Light has a dual nature: it sometimes seems particle-like and sometimes wave-like. It turns out that this is also true of electrons and all other particles... It shows the inability of the classical concepts "particle" or "wave" to fully describe the behavior of quantum-scale objects.
Einstein wrote:
"It seems as though we must use sometimes the one theory and sometimes the other, while at times we may use either. We are faced with a new kind of difficulty. We have two contradictory pictures of reality; separately neither of them fully explains the phenomena of light, but together they do". ("Complementarity and the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics", By Harrison, David (2002), Dept. of Physics, U. of Toronto.)
Light as "particles":
Georges Seurat - La Parade (1889) - detail showing pointillism technique.
Georges Seurat: "The Eiffel Tower" (1889)
Light as "waves":
Van Gogh: "starry night" (1889)
Van Gogh: detail of "Road with Cypress and Star" (1890)
A famous 1800s physics experiment by English scientist Thomas Young in an effort to find out if light is a wave or a collection of tiny particles, set up the so-called "double-slit experiment."
The wave nature of light causes the light waves passing through the two slits to interfere, producing bright and dark bands on the screen—a result that would not be expected if light consisted of classical particles.
However, the light is always found to be absorbed at the screen atdiscrete points, as individual particles (not waves). Furthermore, versions of the experiment that include particle detectors at the slits find that each photon of light passes through one slit (as would a classical particle), but not through both slits (as would a wave). These results demonstrate the principle of wave–particle duality.
The double-slit experiment, one of the foundations of quantum physics, showed that particles can behave like waves.
For me it remains an open question whether [this work] pertains to the realm of mathematics or to that of art. – M.C. Escher
M.C. Escher's "impossible figures" inspired mathematician Roger Penrose whose fruitful collaboration with Stephen Hawking led to the "Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems", essential to demonstrate the existence of "Black Holes" and explain their paradoxical ("impossible") behaviours.Indeed (Source: Impossible object (Wikipedia)):
In 1956, British psychiatrist Lionel Penrose and his son, mathematician Roger Penrose, submitted a short article to the British Journal of Psychology titled Impossible Objects: A Special Type of Visual Illusion. This was illustrated with the "Penrose Triangle" and "Penrose stairs." The article referred to Escher, whose work had sparked their interest in the subject, but not Reutersvärd, whom they were unaware of. The article was only published in 1958.
"The adventure of our science of physics is a perpetual attempt to recognize that the different aspects of nature are really different aspects of the same thing."
Richard Feynman (1918 –1988), one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists of this last century was also one of our greatest minds. Feynman was not just “another scientist”, he was a larger-than-life character.
Feynman was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work in Quantum electrodynamics (QED) in 1965, together with fellow American Julian Schwinger and Shinichiro Tomonaga of Japan, both of whom had separately developed similar theories, but using different mathematical methods.
Feynman's theory was especially distinct from the other two in its use of graphic models to describe the intermediate states that a changing electrodynamic system passes through. These models are known as "Feynman diagrams" and are widely used in many quantum-electrodynamic problems. Feynman was fond of using visual techniques to solve problems.
In addition to his Feynman diagrams, he developed a method of analyzing MASER (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) devices that relies heavily on creating accurate pictorial representations of the interactions involved.
Freeman Dyson, one of the architects of modern QED had this to say about how Richard Feynman did his calculations:
"... Dick was using his own private quantum mechanics that nobody else could understand. They were getting the same answers whenever they calculated the same problem...The reason Dick's physics was so hard for ordinary people to grasp was that he did not use equations... Dick just wrote down the solutions out of his head without ever writing down the equations. He had a physical picture of the way things happen, and the pictures gave him the solutions directly with a minimum of calculation... It was no wonder that people who had spent their lives solving equations were baffled by him. Their minds were analytical; his was pictorial..."
Feynman's innate "child-like” curiosity and creativity caused him to be “labelled” a “genius”.
