Iranian, Foreign Researchers Jointly Work on Quantum Music Project
Bijan Norouz, an Iranian quantum physicist, acoustic and electroacoustic music engineer, musician, and director of one of the start-up companies operating in the field of scientific and astronomical music in Iran told Iranian media that quantum physics are theories about substances as small as atoms or smaller than atoms while music, from a scientific perspective, is simply vibrations in the air made up of different frequencies.
“In fact, the concept of quantum music is largely fictional, because quantum physics is still under study itself,” Norouz said.
“Scientists in this field rely on the laws of quantum mechanics to apply in their own favor. In this sense, since when atoms collide, quantum particles show acoustic properties; it is believed that these features could in theory be translated into sound, which might be possible for humans to hear under the right conditions,” the researcher further explained.
He considered the quantum music project as an examination of relationship between complicated issues in quantum physics or more precisely quantum acoustics and music.
“Most of the initial research of this project is done in the laboratory where in an experiment, the frequency data from Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) are translated into real sounds in the laboratory and then forwarded to the musicians,” the researcher continued.
“One of the characteristics of quantum music is that its output is unpredictable compared to playing an instrument in normal music,” the researcher added.
“This project brings quantum physics and the quantum world to a wider audience and helps create a new genre of scientific music, namely quantum music,” Norouz added.
The startup company's director added that the Quantum Music project was born out of growing interest in the concept, and involves an experiment that links space rock music to the realm of quantum mechanics and quantum physics through the use of a custom Fender Stratoxster electric guitar. Minimoog Voyager XL and Kurzweil k2600x to interact with quantum particles and output the resulting sound to listeners.
He considered the main goal of their project as bringing the fictional principles of quantum physics closer to a broad audience through the most imaginative arts, i.e. music, explaining, “Our goal is to use two instruments, the electric guitar and the synthesizer, which are among the best concert instruments made by man to answer the question, how do the laws of quantum physics and music aesthetics interact?”
According to him, a group of scientists, engineers and artists from several countries are participating in the project, expressing hope that the project will be displayed in August 2025.
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