Mikromedas SU3 series

(Borexino neutrino detector in LNGS, IT)

Situation of the project:

Mikromedas is a data-driven musical project initiated by Belgian electronic musician and mathematician Dr. Valery Vermeulen. The project originally began as a commissioned work by the Dutch Electronic Art Festival (DEAF Festival, Rotterdam (NL)). With Mikromedas compositions are produced using data stemming from space, deep space and astrophysical simulation models.

Completely new approaches and visions are being developed for the project; using astrophysical data and models as tools for artistic creation and live performance.

The project is presented under various thematic project series. Each series is hereby realized in collaboration with several artists and be presented in various formats.

  • The first performance series, entitled Mikromedas OGLE2005BLG390Lb, was launched in 2014. In this series the focus is set on a sonic and musical representation of a possible voyage from earth to the exoplanet OGLE2005BLG390Lb situated near the centre of our Milky Way, Sagittarius A*. For more info on this project series click here.
  • The second performance series, entitled Mikromedas AdS/CFT 001, launched in 2018, focuses on the highly fascinating world of astrophysical black holes. This series is presented as musical concert, auviovisual show and as lecture performance. In 2021 the music of the series was released in the same titled album Mikromedas AdS/CFT 001 on the label Ash International, subsidiary of the influential Touch label. Short after it’s release the album was picked up internationally in over 28 countries worldwide. In 2022 Mikromedas AdS/CFT 001 was awared with an Honorary Mentio for the STARTS Prize – Ars Electronica issued on behalf of the European Commission.This project series is realized in co production with Concertgebouw Brugge (BE) and Baltan Laboratories (NL). The scientific aspect of the AdS/CFT Performance Series are a collaboration with several academic partners; including the Department of Physics and Astronomy of Alabama University (US), the Institute for Theoretical Physics of KU Leuven (BE), the Centre for Mathematical Plasma Astrophysics of KU Leuven (BE), the Department of Mathematics-Computer Science of University of Antwerp (BE, quantum cosmologist Prof. Dr. Thomas Hertog, former colleague and long time collaborator of Stephen Hawking, Prof. Dr. Matthias Kaminski, Casey Cartwright (Phd Candidate), Dr. Ileyk El Mellah, Dr. Bart Ripperda, Dr. Fabio Bacchini and Prof. Dr. David Eelbode.
  • The third project series, entitled Mikromedas SU3, will focus on the physics of subatomic elementary particles. Both standard model physics as well as our understanding antimatter, where the standard model breaks down will be at the hear of this project series.

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(Simulation of trajectory of elementary particle near black hole event horizon)

Mikromedas SU3 project series:

This new series focuses on establishing a innovative crossover between the world of subatomic particles, their mathematical representations, the data they generate, music, visual  and immersive arts

Mikromedas SU3 investigates how knowledge, models, mathemathematical structures and data from elementary particle physics can be used and transformed to create musical and audiovisual compositions. On the one hand the series focuses on the current state of our understanding of the subatomic world, comprised in the so called Standard Model or SU3 Model. The Standard Model is known to be one of the most tested and precise scientific theories ever made. On the other hand the project series will balance on the edges of our scientific understanding by encompassing the concept of antimatter. Antimatter is one the most precious and hidden substances in our universe. It is shrouded in mystery and gave rise to numerous problems in physics and astronomy. The most notorious one being the baryogenesis problem or the problem of the overabundance of mattter over antimatter in our current observable universe. All music within Mikromedas SU3 will be created using sonifications of different data streams coming from simulation models of the world of elementary particles and antimatter. For the visual aspect the project will look how abstract mathematical models and theories can be represented in an alternative way and can be used for artistic puroposes. The project series will result in the production of compelling audiovisual and electronic music compostions, live concerts as well as an immersive VR experience where the user can travel to new and unknown worlds where art and sciene are reconnected in new and innovative ways.  

The elaboration of the SU3 series will be done in two subsequent steps or phases.

