Art-Science Projects to Explore Quantum Creativity

Newly funded artistic collaborations seek to explain quantum concepts.

By Kelly Blake 

Artistic creativity has always held an element of mystery, and now it’s combining with the uncanny branch of physics that helps explain some of our universe’s deepest workings while powering a new generation of technology.

Quantum researchers in the University of Maryland’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences have partnered with creative scholars from the College of Arts and Humanities on seven newly funded research collaborations that will explore novel ways to engage people in thinking about our relationship to counterintuitive aspects of physics that will shape our collective future. 

With grants totaling $54,650 from the Division of Research and Arts for All, the teams will spend the next several months delving into heady subjects like quantum entanglement and superposition, forging meaningful connections between scholars from two communities while engaging the public with a wide range of artistic media, including augmented and virtual reality, music, dance, computational poetry and sculpture.

“We are putting people in the room together who normally don’t have an opportunity to explore how their disciplines can be linked,” said Craig Kier, director of Arts for All, who with John Sawyer, director of the Mid Atlantic Quantum Institute, evaluated and selected the projects for funding through the inaugural Quantum & Arts supplemental to UMD’s ArtsAMPlification grant program. “We want to find a way to show that the University of Maryland is leading through action related to these two big initiatives.”

Arts for All identifies and supports creative ways to combine the university’s strengths in the arts, sciences and technology to advance social justice, build community and develop collaborative, people-centered solutions to grand challenges.

Meanwhile, with nine quantum research centers and over 200 campus-based researchers, UMD is an international powerhouse in quantum research and applications. Located at the center of "The Capital of Quantum" region, which includes research agencies, private firms, educational partners and innovative startups, UMD and its Mid-Atlantic Quantum Alliance is poised to accelerate moving quantum science into use in fields such as health care, environmental sustainability, cybersecurity and much more. 

“The Division of Research supports and values research in the sciences and the arts, and through grants like these, we are optimistic about creating collaborations across disciplines that can lead to new discoveries, ideas and advancements in areas such as quantum science and beyond,” said UMD Vice President for Research Gregory F. Ball.

The newly funded projects include: 

Quantum Choreobotics: Democratizing Quantum Computing Through Interactive Dance/ Theater Performance, With On-Body Robots ($10,000)

Team includes: Adriane Fang (School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies [TDPS]), Jonathan David Martin (Computer Science [CS], Immersive Media and Design [IMD]), Bill Kules (College of information [INFO]) and Huaishu Peng (CS), with new collaboration from Carl A. Miller (National Institute of Standards and Technology [NIST]/Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science [QuICS])

Quantum choreobotics is a new form of dance/theater art performance that explores often complex quantum technological concepts and their implications for society through interactive dance with a group of robots—democratizing the experience by allowing the audience to influence the actions of robots traversing dancers’ bodies.

The Quantum-Steampunk Engine: A Dynamic, Interactive Sculpture and Stories for Broadening Quantum Awareness ($10,000)

Team includes: Christopher Jarzynski (Chemistry/Institute for Physical Science and Technology [IPST]), Emily Mitchell (English), Nicole Yunger Halpern (NIST/IPST/QuICS), Bill Phillips (NIST/JQI) and Daniel Serrano (IPST)

The Quantum-Steampunk Engine will be a 3D-printed, interactive sculpture that makes quantum science approachable and exciting. Yunger Halpern and Christopher Jarzynski lead efforts to combine ultra-modern quantum information science with thermodynamics, the 19th-century science of energy, in a new field called “quantum steampunk,” a term that Yunger Halpern coined. Bringing together the sensibilities of steampunk, a subgenre of science fiction that juxtaposes futuristic technologies with Victorian settings with the basic principles of quantum information processing, their aim is to bring what may seem like esoteric theories into focus for so-called “not science people.” Quantum science will be rendered visually, explained in online educational materials, and explored in creative writing to enable people to grasp the implications of quantum physics on security, communications, policy and more.

Common Accord: Exploring Qubit Entanglement Through Composition, Chamber Music and Immersive Video Projection ($10,000)

Team: Michael Gullans (NIST/QuICS), Shannon Leah Collis (Art), Thomas DeLio (Music) and Mohammad Hafezi (Electrical and Computer Engineering/Physics)

A collaboration between quantum theory expert Michael Gullans, audio-visual installation artist Shannon Leah Collis and professional composers and musicians, the project will combine concepts from quantum computing with immersive media design and musical composition and performance to create a joyful experience drawing inspiration from the latest advances in qubit entanglement and quantum algorithms. Christina Gullans, a professional cellist, will curate the project and perform as part of the ensemble. DeLio and Hafezi will serve as advisers to the project and help develop deeper connections across the university. The immersive media experience and commissioned chamber music piece will premiere at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and subsequently be performed at other venues.

Building Quantum Intuition Through a Museum Exhibit ($9,650)

Team: Myungin Lee (CS-IMD) and Charles Tahan (Physics)

This team aims to make quantum science tangible by creating a museum exhibit that visualizes some of the key core concepts underlying quantum mechanics. Through the use of AR/VR headsets, they will solicit audience interaction, feedback and post-exhibit quizzes to gather information and refine how different visualizations of concepts including superposition, entanglement and measurement help to develop intuition and understanding about quantum mechanics. The quantum museum exhibit will debut in late 2024.

Science and Music of the Bloch Sphere ($6,000)

Team: Lucy Liuxuan Zhang (QuICS), Andrew Childs (CS), Michael Votta (Music), Adriane Fang (TDPS), Jonathan David Martin (CS-IMD), Sam Crawford (TDPS), Antonino D’Urzo (Music) and Maissam Barkeshli (Physics/Condensed Matter Theory Center)

This team will create a science-music performance that incorporates music as an added dimension to a scientific presentation. Musicians interpret the presentation, and help the audience relate to the presentation in a new way through the musical connection, culminating in a novel, cohesive and immersive experience.

Collaborative Quantum Poetry with LiteraryDJ ($6,000)

Team: Andrew Smith (Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities), Marisa Parham (English), Lillian-Yvonne Bertram (English) and Franz Klein (QLab)

LiteraryDJ is an innovative art and technology project that harnesses natural language processing (NLP)—a machine learning technology that gives computers the ability to interpret, manipulate, and comprehend human language—to examine African American literature, poetry and computational arts. The team will build upon the existing framework of LiteraryDJ with collaborative quantum poetry to enhance its NLP infrastructure with quantum computing. They will also create a pop-up stand on UMD’s campus where a physical installation of LiteraryDJ will invite participants to engage with a seamless blend of quantum technology and African American literature.

University of Maryland Quantum Orchestra ($3,000)

Single Award: Michael Votta (Music)

In support of integrating arts into this fall’s Quantum World Congress, Votta will create a small improvisation-based ensemble that will incorporate elements of quantum procedures and can respond in real time to a mathematician or scientist speaker. The goal is to demonstrate quantum concepts aurally as well as to pioneer a way for musicians to interact with STEM disciplines.

Quantum researchers and creative scholars and artists at UMD are collaborating on seven newly funded research collaborations that will explore novel ways to engage people in thinking about our relationship to counterintuitive aspects of physics and technology that will shape our collective future.