There is no b0x

We don’t have any trouble coping with three dimensions – or four at a pinch. The 3D world of solid objects and limitless space is something we accept with scarcely a second thought. Time, the fourth dimension, gets a little trickier. But it’s when we start to explore worlds that embody more – or indeed fewer – dimensions that things get really tough.

Ten dimensions, and we finally reach the fabled land of string theory. For all the vitriol that has been thrown at it, string theory is for the moment the only real game in town when it comes to attempts to bundle up quantum mechanics and general relativity into a “theory of everything”. It holds that all particles that make up matter or transmit forces arise from the vibration of tiny strings. Those strings are one-dimensional. The space they wiggle about in is not. In fact, it has 10 dimensions: nine of space, and one of time.