Voyage of the Stars.

Chapter 1482 Flagship Construction Begins

How big is a proton when it expands?
There is no answer to this question because the strong interaction binds quarks to the inside of the proton forever, making them impossible to separate. Since individual quarks do not exist in nature, the proton cannot unfold in the classical spherical shape as people imagine.

Furthermore, a proton is not a small ball like in popular science animations or images; as a fundamental particle, it does not actually have boundaries in the classical sense.

If this is true for elementary particles, then Calabi-Yau space, which exists in a microscopic dimension, cannot be understood using classical thinking.

In a physical sense, it is the core of string theory. In superstring theory, spacetime needs ten dimensions, namely nine spatial dimensions and one time dimension.

Of course, it can also be said to be eleven-dimensional. If you include the zero-dimensional space and add the time dimension, it becomes eleven-dimensional. The expressions are different, but they are actually the same.

The spacetime we observe in daily life is four-dimensional, that is, three-dimensional space plus one time dimension. Therefore, the additional six dimensions must be compacted, and the preferred geometry for these six dimensions is the Calabi-Yau manifold.

So far, apart from humans and the Awakeners, other civilizations can only understand it abstractly through mathematical expressions.

That is the realm of the microscopic world.

While the other three civilizations were engaged in large-scale construction, human civilization was no exception, also building its own dreamlike Lyra in the realm of the microscopic world.

Unlike the Awakener civilization, the commotion caused by humans was also quite significant. In the early stages of the construction of the Dream Lyra, human civilization, like the Galactic Heart civilization and the Daya civilization, needed to build various structures for the Dream Lyra in space.

The general idea is similar: after building these things, use spatial folding technology to fold up the space they occupy and put them into a "box".

However, the "packaging" process is completely different between human civilization and the Daya and Galactic civilizations. The latter two build a real warship hull with a clear physical shape and then embed folded space into it.

Human civilization is different because humans do not need to build a warship hull themselves, but directly visualize the Calabi-Chu manifold.

In the past, human civilization's scientific understanding considered Calabi-Yau manifolds to be purely mathematical concepts, not physical entities, but rather abstract structures. However, with the deepening of research into the microscopic dimension and the development of string theory, human civilization has gained a new understanding of Calabi-Yau manifolds in physics, recognizing them as real components of physical space, but which can only be observed by delving into the extremely microscopic realm.

This is why the Dream Lyra Project was proposed and received support.

During the construction of the Dream Lyra, the macroscopic construction steps were not much different from those of other conventional warships; its focus was on the microscopic realm.

The difficulties in construction are almost entirely in the microscopic realm.

To build the dreamlike Lyra, the first problem that human civilization needs to solve is the visualization of the Calabi-Yau manifold, followed by the unfolding of the Calabi-Yau manifold, and then the process of bringing the constructed structure to the microscopic realm and embedding it into the unfolded Calabi-Yau manifold.

To build the dreamlike Lyra, human civilization is now united in its efforts, with genius scientists from all disciplines dedicating themselves to this mega-project.

To complete the dreamlike Lyra within the planned timeframe, human civilization adopted a multi-stage, simultaneous construction approach, dividing the complex construction process of Lyra into thousands of smaller, concurrently carried out projects, and then combining the completed portions of these smaller projects. The construction of the macro-level components is self-explanatory, and the construction of the micro-level components has also begun. However, the construction of the micro-level components is not merely conducted on a micro scale; it combines macro-level equipment with micro-level engineering operations.

Looking out from the starry sky, one can see a large circle with a diameter of about one million kilometers around the area where human civilization is built. The circle is filled with all kinds of super-large equipment, including space stabilization devices, super-force field generators, force field manipulation devices, third-person observation platforms, space folding and splicing devices, microscopic high-dimensional stabilizers, and various types of particle detectors. All kinds of instruments and equipment are available.

Construction of the Lyra Dream has begun, and these facilities are already operational.

On the other hand, construction takes place in the microscopic realm.

As you get closer to that large circle, you can see that occasionally engineering spaceships emerge from the center of the circle, while others come into the circle with various functional equipment and then disappear. They appear and disappear like ducks diving.

Clearly, these engineering vessels are operators in the microscopic realm. Through the targeted application of quantum exile technology, they send themselves into specific microscopic realms to carry out construction work on a Calabi-Yau manifold.

Yue Yuan also entered the microscopic realm through the third-person observation mode of the consciousness link. Seeing him enter, Long Xinglv, who happened to have some time, gave him a general overview of the construction process.

In the third-person observation mode, Long Xinglv spoke through consciousness communication: "Commander Yue, as you can see, the construction of the Dream Lyra is now on track. With the cooperation of various macroscopic facilities, we have now entered the first stage of construction, namely the materialization of the Calabi-Yau manifold."

Following the direction indicated by the consciousness of the Dragon Star Journey, Yue Yuan saw a group of distorted spaces. These spaces were like dynamic images suspended in mid-air, constantly changing their appearance as if they were alive.

The scene was like stepping into the world of Cthulhu.

Yue Yuan knew that it wasn't Cthulhu, but rather Calabi-Yo manifolds, some of which were known to humankind, but many more were unknown.

Each tiny six-dimensional space is curled up in every point of spacetime, just as a hair's cross-section, when magnified, is still a multi-dimensional structure. Its complex topology determines the basic physical laws of the universe, similar to how DNA encodes the laws of the universe.

Humanity chose a Calabi-Yau manifold type as the battle body of the Dream Lyra, and what Yue Yuan "sees" now are those that are fixed within a controllable range by the force field.

What human civilization is doing now is to visualize that chosen manifold, which, according to Long Xinglv, is achieved through the theory of membrane space geometry in the environment of a super-force field.

After the visualization is completed, the next step is to use precise force field manipulation to roll the target Calabi-Yau manifold onto the membrane little by little, like rolling out dough.

In this process, humans must meticulously record every change in the manifold being manipulated so that it can be rolled back later.

This step will take about 10,000 years. After the unfolding is completed, the next step is the welding process.

(End of this chapter)