As a female theoretical physicist, I often wonder: if I were a black hole, what hairdo would I choose? Amusingly enough, some of the brightest minds in my field cannot work it out, and therefore jury is still out: bald, hairy, or with a wig, perhaps?
In this post I reflect on my second fall in Canada and my first few weeks at the amazing class castle of theoretical physics that is Perimeter Institute.
Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I’ve truly been lagging behind. My excuse is that these last months I feel like I’ve always had my one leg in a new country, and my other one on a jet.
Extra dimensions are pretty popular attributes of theories in particle physics (in fact, yours truly is currently working on such a theory!). But long before they became fashionable in physics, there are records of creative entrepreneurs and imaginative individuals captivated by the idea of a hidden world in another dimension. Some writers and visual artists developed our ideas in ways that were not only fascinating from an artistic perspective, but also very useful for visualisations of modern physics. Most…
As a physicist who once aspired to study fine arts, crossovers between the abstract world of theoretical physics and the imaginative world of the arts are a particularly exciting topic for me. It seems to be quite easy to find examples of artists and writers inspired by science[1] but (to me) the truly intriguing thing would be a synergy, the co-development of a particular way of seeing the physical world. As cutting edge theoretical theories nowadays are often motivated by…
I grew up with two cats that were convinced they were smarter than me, and I am not sure they were wrong. They would gaze at me arrogantly from an elevated height, and I was never any competition for the best spot on the couch. Cats have always seemed like intriguing creatures to me, and in my imagination they would have an un-understood intelligence and insights that us humans lack. Noting their omnipresence in theoretical physics, I am not alone…
With this slightly daring title I hope to discuss my passion for all things that come in groups of three. Now to deflect any possible readers following a late night Google lead, this post will in all likelihood only be sexy to you if you have a strong affinity with numbers and an amusing measure of OCD; like yours truly.
Here to witness: my first steps as a blogger. Come back for my posts about particle physics, embellished with personal anecdotes and fun facts. Thanks for stopping by! Love, Djuna