Vladimir Chaloupka

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PHYS216 / SIS 216 Science and Society From Bach
to Einstein and beyond
or Grand Tourof Music, Science and Human
Affairs

• Vladimir Chaloupka
• Professor of Physics
• Adjunct Professor, Henry M. Jackson School of
  International Studies
• Adjunct Professor, School of Music
• www.phys.washington.edu/users/vladi

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• PHYS216 / SIS216
• Science and non-science students in the same
  class, as microcosm of society
• Learning not just from Instructor but also from
  each other
• Reproducing Honors course
• Syllabus
• 0) Introduction
• Nuclear physics Emc2
• Molecular Biology DNA
• Discussions and Debates
• J.S.Bach in Walker Ames
• Grand Finale

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A test (from my recent SIS201 lecture)

• What Is To Be Done?
• Vladimir Chaloupka
• 1 Readers well versed in the history of
  political philosophy will have recognized my
  title as identical to that of the most famous
  piece by my infamous namesake. Well, he was a
  rebel, and so am I. But the similarity ends
  there, I hope.

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Course Preliminaries

• Readings for Friday views of two physicists (see
  the webpage)
• Friday sections 1.5 minute/student present
  yourself and your background and expected
  contributions initial reaction to
  lectures/readings. Rehearse your presentation!
• First Response paper due next Tuesday
• More on course organization on Thursday (please
  EMAIL vladi_at_u any comments or questions about
  syllabus, schedule etc.)
• Reminder EITHER PHYS216 OR SIS216 can be taken
  for EITHER NW OR IS requirements

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What I will be talking about this week

• Goals for the course
• importance(?) of small nations
• how to make a coherent whole out of science,
  music and human affairs
• J.S.Bach as Amadeus phenomenon
• J.S.Bach as a genetic phenomenon
• Emergent complexity in science, art and society
• Einstein as physicist, musician and prophet
• The fascination of science quantum mystery, Why
  is there Something rather than Nothing?, a
  walking molecule,
• The Basic Problem and the Big Gap
• How to maximize the benefits from science and
  technology while minimizing the risks?
• What Is To Be Done, and what I am doing PHYS 216
  / SIS 216 the Bristol experience and the
  upcoming WASMUN keynote address
• How naïve was Albert Einstein? (and how naïve is
  VC?)
• Conclusions Fermi paradox, bonfire metaphor and
  Homo Sapiens

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The question of attitude

• Why teach science and non-science students in the
  same course?
• How hard it is to compete against physics major
  or biology seniors?
• Why teach so many apparently esoteric and even
  useless topics (e.g. music )?
• Why teach detailed science concepts to
  non-science students?
• Why packing so much towards the end final
  response paper / term paper / exam

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So in this class, I will try to

• Stretch your thinking and attitudes (cf. Honors
  Program)
• Give you the feeling of what scientists actually
  do, and give you the confidence that much of it
  YOU could do, too
• Improve your BS detector (cf. Marilyn vos Savant)
• Teach you to doubt everything
• (including this
  advice)
• Expose you to the environment of your peers of
  extremely varied and rich background
• Make you think of some very important issues
  while having a good time

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From a citizen of a (very) powerful nation
Even more than Vietnam 30 years ago, Iraq
constitutes a major strategic setback. There is
no getting around this. But Iraq is just that--a
setback. What is essential is that the U.S. cut
its losses there, contain the consequences and
look for new opportunities to advance its
interests around the world. Richard N. Haass,
president of the Council on Foreign Relations
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From a President(!) of a very small nation

• The modern era has been dominated by the
  culminating belief, expressed in different forms,
  that the world and Being as such is a wholly
  knowable system governed by a finite number of
  universal laws that man can grasp and rationally
  direct for his own benefit. This, in turn,
  gave rise to the proud belief that man, as the
  pinnacle of everything that exists, was capable
  of objectively describing, explaining and
  controlling everything that exists ....
• Vaclav Havel
• former Czech dissident / President / playwright
  / philosopher

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Music and Science, with Exuberance and Humility

• Pythagoras integers
• Keplers Harmonia Mundi
• Superstring Theory all elementary particles as
  modes of vibration of the same string
• (ergo Princeton String quartet)
• Laser Interferometer Space Antenna listening to
  the gravitational Symphony of the Universe
• Music as an example of emergent complexity parts
  of Art of Fugue sound like parts of the
  Mandelbrot set
• Goedel Escher Bach
• Exuberance and Humility Two Pipe Organs

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J.S.Bach as Amadeus

• The central Theme of Amadeus (play/movie) applied
  to Bach
• The Bach genetic phenomenon
• Bach myths BACH 14 JSBACH 41
• even (from a doctoral Thesis sic)
• the Unfinished fugue breaks off at bar 239
  because 239 14 !

