four-dimensional fragment
Names: four-dimensional fragmentsoap bubblethe puddlethe fragment
First appears in Book 3: Death's End, chapter 38 (Post-Deterrence Era, Day 1–Day 5 Gravity and Blue Space, Deep Space Beyond the Oort Cloud)
Appearances
B1
B2
B3
What you know
Book 3: Death's End
- Ch 38The four-dimensional fragment is a region of four-dimensional space inside three-dimensional space. Its three-dimensional projection is thought spherical, with a radius of forty to fifty AU, about the Solar System's size.
- Ch 38The fragment is moving away from the Solar System in the same direction as the ships. Trisolaris is thought unaware of it.
- Ch 38Probes sent into it have detected about a hundred sealed, apparently artificial four-dimensional objects that show no activity and emit no signals.
- Ch 38Deeper in the fragment, micrometeoroid strikes grow denser. Ships are defenseless there because their protective layers do not shield against the fourth dimension.
- Ch 38It is shrinking as four-dimensional matter decays into three dimensions, producing glowing lines at its boundary and releasing enormous energy.
- Ch 38The lost dimension curls up into one of the seven microscopic dimensions folded in the quantum realm.
Key moments
- Book 3 · Ch 38Exploring the Ring
Guan, Zhuo and West fly a pinnace through four-dimensional space to the Ring, exchange prime-number bitmaps, and send the Rosetta System. The Ring declares itself a tomb and converses with them.
- Book 3 · Ch 38The Ring decays into three-dimensional space
The fragment shrinks and the ships exit. After twenty-two days the Ring enters three-dimensional space and decays into a one-AU line of light that becomes a dust belt. The ships collect some resources, and a council offers crews a choice to continue or return.