A decade ago, journalist Frances Cairncross coined the phrase "the death of distance" to describe how airline travel and telecommunications have made distance matter a lot less to us than it did to our grandparents. This social trend has anticipated a scientific one: the growing realization among physicists and cosmologists that distance in the physical world is not quite what it appears to be. This talk will explore issues discussed in the March 2009 cover story of Scientific American, in Brian Green\'s book The Fabric of the Cosmos, and in chapter 18 of my book, The Complete Idiot\'s Guide to String Theory.

1. THE DEATH OF DISTANCE (IN PHYSICS) George Musser – 7 May 2009

2. 1. What is space?

3. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080508.html

4. The Manifold of Space

5. Physics in the Pool Hall http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Translational_motion.gif

6. If you think it’s hard to imagine a higher dimension, try imagining a complete absence of space!

7. 2. The principle of locality

9. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/pictures/1991.07.1134.jpeg

10. Physics in the Pool Hall http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Translational_motion.gif

11. What About Forces That Seem to Jump? Michael Faraday

12. Dreams of Fields http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magnetic_Field_08060_nevit.jpg

13. Dreams of Fields http://web.mit.edu/jbelcher/www/on.html

15. 3. The failure of locality

18. Quantum Nonlocality #2

19. The Particle Newlywed Game Alice Bob Question Answer Question Answer 3 NO 1 NO 2 YES 2 YES 3 NO 1 YES 3 YES 3 YES 1 NO 2 YES 1 YES 2 NO 2 YES 1 NO 3 NO 3 NO 2 NO 3 NO 1 YES 3 NO

20. The Particle Newlywed Game Alice Bob Question Answer Question Answer 3 NO 1 NO 2 YES 2 YES 3 NO 1 YES 3 YES 3 YES 1 NO 2 YES 1 YES 2 NO 2 YES 1 NO 3 NO 3 NO 2 NO 3 NO 1 YES 3 NO

21. The Particle Newlywed Game Alice Bob Question Answer Question Answer 3 NO 1 NO 2 YES 2 YES 3 NO 1 YES 3 YES 3 YES 1 NO 2 YES 1 YES 2 NO 2 YES 1 NO 3 NO 3 NO 2 NO 3 NO 1 YES 3 NO

22. The Particle Newlywed Game Alice Bob Question Answer Question Answer 3 NO 1 NO 2 YES 2 YES 3 NO 1 YES 3 YES 3 YES 1 NO 2 YES 1 YES 2 NO 2 YES 1 NO 3 NO 3 NO 2 NO 3 NO 1 YES 3 NO

23. Could They Have Memorized the Answers? Alice Bob 1 2 3 1 2 3 NO NO YES YES NO YES YES YES NO YES YES NO YES NO NO NO NO NO YES NO

24. Could They Have Memorized the Answers? Alice Bob 1 2 3 1 2 3 NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES NO YES YES NO YES YES NO YES YES NO NO YES YES NO YES YES NO YES NO YES YES NO YES NO YES YES NO YES NO YES NO NO YES NO NO YES NO NO YES NO NO NO NO NO YES NO YES NO NO YES NO NO

25. Could They Have Memorized the Answers? ⅓ × 100 + ⅔ × 50 = 66.7 Same question Different questions Chance of giving the same answer

26. Quantum Nonlocality #2

27. Nonlocality in General Relativity http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=75511 ( left )

28. Nonlocality in General Relativity

29. Nonlocality in Quantum Field Theory

30. The Fine Structure of Spacetime American Scientist , Nov/Dec 91

31. Nonlocality in Black Holes http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20011015blackhole.html Jump

32. The Paradox of Black Holes http://www.medwastesolutions.com/shop/images/VCLO0204.JPG ( left ); http://www.flickr.com/photos/kuw_son/327038455 ( right ) vs.

33. From Matter to Mush

34. Nonlocality in Big Bang Cosmology http://hubblesite.org/hubble_discoveries/10th/photos/graphics/slide40high.jpg ( left), http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/images/hs-1998-41-e-large_web.jpg ( right ) Hubble Deep Field North Hubble Deep Field South

35. Horizon Problem

36. 4. What is space?

37. From Position to Distance

38. From Position to Distance

39. From Position to Distance From Distance to Position

40. From Distance to Position

41. From Distance to Position You can assign positions to the cities only if the table of distances is highly ordered.

42. A Tangled Web

43. A Tangled Web

44. 5. The emergence of space

45. Start With a Quark-Gluon Plasma… http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/photos/2005/gas-and-liquid-300.jpg

46. … With a Hierarchy of Scales aka The devil isn’t in the details.

47. Hierarchy of Scales

48. … and a Spatial Dimension Appears

49. 6. Conclusion

51. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boeing_737-73V_-_EasyJet_Airline_-_G-EZJI_-_LEMD.jpg ( top ); http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/CandlestickTelephones.jpg ( bottom )

52. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arbor_Lake-Aerial.JPG ( top ); http://hoboken411.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/text-messaging-at-dinner.jpg ( bottom )

55. Backup Slides

57. Special Theory of Relativity

58. Nonlocality in Black Holes Scientific American , Feb 09

59. Black Hole Complementarity As viewed by the victim As viewed by the victim’s family

60. Nonlocality in Big Bang Cosmology http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/product/map/dr3/map_images/ilc_5yr_ecl_lmbrt_2048.png

61. Energy and Size in Quantum Theory Position Momentum

62. Energy and Size in General Relativity Threshold for Black Hole Formation 6 Kilometers  1 Solar Mass 1 Centimeter  1 Earth Mass 0.1 Millimeter  1 Moon Mass

63. The Tree of Physics Mercury Nov/Dec 97