“I've always been very one-sided about science, and when I was younger I concentrated almost my effort on it. In those days I didn't have the time, and I didn't have the patience, to learn what's called the humanities.”
This changed after his encounter with artist-painter Jirayr Zorthian. Feynman was extremely open to exploring new areas of inquiry beyond his world-famous expertise in science. Zorthian agreed to teach Feynman to draw, and Feynman agreed to teach Zorthian physics. He started drawing at the age of 44 in 1962, shortly after developing the visual language for his famous "Feynman diagrams," after a series of amicable arguments about "art vs. science" with his artist-friend Jirayr “Jerry” Zorthian — the same friend to whom Feynman’s timeless ode to a flower was in response.The scientific instruction did not continue long, but Zorthian’s influences on Feynman led to the physicist’s life-long involvement in art making.
But Is It Art?
In an introductory essay titled “But Is It Art?,” Feynman recounts his arrangement with Jerry and observes the intersection of art and science:
I wanted very much to learn to draw, for a reason that I kept to myself: I wanted to convey an emotion I have about the beauty of the world. It’s difficult to describe because it’s an emotion. It’s analogous to the feeling one has in religion that has to do with a god that controls everything in the universe: there’s a generality aspect that you feel when you think about how things that appear so different and behave so differently are all run ‘behind the scenes’ by the same organization, the same physical laws. It’s an appreciation of the mathematical beauty of nature, of how she works inside; a realization that the phenomena we see result from the complexity of the inner workings between atoms; a feeling of how dramatic and wonderful it is. It’s a feeling of awe — of scientific awe — which I felt could be communicated through a drawing to someone who had also had that emotion. I could remind him, for a moment, of this feeling about the glories of the universe.
"Visualization - you keep repeating that", Feynman said to another historian, Silvan S. Schweber, who was trying to interview him.
Feynman: "What I am really try to do is bring birth to clarity, which is really a half-assedly thought-out-pictorial semi-vision thing. I would see the jiggle-jiggle-jiggle or the wiggle of the path. Even now when I talk about the influence functional, I see the coupling and I take this turn - like as if there was a big bag of stuff - and try to collect it in away and to push it.It's all visual. It's hard to explain."
Schweber: "In some ways you see the answer - ?"
Feynman: "The character of the answer, absolutely. An inspired method of picturing, I guess. Ordinarily I try to get the pictures clearer, but in the end the mathematics can take over and be more efficient in communicating the idea of the picture.""In certain particular problems that I have done it was necessary to continue the development of the picture as the method before the mathematics could be really done."
(click on this picture for zooming and more information)
My portrait had the ambition to not only convey Professor Hawking's sense of determination in life ("against the odds") but also to include some of his scientific ideas (see full picture below). That his greatness has also to do with his intellectual struggle with his life-time scientific research (in brief: the "Theory of Everything"). Plus, his sense of humour and irony which you discover when reading his books (hence his smile in my portrait among other "subtilities"....) A portrait that would convey inspiration and respect, not "distracted" by his physical handicap (MND/ALS) as it is so often the case.
It is also part of my project to build a bridge between the worlds of arts and sciences. To try provide an answer to C.P. Snow's "Two Cultures" essay. In Professor Hawking's case, it involved me attempting to grasp Bohr's and Feynman's quantum mechanics or Einstein's general relativity concepts and "translate" them visually.
It 'll be a long and lonely road, I am afraid.
By Tai-Shan Schierenberg
This portrait of Professor Stephen Hawking unveiled last November at the Royal Society in London, was commissioned to artist Tai-Shan Schierenberg soon after I was in contact and met with Professor Hawking- spending an afternoon in his office to start his portrait.
Tai-Shan has done a powerful rendering of Hawking's portrait, giving a sense of struggle and determination.
