How do you explain to a non-scientific audience what a PhD thesis on atomic interferometry on long time scales in microgravity is all about? How about dance and music? Dorthe Leopoldt from the Institute of Quantum Optics at Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) has done just that and is participating in this year's ‘Dance your PhD’ contest organised by the Science magazine with her dance video.
Together with colleagues from her research group, the physicist has produced a video in which she brings three core questions of her research to the stage: How do you cool atoms to almost absolute zero in preparation for an experiment? What is atom interferometry? And why does microgravity help? In short, atom interferometry uses the wave nature of matter to make tiny effects of gravity and acceleration measurable; microgravity allows for significantly longer measurement times, which greatly increases sensitivity.
Dorthe Leopoldt rewrote and choreographed well-known songs such as ‘Ice Ice Baby,’ “Superstition” and ‘Free Fallin'.’ Colleagues and musician friends sang and played the pieces. The result is five and a half minutes of entertaining and informative content that shows how cutting-edge research can be communicated creatively, accessibly and with a lot of fun.
The Cluster of Excellence QuantumFrontiers and the RISE initiative of Quantum Valley Lower Saxony (QVLS) provided financial support for the production of the video.
Watch the video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy91jjZRy_o
About Dance Your Ph.D.
The renowned Dance Your PhD contest is organised by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Science magazine and is now in its 18th year. Researchers can submit videos in which they dance their way through their PhD thesis in four categories (physics, chemistry, biology and social sciences). A jury evaluates the entries based on scientific quality, artistic execution and the creative connection between science and art. The winners of the four categories each receive 750 US dollars, with the overall winner receiving an additional 2,000 US dollars.
