Skip to content
  • Stories
    • Create
    • Connect
    • Capitalize
    • Intelligent Content
  • Events
  • Sign Up
  • Sign In
February 8, 2022

I’m Sorry, Did You Say “Fifth Dimension”?

author
Adrian Pennington
fifth dimension

Experiments into phenomena beyond our real world perception could unlock generational leaps in micro processing with and quantum computing.

A new study opens up the possibility of creating “photonic microchips” that can be arranged in multiple dimensions — essentially permitting more information and processing in a smaller space.

Most models of the universe assume that all matter exists within the four familiar dimensions of depth, width, and length (spatial), plus time.

But what if that isn’t right? What if other matter exists in extra dimensions that humans cannot experience?

Scientists led by Armandas Balčytis, a research fellow at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, have sought to put the theory to the test.

In an apparent first-of-its-kind experiment they have created a “synthetic dimension” using a tiny photonic device known as a silicon ring resonator.

Details of the experiment were published in Science Advances. The central innovation was miniaturization: Whereas previous comparable experiments in this area used fiber-based platforms that stretched 10 meters in circumference, the new study’s ring resonator is several millimeters across.

“Ideally, we’d like to include more and more functionalities onto our tiny integrated photonic chips, so we can shrink expensive, bulky pieces of equipment, and miniaturize them onto tiny, more robust, powerful, integrated photonic chips.”

— Armandas Balčytis, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

In emails sent to Becky Ferreira at Vice, Balčytis explains:

“The key to synthetic dimensions is that it is possible to use some other variable of the system that is not generally thought of as spatial (frequency of light waves, polarization, delay between pulses etc.) as if it represented an additional coordinate.

“In this way you can have a single device (like the ring in our study) stand in for a linear chain of rings. By combining multiple different synthetic dimension variables it is also possible to emulate models beyond three dimensions.”

READ MORE: Scientists Are Creating ‘Synthetic Dimensions’ to Probe Limits of 4D Reality (Vice)

Where does this fit in with the future of media? Well, as an example, synthetic dimensions can be used to investigate light’s behavior, which can help answer fundamental questions in optics and photonics while also opening up practical innovations in telecommunications, computing, and other applied fields.

Balčytis says “there are many predicted effects that can be… harnessed for creating innovative on-chip devices.”

Finding how higher dimensional phenomena can be employed to power new functionalities in quantum photonics, optical isolation on a chip, or optical information processing is an intriguing challenge to optical scientists and engineers.

Stacking ring resonators could create more complex simulations of dimensions beyond three spatial dimensions, he said, which could both enable advanced new photonic technologies as well as a broader understanding of the fundamental physics that govern our reality.

“Ideally, we’d like to include more and more functionalities onto our tiny integrated photonic chips, so we can shrink expensive, bulky pieces of equipment, and miniaturize them onto tiny, more robust, powerful, integrated photonic chips.”

READ MORE: Synthetic dimension band structures on a Si CMOS photonic platform (Science Advances)

LEARN MORE ABOUT ATTENDING THE 2022 NAB SHOW

Are you interested in contributing ideas, suggestions or opinions? We’d love to hear from you. Email us here.

  • Broadcast
  • Streaming
  • Connect
  • Distribution and Delivery
  • Industry Resources
  • Business and Technology Consultants

Subscribe

for more content like this sent directly to your inbox:

Sign Up
  • Main Pages
  • Homepage
  • Stories
  • Events
  • Companies
  • Products
  • Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Code of Conduct
  • Cookie Policy
  • Quick Links
  • Advertising & Thought Leadership
  • NAB Amplify Press
  • FAQs
  • Technical Difficulties
  • Contact
  • Cookie Preferences
  • RSS Feed
The Angle Newsletter

Weekly editorial newsletter covering the latest content, events and more taking place on NAB Amplify.

Subscribe

© 2023 National Association of Broadcasters. All Rights Reserved.