It is not my habit to comment my paintings. They should "speak" for themselves. I will however give here some clues: "Big Ben" represents our "newtonian" (classical) time but if you look closely its time is... wrong! It is affected by the nearby galaxy's black hole (Einstein's "General relativity"). The "Event horizon" here is replacing our classical traditional "horizon."
The galaxy's black hole cannot be visible but if you look at the real painting, the canvas is locally dented as would our space-time when considered as a four-dimensional "brane".
"All of my life, I have been fascinated by the big questions that face us, and have tried to find scientific answers to them. If, like me, you have looked at the stars, and tried to make sense of what you see, you too have started to wonder what makes the universe exist. "
I like this expression "Time Flies" because, it is true! My time for the last year has been so hectic and difficult but who am I to complain? I wished I could have completed the portrait of the author of "A Brief History of Time" sooner but I am afraid it 'll take a bit longer. Luckily I am at this present moment in a better situation for my mind to focus. Of course, not being a scientist, just a layman my approach to these questions is more "intuitive" i.e. "visual".
"What I cannot create I do not understand" said Physicist Richard Feynman as quoted by Hawking in his "The Universe in a Nutshell" book. So this is how I am trying to understand Hawking: by being creative. With a fresher approach I have decided to change its composition (again!) while immersing in the amazing world of General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. Time is key in this new composition as it is in our lives or in Hawking's. In his case, time is vital and essential at both a personal level (he was supposed to have died many years ago) and at a more fundamental conceptual level. And both meet in the same person: Stephen Hawking. Life's short. Knowing we could all die at any time, what would you do? He decided to focus on what's most important: to try to unlock the mysteries of the Universe, while still alive. Nothing less.
Time is precious yet we don't know what it is. And some say it flies...
It reminds me the ancient Greek philosopher Plato who said "Time is the moving image of Eternity". No wonder it is precious.
I met Prof. Stephen Hawking in Cambridge (UK) on June 4, 2008 after he kindly agreed with my proposal to do his portrait. I had this project in mind since the time I saw one of his painted portraits at the National Portrait Gallery in London : I was appalled (so was he I learned later). It showed him as a "poor handicapped" with a sad grin in front of a scribbled blackboard. It wasn't fair! Hawking is a survivor. Because of his condition he should have died decades ago. Not only didn't he die but he helped revolutionise science! He has become a celebrity but unlike many "famous people" he deserves it. He is an inspiration not only for the handicapped but for those, like myself, who are lucky to be "normal". His muscle paralysis prevents him from doing all what we take as granted. His cheek movements are measured by a device connected to a computer which is how he communicates now: writing 2-3 words a minute, yet he has written best-sellers!
My idea for a fair portrait was that it should induce us with a sense of admiration and respect, not "commiseration". Moreover, a portrait wouldn't be fair if we avoid what has been the center of his entire life: Science. So my idea (and I believe I am the first portraitist attempting this) is to include visually some of his scientific theories and concepts. Most famously is his research on "black holes", the "Big Bang" (with R. Penrose) and his attempt to reconcile the “macrocosmic” laws of Einstein's General relativity (e.g. Time and Space are modified by Strong Gravitational fields) and the “microcosmic” laws of Quantum Mechanics; "Black holes" (as the "singularity" in the Big Bang theory) being the best "place" where such a "reconciliation" would occur. These questions have given rise to many ideas, one of the most promising "Theory of Everything" being the "String Theory".
So, after many attempts I came up with the idea of a monumental portrait (1.5 x 1.2 meters) to give a sense of the magnitude of the phenomena Hawking is dealing with. The backdrop is a famous galaxy whose center, possibly a black hole, dents locally the canvas (as a "brane") of the painting and hereby affects our immediate reality (represented by Big Ben whose time is modified by the Black hole/Galaxy).
Hawking's face appears, partly hidden, with an ironic smile. Reading his books helped me to realise that he has a real sense of HUMOUR!
The portrait is half way done and many changes might occur before it is "finalised". It is a creative and therefore very "quantum-like" unpredictable process ;-)
