Not a stupid question at all. Here’s the Wikipedia article for it. The significant part is this:
The 5-dimensional discs [have] tiny patterns printed on 3 layers within the discs. Depending on the angle they are viewed from, these patterns can look completely different. This may sound like science fiction, but it’s basically a really fancy optical illusion. In this case, the 5 dimensions inside of the discs are the size and orientation in relation to the 3-dimensional position of the nanostructures. The concept of being 5-dimensional means that one disc has several different images depending on the angle that one views it from, and the magnification of the microscope used to view it. Basically, each disc has multiple layers of micro and macro level images.
Wavelength could add a dimension. For example, if you have an optical disc (2D) that can be read and written separately by red and blue lasers, that makes it 3D.
That’s neat, so it’s using a trick of mathematics and physics to store info in greater dimensionality than just what the physical universe is limited to? Kinda like how we can use coordinates to represent 4d points on a graph even if we can’t really visualize it?
Yes. Generally, “three dimensions” refers to three spatial dimensions: left/right, up/down, forward/backward. And then the fourth dimension is usually time. But if you’re not talking about movement in space/time, you can have as many dimensions as you want. For example, in a video game, you can have movement in three dimensions, but you could also allow the player to move through time (fourth dimension), change characters that interact with the world differently (fifth), and so on.
Probably a stupid question, but how can the crystals be 5d if oir universe is (at a meaningful scale) 4d?
Not a stupid question at all. Here’s the Wikipedia article for it. The significant part is this:
Wavelength could add a dimension. For example, if you have an optical disc (2D) that can be read and written separately by red and blue lasers, that makes it 3D.
That’s neat, so it’s using a trick of mathematics and physics to store info in greater dimensionality than just what the physical universe is limited to? Kinda like how we can use coordinates to represent 4d points on a graph even if we can’t really visualize it?
Yes. Generally, “three dimensions” refers to three spatial dimensions: left/right, up/down, forward/backward. And then the fourth dimension is usually time. But if you’re not talking about movement in space/time, you can have as many dimensions as you want. For example, in a video game, you can have movement in three dimensions, but you could also allow the player to move through time (fourth dimension), change characters that interact with the world differently (fifth), and so on.