{"id":7049,"date":"2017-11-22T13:12:53","date_gmt":"2017-11-22T13:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/aviewfromthebridge\/?p=7049"},"modified":"2017-11-29T12:06:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-29T12:06:00","slug":"maths-and-murals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/aviewfromthebridge\/2017\/11\/22\/maths-and-murals\/","title":{"rendered":"Maths and murals: Leiden\u2019s wall formulae"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted on behalf of Quirin Schiermeier<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"One<\/a>

One of Einstein’s field equations – part of the Leiden wall formulae project.{credit}Ivo van Vulpen and Sense Jan van der Molen. Photograph by Hielco Kuipers.{\/credit}<\/p><\/div>\n

Albert Einstein\u2019s field equations from his theory of general relativity combine wonderful scientific\u00a0intuition with the honed concision of poetry. Yet relatively few of the culturally inclined marvel at the shape of a mathematical equation in the way they might at a line from Shakespeare. Now, however, the Dutch university town of Leiden is giving its citizens\u00a0a chance to try, through iconic formulae by physicists and astronomers painted on walls throughout the city.<\/p>\n

The formulae join 100-plus murals of poems, painted by artists over more than two decades as a way of highlighting Leiden\u2019s long connection with the arts, not least as Rembrandt\u2019s birthplace. These celebratory artworks, some in delicate Japanese calligraphy, have become part of an urban aesthetic. But the city is also a crucible for discoveries such as superconductivity, by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes<\/a>, in 1911.<\/p>\n

\"lorentzkracht\"<\/a>

The Lorentz force formula.{credit}Ivo van Vulpen and Sense Jan van der Molen. Photograph by Hielco Kuipers.{\/credit}<\/p><\/div>\n

The idea of \u2018wall formulae\u2019 arose a few years ago, when physicists Ivo van Vulpen<\/a> and Sense Jan van der Molen<\/a> convinced municipal authorities (and house-owners) to embrace the scheme as a way of celebrating science in the city. Dutch artists Jan Willem Bruins and Ben Walenkamp were first in, painting Willebrord Snellius\u2019s law of refraction (Snell\u2019s law<\/a>), Hendrik Lorentz\u2019s force formula<\/a>, and Einstein\u2019s field equations<\/a>. These were unveiled in 2016. Three more \u2013 the Oort constants<\/a>, the Lorentz contraction<\/a>\u00a0and electron spin<\/a> (discovered by Lorentz\u2019s students Samuel Goudsmit and George Uhlenbeck) \u2013 are officially unveiled today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Oort<\/a>

Oort constants.{credit}Ivo van Vulpen and Sense Jan van der Molen. Photograph by Hielco Kuipers.{\/credit}<\/p><\/div>\n

Van der Molen notes that the equations, like poems, distil realities and are \u201cbeautiful to behold and inspiring\u201d. To help convey their meaning to non-mathematicians, the artists add a simple graphical representation of the physical phenomenon described.\u00a0Thus the Lorentz contraction, which expresses how objects shrink to an observer travelling near speed of light, is illustrated by a circle and a series of ‘squeezed’ ellipses. The Oort constants, which refer to the angular velocity of the Sun around the centre of the Milky Way, are symbolized by a spiral galaxy (with a dot showing the Sun\u2019s position). And to picture Einstein\u2019s field equations \u2013 which describe how space is deformed by big objects \u2013 we see a ray of starlight\u2019s curved path around a heavy mass, known as gravitational lensing.<\/p>\n

By inviting comparison between these and more familiar lines of beauty, Leiden is leading the way in inspiring its citizens about physics and maths on the hoof.<\/p>\n

Quirin Schiermeier is a senior reporter for Nature<\/em> based in Munich.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The Leiden wall formulae<\/a> feature on city-centre buildings including the Boerhaave science history museum<\/a>. Tourists can visit the sites on a leisurely 90-minute walk. Guided tours and an app for smartphones, developed by Leiden physics students involved in a science communication project, will be available by the start of 2018.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

For\u00a0<\/strong>Nature<\/strong><\/em>\u2019s full coverage of science in culture, visit www.nature.com\/news\/booksandarts.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Albert Einstein\u2019s field equations from his theory of general relativity combine wonderful scientific\u00a0intuition with the honed concision of poetry. Yet relatively few of the culturally inclined marvel at the shape of a mathematical equation in the way they might at a line from Shakespeare. Now, however, the Dutch university town of Leiden is giving its citizens\u00a0a chance to try, through iconic formulae by physicists and astronomers painted on walls throughout the city.  Read more<\/a> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3353,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,75,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts","category-mathematics","category-physics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/aviewfromthebridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/aviewfromthebridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/aviewfromthebridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/aviewfromthebridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/aviewfromthebridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/aviewfromthebridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7049\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/aviewfromthebridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/aviewfromthebridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/aviewfromthebridge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}