Twisted Physics - Jennifer Ouellette - October 24, 2008

Back in August, I wrote about gravitational waves -- those ripples in the fabric of spacetime produced by violent events in the distant universe -- in the context of some recent findings by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). Now composer, conductor, percussionist and video artist Andrea Centazzo has put together a solo multimedia musical performance piece, Einstein's Cosmic Messengers, celebrating the quest for gravitational waves. And the world premiere takes place next Thursday, October 30, at 8 PM, at Caltech's Beckman Auditorium. Woo-hoo!

Those in the Los Angeles area might want to head on over for the performance, which will also feature two brief public lectures: on by Caltech's own black hole/gravity expert, Kip Thorne, on "The Warped Side of the Universe," -- I loved Black Holes and Time Warps, along with so many others -- and the second by LIGO's executive director, Jay Marx, "Listening for Ripples in Spacetime" (because that's essentially what LIGO does).

The musical portion of the evening is a five-part "suite," if you will, combining acoustic and digital images accompanied by video imagery -- some of it original, filmed in such locations as the recently restored theater of San Giovanni near Bologna, Italy, and the 13th century Castel del Montea in Apulia, Italy. Other imagery is draw from astronomical data and computer animations. The grand finale -- "Inspiral, Merger and Ringdown" -- features the life of a black-hole binary system; the instruments are based on the actual gravitational waveforms of such a system, transposed into audible sounds. Check it out:

Andrea Centazzo: Inspiral, Merger, and Ringdown (excerpts) from Michele Vallisneri on Vimeo.

I especially like the big swirling iris turning into a rotating black hole binary system, whirling faster and faster as it contracts, much like how the water in a flushing toilet spins around the center of the bowl, rotating faster and faster the closer it gets to the center. That said, the final scene calls to mind the fiery all-seeing eye of Sauron.

I should add that collaborating with Centazzo was theoretical physicist Michele Vallisneri of nearvy Jet Propulsion Lab. Vallisneri is a member of the LIGO collaboration and studies gravitational waves, but he is also intrigued by the "creative interface of science and art, as explored through music, visualization, and computer programs," according to his bio. Kudos to him for straddling the infamous "two cultures." I'm looking forward to the Big Premiere. Maybe we'll see you there!