Field - by Peter Zinovieff and Katrina Porteous
21 April 2015 - 22 April 2015, 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
One performance each day.
Location: Planetarium, Life Science Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne
£5 per personDuration: about 1 hourBooking recommendedAges 12+
A journey in music and words in search of the Higgs.
In 2012 scientists at CERN announced the ground-breaking discovery of the Higgs Boson, the particle which completes the Standard Model of quantum theory. But what exactly is it? And what are its implications? Field is a new live performance of voice and computer, by composer and computer pioneer Peter Zinovieff and poet Katrina Porteous, exploring ‘the stuff we are made of’.
Written in immersive 5.1 surround-sound, Field alternates music with words-and-music, to visit worlds very different from our own. Its seven movements explore the quantum – worlds of exquisite control which allow for random behaviour governed by strict probabilistic principles.
The Higgs Field, named after Newcastle-born physicist Peter Higgs, pervades all space-time, and everything that exists depends upon it, since it gives elementary particles their mass. It exists as the result of a moment of spontaneous symmetry-breaking. Field visits and revisits that moment, exploring its theoretical implications, including super-symmetry and dark matter. Field will include a full dome visual display by Planetarium Supervisor Christopher Hudson. It will be introduced by Dr Tom Lancaster of Durham University Department of Physics. No knowledge of physics is required to enjoy Field.
