I could say, I am just numbering the artworks in this series by using Greek letters. So this one is item Psi!
But I have created a sparse spaceport from diffraction curves in spectral colors. It is not a single Psi, but rather a Psi Psi Star …
… the absolute square of the wave function in quantum mechanics.
It was an inside joke, when I was an undergraduate physics student.
I was defending the value of pure science, of learning about quantum mechanics even if you will never need it. A more practically-minded colleague said he rather preferred down-to-earth engineering-like rules, and descriptive explanations of physics in everyday life, because …
… these explanations are why I have picked physics in the first place. I don’t study physics because of the Psi Psi Star!
I might have agreed, some time later. But again and again, I have revived my joy of Psi Psi Stars – by re-learning quantum mechanics from antique textbooks.
And I started to appreciated the stranger corners of so-called boring classical physics.
I am interested in taking something allegedly simple; I turn it around and look at it from different perspectives – literally and figuratively – and spot something surprising.
This image shows diffraction curves mounted on circles, ‘capturing’ red light on a cylindrical screen of the smallest radius.
It is not what you really see, but it it is closely related. These are the visible spectral colors, and each line peaks at the angle of maximum intensity of diffracted light.
A diffraction also represents the Fourier transform of the object(s) that diffracts light – a diffraction grating with a few lines in this case. This is about classical optics, but the underlying math related to waves and Fourier transform also comes in handy when encountering Psi Psi Stars!
I have played with turning my lines into shiny, metallic tubes, I have let them emit an ethereal glow. I have often created a dense fabric from a large number of lines.
But I always come back to using plain, simple lines without texture.
I am using threejs as my favorite framework now. My lines are technically tubes; the lines in the distance appear thinner. This is the main departure from images like this, created with p5js. p5js allowed me to configure the thickness of a line, while lines created with threejs are always as thin as possible.
The original image is 9000 pixels wide. Close-up at the original resolution:
Recent diffraction art series:
Sparse Spectral Spaceport (current series)
(Sort of) related blog posts:
Reading antique physics textbooks, as a way of staying sane in IT (2014):
In Praise of Textbooks with Tons of Formulas (or: The Joy of Firefighting)
What I mean by stranger corners of classical physics:
Spheres in a Space with Trillions of Dimensions
The most theoretical physics things I did outside of academic institutions was still quite practical. So I guess, I would have to join the Psi Psi Star skeptics.
Simulating Peak Ice
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