existence is an educated guess, 32–33
evidence for existence from superstring theory, 186–188, 284
number of dimensions in the bulk, 187–188
confining gravity in, 194–199
problem of, 194–195
solution: curled-up dimensions, 195–196
solution: the Anti-deSitter warp, 196–201
for Interstellar: the Anti-deSitter sandwich and layer, 199–200
buckling instability of the sandwich, 200–201, 219, 219
Einstein’s relativistic laws in the bulk, 32, 224–225, 271
determined by the quantum gravity laws, 225
see also branes; bulk beings; bulk fields in Interstellar; fifth dimension; tesseract; time travel, with a bulk
bulk beings (hypothetical), 189–193, 190, 191, 193
motivated by Abbott’s Flatland, 190–193, 285
their physical nature—made of bulk fields, 192–193
appearance when they pass through our brane, 190–192
gravity, space warp, and space whirl due to, 192–193, 193
in Interstellar, 137, 193, 218, 247, 259, 261, 271
bulk fields in Interstellar:
defined and described, 215–216
tidal gravity and gravitational anomalies due to, 215, 215
Professor Brand’s suspicion that bulk fields control strength of gravity, 217, 286
may hold Interstellar’s wormhole open, 218
may protect our brane from collision with confining branes, 219
embodied in Professor Brand’s equation, 220–222, 295–296
see also Professor Brand’s equation
carbon cycle, 281–282
Cassini space mission (NASA), 72–74
centrifugal forces:
and angular momentum, 101
protect objects from falling into black holes, 67, 101
and stability of orbits, 162, 162, 241–242, 241
and the critical orbit (volcano’s rim), 121, 239–242, 244–245
near a spinning black hole: influence of space whirl, 164
confining gravity in the bulk, see bulk
critical orbit around a black hole, 60, 62–64, 121–122, 239–245, 247, 249
volcano analogy, 239–241, 239, 241, 296–297
explanation in terms of gravitational energy, centrifugal energy, and radial kinetic energy, 240–241
explanation in terms of centrifugal and gravitational forces, 241–242, 241
instability of critical orbit, 242
zoom-whirl orbit, relies on critical orbit, 121–122, 121
black-hole binary for interstellar travel uses critical orbit, 121–122, 121
in Interstellar:
Cooper navigates onto, 237–238, 238
Endurance’s near catastrophe on, 242–243
ejection of TARS and Cooper into Gargantua from, 242–244, 243
Endurance launch toward Edmunds’ planet from, 244–245, 244, 245
disks, see accretion disks
Disney movie The Black Hole, 50, 250
Double Negative visual effects, 10, 31, 50, 75, 81, 83, 85, 96, 97, 98, 138, 139, 144, 145, 171, 288, 293
dynamical friction, 70
Earth:
place in universe, Milky Way, and solar system, 19, 21, 21, 71
mapping of by explorers, 27–28, 28
magnetic field of, 23–24, 24
Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights), 24–25, 24
gravitational force lines of, 26, 26
gravitational force varies from location to location, 216–217, 217
tidal gravity due to varying density of Earth’s crust, 209–211
tides on Earth’s oceans, 42–43, 42, 43
tidal bores, 166, 167
tsunamis, 166, 167
slowing of time on Earth, 35–37, 36, 224
motion of stars on Earth’s sky, 81
global warming, 108
algae blooms, 108–109
Earth’s atmosphere, 110–114, 293–294
oxygen cycle, 281
carbon cycle, 281–282
ocean overturns, 293–294
in Interstellar:
possible catastrophes to create “Cooper’s world,” 105–111
blight, see blight in crops
gravitational anomalies, see gravitational anomalies on Earth
reducing Earth’s gravity so as to lift colonies off Earth, 274–275
Einstein ring, 79, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 145, 157
electric fields, 25, 92
Endurance:
movie set of, 9, 13–14
images of:
inside the Endurance’s control module, 9
Endurance floating in space before explosion, 180
Endurance in front of Gargantua’s accretion disk, 99
Endurance in front of the wormhole, 145
explosion on the Endurance, 181
Endurance floating in space after explosion, 181
Endurance nearly captured by Gargantua, 243
voyage of:
trip from Earth to Saturn with slingshot around Mars, 68, 74, 117
trip through wormhole, 139, 144–145, 272
parking orbit around Gargantua, 62, 63–64, 67, 69, 72, 161, 176
trip from parking orbit to Mann’s planet, 174–176
Endurance (continued)
explosion above Mann’s planet, 179, 181–182, 181
pried away from Mann’s planet and down toward critical orbit, 237–238; see also critical orbit
near capture by Gargantua, 242–244
on critical orbit, 247
launch toward Edmunds’ planet, 239, 244–245
design to withstand tidal gravity, 180–181
energy, types of:
chemical, 89
nuclear, 89, 118–119
gravitational, 68, 89–90, 120–123
event horizon:
defined, 22
created by the warping of time, 47–48
gravity ultrastrong near horizon, 162
shape of and depiction of, 49, 49, 57, 231, 232, 233, 249
circumference proportional to black hole’s mass, 58–59
radius defined, 59, 295
shape of space near, 62–63
gas carries magnetic field onto, 91–92
magnetic field threads horizon, 91–92