God populær videnskabelig week-end underholdning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4Z8CqAiYI8&feature=player_embedded
There is a strange and mysterious world that surrounds us, a world
largely hidden from our senses. The quest to explain the true nature of
reality is one of the great scientific detective stories.
It starts with Jacobo Konisberg talking about the discovery of the Top
quark at Fermilab. Frank Wilceck then featured to explain some particle
physics theory at his country shack using bits of fruit. Anton Zeilinger
showed us the double slit experiment and then Seth Lloyd showed us the
worlds most powerful quantum computer, which has some problems. Lloyd
has some interesting ideas about the universe being like a quantum
computer.
Lenny Susskind then made an appearance to tell us about how he had
discovered the holographic principle after passing an interesting
hologram in the corridor. The holgraphic principle was illustated by
projecting an image of Lenny onto himself. Max Tegmark then draws some
of his favourite equations onto a window and tell us that reality is
maths before he himself dissolved into equations.
The most interesting part of the program was a feature about an
experiment to construct a holometer at Fermilab described by one of the
project leaders Craig Hogan. The holometer is a laser inteferometer
inspired by the noise produced at the gravitational wave detectors such
as LIGO. It is hoped that if the holographic principle is correct this
experiment will detect its effects.
Clues have been pieced together from deep within the atom, from the
event horizon of black holes, and from the far reaches of the cosmos. It
may be that that we are part of a cosmic hologram, projected from the
edge of the universe. Or that we exist in an infinity of parallel
worlds. Your reality may never look quite the same again.
Jan Rasmussen