Question 1

My mathematician husband told me that Klein bottle does not have volume. But it looks that this bottle can hold liquid. How come?

Accepted Answer

Both of you are right!  Yes, the glass Klein bottle can hold water - you can put about 13 ounces "into" it.  Mathematically, as your husband points out, the bottle doesn't divide the universe into an "inside" and an "outside".  So, to a topologist, it has zero volume.  A solid ball and an empty cube both separate the universe into an inside and an outside, as does a sealed wine carafe.  Other shapes - a rectangle or a hemisphere - don't separate the universe and in this sense, do not have volume.

Having said this, I don't recommend that you fill your Klein bottle with water, mainly because it's difficult to dry.  Filling it is fairly easy, but because there's little air circulation, the last few droplets of water  are difficult to remove.  Leave it inverted overnight, and the droplets will gather in the handle, then you can shake 'em out.

Best wishes,   -Cliff Stoll

Question 2

Why is Faraday's law of induction and Gauss' law for magnetic fields included in the description?

Accepted Answer

An interesting question, worthy of a detailed explanation.  These are two of Maxwell's equations.   ∇⃗ · B⃗ = 0 is Gauss's law: there must be zero net flux of magnetic field lines out of a closed surface.  This implies that there are no magnetic monopoles.  Our Klein bottles are delivered with no magnetic monopoles - we guarantee it.  Should you find a pesky magnetic monopole, we will refund your purchase price.   ∇×E=−dB/dt , also known as Faraday's law of induction, shows that a time changing magnetic field creates an electric field.  This is valid for oriented manifolds, due to the Kelvin-Stokes theorem. It does not apply to a nonorientable manifold (such as a Klein bottle in R4-space).  Our Klein bottles are immersed (not embedded) in R3-space, and so,  ∇×E=−dB/dt  is valid locally, at least in a nonrelativistic frame of reference.  We are confident that each Acme Klein bottle will not interfere with classical electromagnetism, and so we've included this in the description.

Question 3

Is this compatible with my Klein Bottle Opener?

Accepted Answer

Hmm: A Klein bottle is a closed manifold ... by this, I mean that it has no boundary.  No edge.  It's a compact manifold without boundary.
  So, your Klein bottle opener shouldn't be able to open it ...   
If you do open the Klein bottle, I think you'll wind up with a pair of mathematically closed Mobius loops - each a Mobius loop with boundary. 
 Remove the points at the boundary, and the Mobius loop becomes mathematically open.  Like the difference between the closed unit interval  [0...1] and the open unit interval (0...1).   
All of which dodges your question ...

Question 4

Dear Cliff, why I cannot buy it in Europe?

Accepted Answer

I happily ship to Europe - over the past 25 years, I've sent Klein bottles to math folk around the globe.  However, I've had trouble writing the interface that connects my computer to the Amazon Marketplace system, especially Amazon-Europe.  I coded it for Amazon-USA, but not yet for other regions.

ASIN	B017UY60MK
Additional Features	Non-orientable Surface
Age Range Description	Adult
Best Sellers Rank	#75,405 in Industrial & Scientific ( See Top 100 in Industrial & Scientific ) #163 in Camping & Hiking Hydration Canteens #569 in Science Education Supplies
Bottle Type	Klein Bottle
Brand Name	Acme Klein Bottle
Capacity	8 ounces
Color	transparent
Container Type	Bottle
Customer Reviews	4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars (348)
Finish Types	Glossy
Item Dimensions W x H	3.94"W x 7.87"H
Item Weight	8 Ounces
Manufacturer	Acme Klein Bottles
Manufacturer Part Number	3.14159
Material Type	Borosilicate Glass
Material Type Free	Bisphenol A (BPA) Free
Model Name	Glass Klein
Model Number	3.14159
Number of Items	1
Number of Packs	1
Product Care Instructions	Microwave Safe
Recommended Uses For Product	Decoration, Education, Gift
Reusability	Reusable
Shape	Smooth, differentiable, non-orientable
Specific Uses For Product	gift;decor;education
UPC	702630229270
Unit Count	1.0 Count

Handmade Glass Klein Bottle

Details

Details

Description

Specifications

Common Questions