Particle Physics and Art in Superposition

Later today (or tomorrow depending on where you are based), the winner(s) of the Nobel Prize for Physics will be announced. At the time that I am writing this, the hot favorites are some combination of the theoretical physicists who predicted the Higgs mechanism. (Gerry Guralnik blogs for us about his role in the prediction.) Many are also calling for the ATLAS and CMS collaborations to be recognized for the discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the underground accelerator that is so vast it crosses the border between Switzerland and France.

This brings to mind a question posed by artist Lyndall Phelps, whom I met a few weeks ago at the launch of her particle-physics inspired exhibition, Covariance, open now at the London Canal Museum. Phelps pondered what our descendants would make of these huge subterranean structures, if they stumbled onto them during an archeological dig. Whether or not they would fathom the purpose of such detectors, they will surely be struck by their beauty. On one of my visits to the LHC, CERN's research director, Sergio Bertolucci urged me to visit the underground heart of the accelerator before the detectors were finally closed off for data-taking, describing the experience of first encountering the machinery as "magnificent, like standing within a cathedral."

Bertolucci's promise was more than fulfilled when I saw the detectors. So I would not have envied Phelps the task she was appointed some months ago by the UK's Institute of Physics: to create a piece of art that evokes the majesty of such large-scale particle physics experiments. In collaboration with Ben Still, a particle physicist at Queen Mary, University of London (and an FQXi blogger and frequent podcast contributor), Phelps designed and built the Covariance installation (image, top right). The artwork is inspired by the Superkamiokande neutrino observatory in Japan, where Still works. It is a huge and impressive piece, made up of 1 km of brass rods, 28,000 glass beads, hundreds of acrylic discs and 36,000 diamantes. The installation is suspended in the circular brick space--about 30 feet in diameter--of a Victorian ice well.

I spoke with both Phelps and Still for this month's podcast. You can hear them discuss the themes that they hoped to bring out with the piece. The most obvious note that strikes you when you first see it is the rotational symmetry that mimics the structure of particle physics detectors (Superkamiokande image, right), along with the vibrant colours seen at the LHC, for instance, and in data from particle physics experiments. The underground location is also key to the power of the artwork. It not only captures the fact that such detectors are located below ground, but it creates a dark, quiet, contemplative space in which to experience the work.

Perhaps the most fascinating and unexpected aspect is Phelps decision to pay tribute to the female "computers"--the women who historically recorded data from bubble chambers--with her choice of materials and her technique for building the installation. Since Phelps and Still can express their aims better than I can, I shall let you listen to them on the podcast, where you can also hear more of my thoughts on the exhibit.

Covariance is the first artwork in the "Superposition" series of art-physics conversations initiated by the IOP. It is still open for viewing and, if you are near London, I heartily recommend you go along. Booking information is available on the blog that accompanies the installation.