Hyperspace

The first rule of starfaring: do not stare into hyperspace. Never, ever, stare deep into hyperspace; not because of what is there -it is not a separate place from the space we know- but because of what it is. Hyperspace is simply normal space in another direction, one you could not think of if you wanted to, and that in itself is the problem. When a ship flies through hyperspace, it moves by vectors that we can only understand through the comfort of abstract math. Watching it happen before your eyes is a sure way to drive yourself mad. Because the second you stop staring at that void, you will know that for a fleeting moment you understood God, and the only way to get that moment back is to confront the void again.

— Brother Nicodemos of the Order of Saint Mercurion

Hyperspace is, as the name suggests, a dimensionally higher space than the physical universe. The fifth dimension, described by ancient mathematician Bernhard Riemann, allows for the convergence of gravity and the electroweak force into a single unifying field. This unity was first envisioned, in human technological history at least, by Theodor Kaluza, and built upon by Oskar Klein, both canonized as saints by the Mercurion Order for their works.

Core Theory

By applying general relativity to the Kaluza fifth dimensional metric, all of the relevant field equations can be generated with five-dimensional Maxwell equations, and the equations of motion from Riemann's five-dimensional geodesic hypothesis. These, then, provide both the equations of general relativity, electrodynamics, Lorentz force, and the four-dimensional geodesic equation. Additionally, according to hyperspace theory as applied to Coulomb mathematics, electric charge is identified with motion in the fifth dimension, and electromagnetism with the force of gravity. Furthermore, Mercurion discovered that hyperspace contains a compact sixth dimension of imaginary time, resolving Einstein's special relativity constraints as applied to real time and allowing for speeds arbitrarily greater than c.

Applications

Hyperspace can be accessed and manipulated from the fourth dimension with magnetic resonance produced by specially attuned superstring resonators, as discovered by the Klex at the dawn of the Hyperspace Era and humanity's Saint Mercurion in the 25th century HE.

Artificial Gravity

Passing an electromagnetic field distortion (i.e. an electrical current) through hyperspace produces an identical distortion in the gravitational field, and there is evidence that the opposite is also true (although attempts to technologically harness this aspect of the phenomenon have not yet succeeded). This field conversion is the basis of supergravity resonator systems, which provide artificial paragravity and contragravity for vehicles of various kinds.

Transportation

Physically, this dimension can also be used as a "shortcut" of sorts, allowing mass to travel across an additional dimension and thus circumvent the speed of light and the effects of relativity. This is done by projecting a resonance shift field around the mass, either from an external source (like the enormous ancient hyperdrivers that still lurk in the outer edges of settled star systems) or from an internal source (like the modern hyperdrives aboard most interstellar vessels).

Communication

By using supergravity resonance to vibrate superstrings in the compact sixth dimension of imaginary time, a vectorless pseudo-wave can be produced that transmits information across arbitrarily large distances instantaneously through hyperspace. This is a technology called hyperwave, which allows superluminal communication throughout known space on convenient timescales.

by Jason Hise

Type

Natural

Domain

Physics

Discoverer(s)

Saint Riemann (human)
Saint Mercurion (human)

Related Organizations

Dangers

Though most spacefaring species have invented the mathematics required to achieve access to hyperspace, even the most brilliant fourth-dimensional sophont mind is poorly-equipped to process the reality of the fifth dimension. It is commonly touted that the most important rule of spaceflight, at least as pertains to interstellar travel, is to avoid actually observing one's motion through hyperspace as much as reasonably possible. Spacers who do not often fall into incurable obsession with the inherently incomprehensible nature of hyperspace, a condition known as voidthrall.