(August 11, 2010 at 4:51 am)AnunZi Wrote:(August 10, 2010 at 4:54 pm)ABierman1986 Wrote: I have read papers theorizing gravity as a manifestation of a higher spatial dimension, but I'd like to hear responses to this. Since increased mass implies increased gravitational effects, and gravity may be associated with higher spatial dimension is mass an indicator of the effects that 4th dimensional motion has on our perception? (I know, the logic here is very faulty, but its the line of thinking I went through to try and disprove) And could the relative movement of two bodies in this higher dimension have the consequences of relativistic effects? I know this is borderline philosophical, but I'd like to hear theoretical contradictions to this idea as I'm not as well versed in this as I'd like to be.
Are you saying that light in ALL cases is affected by mass/bodies along the 4th dimension? Or only in some cases thus resulting in the observable non-constant speed of light?
Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?
I'm strictly speaking of light in a free space, unimpeded by any medium. If we think of it as an Einstein thought experiment the idea would be two observers on spaceships (no light impedance through air or whatever), one moving very fast relative to the other in deep space. The moving one shines a flashlight straight up and the two observers measure the time it takes for the light to return. According to relativity the light will take a longer amount of time to measure based on the stationary observer than the moving one who shined the light. Also the mass of the moving ship will increase and the length will decrease.
My question is what is happening to the fabric of spacetime as one mass speeds past another, why does time slow down? An increased mass and shortened length would imply a more focused gravity well doesn't it? Since we know how light bends around gravity I thought that maybe the relativistic effects could be the result of a more focused gravity well. I'm not positive how this would correspond to the 4th dimension, but gravity's most promising contending theories that I've run across all seem to use a 4th spatial dimension. I'll try and find those papers so people can look at them.
My religion is the understanding of my world. My god is the energy that underlies it all. My worship is my constant endeavor to unravel the mysteries of my religion. 
