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Much like other candidates for a grand unifying theory – aka the Theory of Everything (TOE) – the belief that the Universe is made up of ten dimensions (or more, depending on which model of string theory you use) is an attempt to reconcile the standard model of particle physics with the existence of gravity. Hence why scientists believe that by peering back through time and using telescopes to observe light from the early Universe (i.e., billions of years ago), they might be able to see how the existence of these additional dimensions could have influenced the evolution of the cosmos.
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While imperceptible as far as our senses are concerned, they would have governed the formation of the Universe from the very beginning. If the extra dimensions are compactified, then the extra six dimensions must be in the form of a Calabi–Yau manifold (shown above). The fact that we can perceive only four dimensions of space can be explained by one of two mechanisms: either the extra dimensions are compactified on a very small scale, or else our world may live on a 3-dimensional submanifold corresponding to a brane, on which all known particles besides gravity would be restricted (aka. The existence of these additional six dimensions, which we cannot perceive, is necessary for String Theory for there to be consistency in nature. The existence of extra dimensions is explained using the Calabi-Yau manifold, in which all the intrinsic properties of elementary particles are hidden. Beyond this, nothing can be imagined by us lowly mortals, which makes it the natural limitation of what we can conceive in terms of dimensions. In the tenth and final dimension, we arrive at the point where everything possible and imaginable is covered. In the ninth dimension, we can compare all the possible universe histories, starting with all the different possible laws of physics and initial conditions. Each begins with different initial conditions and branches out infinitely (hence why they are called infinities). The eighth dimension again gives us a plane of such possible universe histories. Whereas in the fifth and sixth, the initial conditions were the same, and subsequent actions were different, everything is different from the very beginning of time. In the seventh dimension, you have access to the possible worlds that start with different initial conditions. In theory, if you could master the fifth and sixth dimensions, you could travel back in time or go to different futures. In the sixth, we would see a plane of possible worlds, where we could compare and position all the possible universes that start with the same initial conditions as this one (i.e., the Big Bang). If we could see on through to the fifth dimension, we would see a world slightly different from our own, giving us a means of measuring the similarity and differences between our world and other possible ones. According to Superstring Theory, the fifth and sixth dimensions are where the notion of possible worlds arises.