Speaker: Matthias Staudacher (HU Berlin)

Title: Planck’s Hexadecachoron

Abstract:
In this talk I consider a “model of physics”, that is, a meta model of the web of all physical theories that we called „Planck’s Hexadecachoron“. To illustrate it, we just finished building a light sculpture into the loppy of our IRIS research building. It visualizes the interconnection of physical theories by referencing the four fundamental natural constants proposed by Max Planck in 1900: G, c, h and k. The challenge of developing a suitable visualization was solved by translating the associated four-dimensional cube into its dual hexadecachoron, centrally projected into three-dimensional space. Through an interactive control system, the 2^4 = 16 tetrahedra that compose it can be individually illuminated at a media station, thereby establishing a connection to Planck’s concept. After the talk, we will walk down to the sculpture to take a look.
This is a „sneak preview“, the model will be inaugurated on Saturday June 28 at the Berlin „Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften“.