The Science of Interstellar

complexified tesseract, 252–253, 256–261, 264–266

moving forward and backward in our universe’s time by moving through the bulk, 261, 271

science compromises to make film great, 61–62, 63–64, 97–98, 144–145, 168–169, 196

science compromises to make film accessible to mass audience, 69–70, 76, 150–151, 242

Kip’s overall view on his science compromises, 9

use of sets instead of computer graphics, 13–14

communicating rule sets to audience, 262

oxygen cycle, 281

pathogens, 108–111, 113

planets of our solar system, 20–21, 21, 71, 71

Professor Brand’s equation, 200–201, 212–222; see also blackboards, Professor Brand’s

Kip’s discussions with Christopher Nolan about what the equation should be, 9, 213

and the Professor’s struggle to understand gravity, 213–220

and controlling gravity’s strength, so as to lift colonies off Earth, 212, 221, 223, 263, 273–274

specific form of the equation, 220

explanation of equation, 220–221

solving the equation—what that means, 221

iterations in solving the equation, 221–222, 221

quantum data, see quantum gravity data

quantum fluctuations, 28–29, 155–156, 197, 223–225, 268, 273, 287

quantum foam, 134–135, 224–225

quantum gravity data

what these data are, 224–225

encoded in the singularities inside a black hole, 225–227

extracting them from a singularity, 170, 223, 266

quantum gravity, see laws of physics, quantum gravity laws

quantum physics, see laws of physics, quantum laws

quasars:

discovery of, 88–89

explanation by black-hole accretion disk, 89–91

jets powered by whirling magnetic fields, 91–92

revolutions that upend scientific truth, 24, 202

rocket technology:

twenty-first century, 68, 117

far future, 117–120

science:

the power of, for humans, 275

the importance of understanding science, its power and its limitations, 275

truth, educated guess, and speculation in, 30–34

science fiction:

contrast with science fantasy, 62

respectability in, 246–247

singularities:

what a singularity is, 225–226

as the domain of quantum gravity, 49, 225–227

naked singularities, 59, 227–230

inside black holes, see singularities inside black holes

singularities inside black holes:

the chaotic, lethal BKL singularity, 230–231, 246

the infalling (mass-inflation) singularity, 232–233, 246, 248–249

the outflying (shock) singularity, 233–234, 246, 248–249

“gentleness” of infalling and outflying singularities, 234, 246–247

Cooper sandwiched between singularities in Interstellar, 248–249

slingshots, see gravitational slingshots

solar system, 20–21, 21, 71, 71

solving gravity, see Professor Brand’s equation

space colonies, 273–275, 290

spacetime:

unification (mixing) of space and time, 185–186

causal structure of, 297–298

warping of, see warped spacetime

space warps, see warped spacetime

stars:

nearest, 115–117

Tau Ceti, 115–117

Proxima Centauri, 21, 116–117, 120

torn apart by black holes, 93–94, 148–149

Sun, 20–21, 20

space warped around, 37–39, 47, 32, 39

tidal forces of, 43

temperature of, 94

gravitational force of, and planetary orbits, 194–195, 202

particles flying out from, 24–25

superstring theory, 30, 187–188, 187, 284

tendex lines, 41–44, 41, 151–153, 151, 152, 153, 164–165, 165, 209–211, 209, 210, 214–216, 214, 215; see also tidal gravity

tesseract:

as a hypercube in a space with four dimensions, 253, 253

as a means of transport through the bulk, 34, 193, 196–197, 200–201

in the novel A Wrinkle in Time, 289

tesseract, in Interstellar:

saves Cooper from singularity, 251, 252

entrance to, 252

transports Cooper to vicinity of Murph’s bedroom, 254–255

Cooper sees six views into bedroom, 256–257

Cooper sends signals backward in time to Murph, via the tesseract, 263–266, 270–271, 297–298

see also tesseract, Nolan’s complexified

tesseract, Nolan’s complexified

images from Interstellar, 257, 261, 265

Christopher Nolan’s hand drawing of, 259

Kip’s explanation of, 256–261, 265–266, 270–271

sending messages backward in bedroom time, 263–266, 270–271, 297–298

Thorne, Kip, see Kip Thorne

tidal bores, 166, 167

tidal field, see tendex lines; tidal gravity

tidal forces, see tendex lines; tidal gravity

tidal gravity:

instruments to measure, 209–211, 210

Newton’s viewpoint, 42–43

and straightest paths through warped spacetime, 41, 44, 278

tendex viewpoint, 41–44

and ocean tides on Earth, 42–43

and gravitational waves, 151–153

on Jupiter’s moon Io, 168

on Miller’s planet, 58, 163–166, 284, 292

tears stars apart, 93–94, 148–149, 280

squeezes accretion disk, 98

and design of the Endurance, 180–181

pries Endurance apart from Mann’s planet, 237–238, 238

and gravitational anomalies, 213–216

near singularities, 231–233, 251

see also tendex lines

tides:

on Earth’s oceans, 42–43

on Miller’s planet, 163, 166

time travel:

what we know about, without a bulk, 266–269

with a bulk, 269

in Interstellar:

Christopher Nolan’s rule set for, 263

messaging Murph backward in time, 263–266, 265, 270–271, 270, 289–290, 297–298, 298

time warps, see time warps, Einstein’s law of; warped spacetime