For the first phase we start from the mathematical underpinning of the well established standard model in particle physics- also known under the technical term of the SU3 model. More in concrete this will translate into the quest to transform the various quantum field theories involved into sound and music generating engines. In doing so, we plan to use the mathematics (observed as well as simulated) involved through the use of generated data. Elaborating this first step means that we’ll also be taking previous related research into account such as e.g. [Vogt, 2010], [Vogt, 2008], [de Campo, 2006].  However almost all previous such research solely focuses on the scientific aspect of linking sound and experimental physics.

Once a methodology and first body of work is developed using the standard model we’ll extend in the second phase of the project. Hereby we’ll focus on the physics behind antimatter. New methods will be developed to use mathematical representations and models of anti matter to sound and image generating instruments. This means we’ll look for possibilities in different domains that include theoretical extensions of the standard model that are neede to fully understand the nature of antimatter.

Expected output of the project:

The expected output of the project will be five fold

  • The first output be two music album with accompanying releases. One album will focus on the standard model and the second on antimatter
  • For the second output a music live concert and audiovisual live show will be produced for each of the two albums
  • The third output of the project will be under the format of an audiovisual VR installation
  • The fourth output will consists of workshops and seminars on topics handled in the project
  • The fifth output will be an artscience publication on background, techniques and methods developed in the project

References:

-M. Aramaki, K. Hirata (ed.), Music in the AI Era, Proc. of the 15h Interational Symposium, CMMR 2021, Spring-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2023. 

-A. de Campo, Science By Ear. An Interdisciplinary Approach to Sonifying Scientific Data. PhD thesis, University of Music and Performing Arts, Graz: 2009. 

-A. de Campo, N. Hörmann, H. Markum, W. Plessas, and K. Vogt, “Sonification of monopoles
and chaos in QCD,” in Proceedings of ICHEP’06, Moscow, 2006

-W.L. Diaz Merced, Sound for the exploration of space physics data. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow, 2013. 

-T. Hermann, A. Hunt, J.G. Neuhoff (ed.), The Sonification Handbook, Logos Publishing House, Berlin, 2011. (available from: https://sonification.de/handbook/)

-A. Hunt and T. Hermann, The Importance of interaction in sonification, in Proc. of the International Conference on Auditory Display, 2004. 

-J. Loeffler, Forget Spotify Wrapped, groove to the sound of black holes colliding. Interview for TechRadar, 2021. (available from: https://www.techradar.com/news/forget-spotify-wrapped-groove-to-the-sound-of-black-holes-colliding)

-M. Mullem, Meet Valery Vermeulen, the scientist and producer turning black holes into music. Interview for MusicRadar, 2022 (available from: https://www.musicradar.com/news/valery-vermeulen-interview)

-K. Vogt, A. de Campo, P. Huber, and T. Bovermann, “Exploration of 4D-data spaces. sonification in lattice QCD,” Proc. of the 14th International Conference on Auditory Display, Paris, 2008.

-K. Vogt, R. Höldrich, D. Pirrò, M. Rumori, S. Rossegger, W. Riegler, and M. Tadel, “A sonic
time projection chamber, sonified particle detection at CERN,” in Proc. of the International Conference on Auditory Display, 2010.

-K. Vogt, Sonification of simulations in computational physics, Phd Thesis, University of Music and Performing Arts, Graz: 2010. 

-V. Vermeulen, The EMO-Synth, an emotion driven music generator. In: eContact 14.2! Biotechnological Performance Practice. (available from: http://econtact.ca/14_2/vermeulen_emosynth.html)

-V. Vermeulen, ” Twin Buildings: Characterization and Classification Results.”, 2001, Phd Thesis. (available via here)

-J. Woithe et al, “Let’s have a coffee with the Standard Model of particle physics”, Phys. Educ. 52 034001, 2017. (available from: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6552/aa5b25)

-CERN Report, “Antimatter” (available from: https://home.cern/science/physics/antimatter)