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Originally Posted by dipayankar  Okay back to the basics.... any idea if a vortex is a 2D or 3D phenomenon? |
Graham is correct that the number of dimensions is relative to your perception.
When you look up in the night sky trying to spot Andromeda, the nearest spiral galaxy to Milky Way that can be seen with unaided eyes next to the square of Pegasus, this galactic vortex can be seen as a one dimensional dot.
When you get a powerful telescope and zero into it, with mono vision this galactic vortex is apparently two space dimension without the depth information.
A vortex manifested in the form of a whirlpool or in any viscous mass such as the dual-core galaxy M81 are basically a 3D with asymmetrical cone shape in 3D geometrical space. Put a mirror next to a basic cone shape structure you get a 4D image, with the reflected image of the cone in an opposite phase. Nature does this 4D feat by creating a dual core vortex in a high speed spin, the vortical cone of a basic vortex is differentiated in a high speed oscillation that stabilizes into two asymmetrical basic cone structure as a complimentary pair.
Take a look at the oceanic whirlpool image below, it has dilated harmonic vortices at different angular phases revolving around the main dual-core 4D vortex formed in a precession, by referring to the basic 3D cone shape vortex form as the subject, this is a 5D image of the basic 3D shape simple vortex, or a 4D+1D of a dual core vortex that has differentiated also in physical oscillation. By ignoring the basic cone shape simple vortex, in an absolute manner the complex shape oscillating vortex can be deemed to have a 3D space geometry.
If you can imagine you are being carried on a higher dimension vortex on a same plane as that observed 5D vortex, and by dislodging yourself from this plane in a free suspended standing manner to observe the 5D vortex you get a 6D visual of this 5D vortex in another differentiate level, and on and on these added dimensions can go to any higher order that is proportional to greater complexity.
Therefore how many space geometry dimensions does a vortex has is relative to your perception.
If you are perceiving vortex as 3D spatial vectors, then it has zero dimension on a geometrical reality, these are fictitious force interactions that do not really have any physical form.
Your TV screen is actually a one dimension dot scanning a high speed oscillations that give you a 2D illusion as virtual images, in a hologram it is a 3D illusion as the preceived virtual images.
Conceptually, you can include the time dimension to the 3D spatial vector model to become a 4D physics model, and add more dimensions with other physical properties to conceptual visualize any quantifiable study in these multi-dimension physics models.
Hope this has answered your core seeking question.