two stepped onto the sidewalk beside the coastal highway.
The surroundings are extremely empty, and under the blue sky full of curly patterns is the vast sea. All you can see are lines and blocks of color. The only change is the dark blue bus stop on the roadside. Unlike in winter when it looks very abrupt in the snow, the bus stop at this moment is not so conspicuous against the blue sky and blue sea, but you can still see the clear color difference.
This is where the two of them met during the winter vacation.
Ning Yu'an followed Fang Cheng without saying a word. After she wanted to sit down on the iron bench, but her butt was empty and she fell heavily to the ground.
“Ouch… it hurts…”
She looked at the boy beside her who was extending his hand to her with a look of grievance. Fang Cheng saw that her big eyes became crystal clear and there was a thin layer of liquid in her eye sockets, and it seemed that she was about to cry again.
"Hey, I told you before, all of this is projected in front of us through the spacecraft. We can't really enter this three-dimensional space on the earth."
"Why? Are you saying that everything we see now is fake?"
After she stood up, she still had one hand on her butt, and it seemed that the pain just now was not just pretend.
"It's not fake. We are truly moving in this new space, and what we see are indeed things on Earth. It's just that we can't enter this space in person."
"Is there no way I can go in?"
"No, this is because the effect of time standing still is caused by relative speed. If we enter this space and move at the same speed as it, we will stop along with it."
"This... I feel like I've heard you talk about this somewhere before, but I can't remember exactly. This phenomenon seems to be quite famous. Even Hawking mentioned it. Isn't it very advanced..."
Ordinary people would not pay much attention to these issues, but Ning Yu'an has Fang Cheng by her side, and through the influence of him, her level of physics knowledge has far exceeded that of ordinary people.
"This is the theory of relativity. Of course it's famous. But it may not be advanced."
No matter how you look at it, the special theory of relativity was proposed more than a hundred years ago and should not be described as "advanced". There are many structures in modern physics that are more complex than the theory of relativity.
However, Fang Cheng realized that what he had just said was very unemotional, because he saw Ning Yu'an rolled her eyes slightly.
"Relativity... it's amazing. I never thought I'd be able to see the theory of relativity with my own eyes one day..."
"In fact, there are many phenomena in life that reflect the theory of relativity..."
Forget it, this topic will never end if we continue to talk about it, so let’s get down to business.
Fang Cheng is not a talkative person. Even when discussing something that interests him, he basically won't talk endlessly.
After all, he was very worried about being considered a talkative person. According to his childhood sweetheart , being talkative is a major minus for boys. To be on the safe side, he didn't want to leave this impression on anyone.
The two of them walked slowly side by side on the coastal highway just like before. Since they first met more than ten years ago, this scene has appeared countless times, and the two have never regarded this as a date.
"So where are we going now?"
"Go find the first monster and kill it first."
