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Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Tesseract

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A 3D projection of a rotating tesseract. (In response to Brian0918's suggestion: The tesseract is suspended and oriented so that all edges, faces, and cubes are either parallel or perpendicular to the direction the projecting light is pointing. The tesseract rotates about a 2D axis perpendicular to the direction of the projecting light.)
Reason
I nominated this animation because in really helped me visualize a tesseract. Compare with still tesseract image. The colors are clear and make it stand out nicely.
Articles this image appears in
Tesseract
Creator
Jason Hise
Nominator
Leon math
  • Support Oh boy that confuses me. That would definetly make a great screensaver. It tis be a winner. Why1991 02:40, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Support That's cool --Fir0002 02:57, 12 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support I've been trying to picture this since I was a kid. Noraad 03:00, 12 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Strong Support It suddenly makes sense! --Iriseyes 03:08, 12 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - a lovely illustration of a projected rotation - does anyone know a well-established mathematician who has claimed to be able to visualize 4 spatial dimensions without tricks such as projection or cross-sectioning? I seem to recall hearing that no mathematician has ever claimed that. Debivort 05:36, 12 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    • We have 2D computer displays. An animation can be seen as having 3 dimensions, the two of the screen, plus time. The domain of animations on computer screens could therefore be considered to be . Since an domain is not a subspace of , the only way it can be converted to is through a map, such as . Projections and cross-sections are just types of maps. You could come up with other maps but you still couldn't "see" the whole shape at once since your animation only has a domain of . For a static image, you have only an domain available. Therefore you would need a map, such as the projection you see in a single frame of this animation. What you're asking for is sort of like the vector space version of saying "Has any mathematician found a way to make 4=3?" Hope that helps. —Dgiest c 06:01, 12 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
      • While a nice explanation and use of notation, it doesn't really help because I was just curious if anyone with mathematical clout had ever historically claimed to be able to visualize it. I've had some pothead buddies say they could visualize 4 spatial dimensions, that doesn't carry much weight. Debivort 07:16, 12 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
        • This is nothing any mathmatician could do for us. To visualize four spatial dimensions you'd have to overcome the limitations of your own mind, which is from birth on conditioned to three spatial dimensions. Interesting question whether this limitation is intrinsic, or environmental. Fact is, we have two 2D organs, which deliver just enough information to generate a pseudo 3D image in your mind. Even if reality would have more than three spatial dimensions there is no way we could see 4D. --Dschwen 12:17, 12 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
          • You guys are sure answering a historical question with a lot of certainty. One could imagine a flatlander claiming to be able to visualize something in 3D, and I could similarly imagine a person claiming to be able to see 4. I just wonder whether it has happeened or not. Debivort 13:43, 12 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
            • Yeah yeah, and if a tree falls and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?. I'm not answering the historical question with certainty. However I'm answering your question with the certainty that the math of sub-spaces and projections gives me. And furthermore it should be obvious that I'm in no way certain about the role the brain plays in the apparent (?) limitation to 3 dimensions. --Dschwen 15:47, 15 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
        • OK, so perhaps there was a misunderstanding. I thought you were asking if there was a way of visualizing in terms of images and videos without using a projection or slicing technique, and showed why that's not possible. You were really asking if someone can see higher-dimensional objects in their mind's eye. I don't think it's a topic of serious mathematical discussion as it is not verifiable by anyone else. —Dgiest c 16:43, 12 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
          • Yes I could definately visualize 4 dimensions after first reading Flatland. I couldn't see anything in the fourth dimension of course since there's nothing to see but I could clearly visualize 4D "spheres" and "pyramids" moving through 3 dimensional space. --frothT 23:05, 12 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Support per all above. Krowe 06:27, 12 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Promoted Image:Tesseract.gif --KFP (talk | contribs) 00:06, 19 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]