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Number of (male) Bachs doing music at any
particular year
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finally I realized that to me, Goedel and
Escher and Bach were only shadows cast in
different directions by some central solid
essence. Douglas
Hofstadter
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Goedel Escher Bach Hofstadter

• A musico-logical fugue in English
• Goedel Undecidability Theorem
• In every sufficiently powerful formal system,
  there are propositions which are true, but not
  provable within the system
• (i.e. Truth if more than Provability)
• Relief provided by fanciful Dialogues

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Hofstadters GEB Dialogues(in the spirit of
Lewis Carroll)

• ..
• Meaning and Form in Mathematics
• Sonata for Unaccompanied Achilles
• Figure and Ground
• Chromatic Fantasy, and Feud
• Brains and Thoughts
• English French German Suite
• Minds and Thoughts
• ..

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Mandelbrot Set Tour

• 1) z(0) 0
• 2) z(n1) z(n)2 c and back to 2)
• 3) if z(n) finite then c belongs to the set

Amazingly, this simplest of algorithms results
into an object of infinite complexity (and
arresting beauty). One cannot but recall Diracs
claim that the Quantum Electrodynamics explains
most of Physics and all of Chemistry Also
the varied copies of Mandelbrot body are
reminiscent of various versions of Art of Fugue
theme, and the filaments are like the secondary
motifs
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Einstein as Scientist, Musician and Prophet

• Einstein as scientist Recently we celebrated the
  Centenary of Einsteins Annus Mirabilis
• Einstein as musician from a review Einstein
  plays excellently. However, his world-wide fame
  is undeserved. There are many violinists who are
  just as good.
• Einstein as prophet Nuclear weapons changed
  everything except our way of thinking.

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Exuberance and Humility in Music and Science
Left The pipe organ at the St. Marks Cathedral
in Seattle Above the 1743(Bach was just
composing the Art of Fugue then!) instrument at
the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.
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Science Ingredients

• Physics is Different Creation of the Universe,
  Quantum mechanics,
• Molecular Biology is (differently) Different
  the kinesin as an example of a marvelous
  machine
• The phenomenon of Phase transition The Basic
  Problem and the Big Gap

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What is the mass of bound system M -gt m1
m2 Mc2 E(binding) m1c2 m2c2 Therefore
M m1 m2 E(binding)/c2

• gt For sufficiently strong binding M -gt 0 !!!
• gt (???) Creation of the Universe out of Nothing
  (???)
• Recent Physics Colloquium
• Why is there Something rather than Nothing?
• Conclusion Maybe there is Nothing,
• cleverly disguised as Something.

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Example of Modern Physics The Central Mystery
of Quantum Physics
1) click, click,..
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Example of Modern Physics The Central Mystery
of Quantum Physics
2) No clicks
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Example of Modern Physics The Central Mystery
of Quantum Physics
3) click, click,
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Example of Modern Physics The Central Mystery
of Quantum Physics
4) No clicks
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Upcoming Colloquia April 6                  
Anton Zeilinger (University of Vienna and
Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum
Information, Austrian Academy of Sciences)Title
Entangled Photons from the Foundations of
Quantum Physics to Quantum InformationAbstract
Entanglement of photons, besides being of
fundamental interest, is central to many quantum
information protocols like quantum cryptography,
quantum teleportation and all-optical one-way
quantum computation. In entanglement-based
quantum cryptography an automatic system for the
encoding of voice mail or video streams was
developed. Recent experiments also include novel
fundamental tests of  quantum physics. In one
series of experiments  entangled photons are
distributed between the Canary islands of
Tenerife and La Palma separated by 144 km.These
allow for the first time a Bell test implementing
the so-called free will condition.
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Setting of the Workshop on What Exists in the
Quantum World, Summer Academy 2010 (plus Summer
Festwochen), Traunkirchen (Austria).
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Physics is Different

