“God particle” signal is simulated as sound

Science
“God particle” signal is simulated as sound

 48074749 Standard Model2 466

Pop over to the BBC site and have a listen to what the Higgs Boson particle “might” sound like… It sounds like Science Fiction music, go figure :)

Scientists have simulated the sounds set to be made by sub-atomic particles such as the Higgs boson when they are produced at the Large Hadron Collider. Their aim is to develop a means for physicists at Cern to “listen to the data” and pick out the Higgs particle if and when they finally detect it.

2 thoughts on ““God particle” signal is simulated as sound

  1. Dave says:

    From Richard Dobson:
    “We can hear clear structures in the sound, almost as if they had been composed. They seem to tell a little story all to themselves. They’re so dynamic and shifting all the time, it does sound like a lot of the music that you hear in contemporary composition,” he explained.

    1) Of course there is musical structure in the sounds; the algorithms that convert energy levels to pitch were developed by humans, with (most likely) Western music theory as a basis. Even the progressions of energy/pitch as particles decay sound harmonious, since our familiar musical scale is in geometric relationship, not unlike the energies they are relating the tones to.

    2) He forgot to put quotes around the word “music” in his last sentence…

    Dave

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