Abstract: I will talk about GammaTPC, a new MeV-GeV gamma-ray instrument based on liquid argon time projection chamber (TPC) technology. The MeV sky...
Oct20
Just what is the Connection Between Physics and Music?
George Gibson, Department Head of Physics at the University of Connecticut
Monday, October 20, 2025
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4:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m. PT
Abstract:
"What we are nowadays hearing of the language of spectra is a true "music of the spheres" within the atom, chords of integral relationships, an order and Harmony that becomes ever more perfect in spite of the manifold variety." - Sommerfeld (1919).
From the Neanderthals to Pythagoras, through the Enlightenment, to the development of Quantum Mechanics, physicists have been motivated, inspired, and obsessed by music. Even today, physicists try to describe the natural world in musical terms. This talk will discuss this complex interplay between physics and music and explore just how deep this connection really is.
About George Gibson
George Gibson received his B.A. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois, Chicago, after dropping out of graduate school for two years to study the piano. Dr. Gibson is now a full professor and Department Head of physics at the University of Connecticut and his main area of research is fundamental interactions of high-intensity ultrafast lasers with atoms and molecules and ultrafast spectroscopy of biological systems. Having played the piano his whole life, Dr. Gibson combined his interests in physics, music, and teaching by creating a novel course on physics and music. Instead of using physics to explain music, this course uses music to explain and motivate physics, as has been done since the time of Pythagoras. He recently published a textbook, based on this course, "The Music of Physics: An Introduction to the Harmonies of Nature."
Audience:
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