• Recent decades have taught us that physics is a
  magic window. It shows us the illusion that lies
  behind reality - and the reality that lies behind
  illusion. Its scope is immensely greater than we
  once realized. We are no longer satisfied with
  insights only into particles, or fields of force,
  or geometry, or even space and time. Today we
  demand of physics some understanding of existence
  itself.
• J.A.Wheeler

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Fig. 19 Marvelous Molecular machines
contd. Left spontaneous assembly and
disassembly of a microtubule Above a kinesin
molecule walkssic along a microtubule, carrying
an organelle

See http//multimedia.mcb.harvard.edu/anim_innerli
fe_hi.html
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The Basic Problem

• For the first time in human history, the
  capability of causing extreme harm is, or will
  soon be, in the hands of individuals or small
  groups. This is the 'Basic Problem'.  The actual
  manifestation of the problem will come as an
  intentional or accidental misuse of our new
  powers.
• Illustration knowledge of nuclear physics is not
  sufficient to actually build a nuclear weapon
  (expense, detectability).
• Contrast with molecular biology
• (which I
  love !!!)

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• the Basic Problem is a reflection of the Big Gap
  the ever-increasing gap between the cumulative,
  exponential progress in science and technology on
  the one hand, and on the other hand, the lack of
  comparable progress in our ability to use our new
  technological tools thoughtfully and responsibly.
  
• Musical illustration who was mobbed in the 18th
  Century ?
• 
  (Farinelli)

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• Aristotle as a case study
• Aristotle Physics F m times v
• F m times a
• Aristotle Philosophy
• "of the above mentioned forms, the perversions
  are as follows
• of monarchy, tyranny
• of aristocracy, oligarchy
• of constitutional government, democracy."

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What Is To Be Done?

• Education
• Risk Assessment (instead of relinquishment)
• Defensive and Preventive measures
• (intentional acts / accidents / natural )
• Coping with the aftermath
• Strengthening of the International Law
• See www.phys.washington.edu/users/vladi/bp.doc

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The scope of the Basic Problem Even if all
nations impose strict regulations on the handling
of nuclear material and dangerous viruses, the
chances of effective enforcement, worldwide, are
no better that current enforcement of laws
against illegal drugs. Sir Martin Rees, Our
Final Hour Generalization even if we succeed to
make great progress in the five tasks outlined in
What Is To Be Done, it would not provide
guaranteed safety large-scale disasters will
still be quite possible. This shows that the five
steps are not sufficient but necessary we will
certainly come to grief if we dont solve them.
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Implications for International Studies

• As argued in What Is To Be Done, the
  unrestricted national sovereignty is not
  compatible with modern science and technology
• In particular, the idea of the USA as a
  benevolent hegemon is not applicable
• Restricting national sovereignty is NOT
  equivalent to a World Government in fact, some
  decentralization may be necessary, and even the
  US itself may be have become too big for a
  central government (cf. the California experiment
  of Gov. Schwarzenegger)
• If this difficult but well-defined problem is
  addressed (as our Founding Fathers did two
  hundred years ago) then perhaps the even more
  difficult problems of Human Security can be solved

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Was Einstein a naïve scientist?

• When Kansas and Colorado have a quarrel over the
  water in the Arkansas River, they don't call out
  the National Guard in each state and go to war
  over it. They bring a suit in the Supreme Court
  of the United States and abide by the decision.
  There isn't a reason in the world why we cannot
  do that internationally.'
• Harry Truman
• see www.phys.washington.edu/users/vladi/naive.doc

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Do we, occasionally, and temporarily,
stumble upon the
Truth? We stand today at a unique and
extraordinary moment. . Now, we can see a new
world coming into view. A world where the
United Nations, freed from cold war stalemate, is
poised to fulfill the historic vision of its
founders. The (former) US President George
H.W.Bush, reacting to the 1st Gulf War The
gravest danger our Nation faces lies at the
crossroads of radicalism and technology. Nationa
l Security Strategy 2002
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Summary Fermi paradox
Big Bang as Bonfire
Homo Sapiens