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Scientists Find Music in 'God Particle'

LHC data used to mimic sound of Higgs boson collision

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 23, 2010 11:16 AM CDT

(Newser) – Scientists searching for the elusive Higgs boson "God particle" have devised a way to listen for it. Data from the Large Hadron Collider have been used to predict the sounds that will be made by sub-atomic particles like the Higgs as they collide. The results are surprisingly melodic, a composer involved with the project tells the BBC, which has samples of the team's work.

"If the energy is close to you, you will hear a low pitch and if it's further away you hear a higher pitch," explains one scientist. "If it's lots of energy it will be louder and if it's just a bit of energy it will be quieter." Added the composer: "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."

CERN scientists control computer screens showing traces  of the first protons injected in the Large Hadron Collider.
CERN scientists control computer screens showing traces of the first protons injected in the Large Hadron Collider.   (AP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini, Pool, File)
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When you are hearing what the sonifications do you really are hearing the data. It's true to the data, and it's telling you something about the data that you couldn't know in any other way. - Arthur Endrich, a software engineer involved with the project

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 12 comments
carpenocturne
Jun 23, 2010 6:56 PM CDT
If there is music in things as large as the sun and as small as a particle, it makes you wonder...
G.O.P.
Jun 23, 2010 1:40 PM CDT
Music has to follow patterns or it isn't music.
then-came-jen
Jun 23, 2010 1:33 PM CDT
We recorded sound from Saturn's rings, as well, which is eerily music-like http://www.nasa.gov/mov/61980main_PIA06410-Sounds-movie.mov. I'm just waiting for the folks to pop out of the bushes to claim it's proof of an intelligent designer, who moonlights as a composer.
 

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