Quantum Fluctuations
Quantum Fluctuations
2016
#particlesimulation #particlecollision #feynmandiagramm
Credit: Anne Freitag
Made as a series of virtual experiments, Quantum Fluctuations shows the complexity and transient nature of the most fundamental aspect of reality, the quantum world, which is impossible to observe directly. In the laboratory, elementary particles are observed by measuring the spoils of a proton collision and comparing the findings with data collected from supercomputer simulations. It is perhaps the most indirect method of observation imaginable, a non-representational form of observation mediated by computer simulations. In the film, particle simulations are used as the brush and paint to create abstract moving paintings that visualize the events that happen during a proton collision. The film shows the intricate structure of the proton beams that collide to create an outflow of particle showers which create composite particles that eventually decay. These visualizations were created with input from scientists working on the Large Hadron Collider at the CERN, Geneva.
The film draws influence from abstract expressionist paintings and classic scientific iconography such Feynman diagrams and other diagrams that show quantum particle interactions and movement, images of wave interference patterns and electric discharge patterns (Lichtenberg figures), particle dynamics simulations and microscopy images of chemicals and crystal growths. These patterns were recreated using 3D particle simulations that work on the same underlying principle as the simulations at the CERN. This 3D simulation software generates streams of particles in random configurations. These particles have properties such as spin and velocity, they can scatter off each other, attract or repulse, split into more particles and form groups. Adjustment of all these parameters results in intricate structures and patterns made out of systems of millions of particles pushing computational power to its limits. These conceptual simulations work on the same principle as the Monte Carlo simulations that run at the LHC which are computational algorithms that rely on repeated random samplings to obtain numerical results. As visualized virtual experiments, they illustrate the computational paradigm behind the observational methods at the LHC.
The film program is presented in partnership with Imagine Science Films (ISF), New York, an international platform spreading new and experimental works at the interface between science and film. www.imaginesciencefilms.org
The project is realized in cooperation with Fraunhofer Headquarter Communication and is supported by the Fraunhofer-Network Wissenschaft, Kunst und Design.
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