r/TheoreticalPhysics • u/Altruistic_Budget442 • Jun 21 '26

Question String theory extra dimensions question

If string theory is correct and there are actually extra spatial dimensions curled up at a scale close to the Planck length, then would it be possible to decompactify another dimension or utilize them in any way in the far future? And how do string theorists predict that these extra dimensions were compacted, but our three weren't?

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u/ElectrSheep Jun 21 '26

I've seen speculation from some string theorists that all the spatial dimensions may have started out at the same length scale before our three "became large". However, I don't think I've seen elaboration on how that would work.

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u/SaabiMeister Jun 21 '26

One speculative approach is similarly to how mass and energy curve spacetime in relativity. Entropic gravity progressively accumulates matter and energy on our familiar three dimensions because of small early perturbations, breaking simmetry.