Great works of art create meaningful connections with the beholder that grow deeper the more you experience them. Quantum error correction does the same thing — swapping in qubits for brushstrokes, musical notes, or stage directions.
This subtle tether between art and science is the central focus of the artist-in-residence program of the Yale Quantum Institute (YQI). The program’s latest collaboration will be featured at two events at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, currently underway in New Haven, as well as three installations on display during the festival.
Serena Scapagnini, the current artist-in-residence, worked with quantum physics researcher Harshvardhan “Harsh” Babla, a graduate student in the lab of Shruti Puri. Specifically, Babla and Scapagnini created visual representations of quantum concepts from Babla’s research.
Scapagnini, in her studio at YQI, integrating quantum researcher Harsh Babla’s quantum patterns into her work.
“Quantum physics is, at best, abstract for many people, so talking about quantum error correction — in which researchers attempt to correct errors that occur during quantum computation — is quite the challenge,” said Florian Carle, YQI’s managing director. “Serena’s medium is deeply physical: metal plates engraved with quantum states, handmade paper, drawings, and paintings. She is embodying abstract concepts in matter, representing the complex plots of researchers into areal and spiraling sculptures.”
On June 21 at 1 p.m. at the Humanities Quadrangle, Scapagnini will be on hand for the U.S. premiere of the documentary film “Serena Scapagnini — The Space Beyond,” followed by a discussion featuring Scapagnini, Babla, Carle, gerontology educator Donna Fedus, and Yale neuroscientist Michael Higley. On June 24 at 2 p.m., Scapagnini and Carle will lead a walking tour of Scapagnini’s artworks at installations on the New Haven Green, the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library (180 York St.), and YQI (17 Hillhouse Ave.).
Yale News talked with Scapagnini and Babla about their collaboration. Here are five takeaways:
Their work together was as much about connections and feelings as it was about quantum physics.
“This collaboration primarily appealed to me as a bridge between science and emotion, using visuals to spark curiosity and connect with a broader audience,” Babla said.
Added Scapagnini: “I believe that our collaboration was able to reveal a shared ground, on different levels.” Part of her discussions with Babla and other YQI scientists involved the transient nature of memory — a topic she has explored since 2012.
“The information encoded in quantum memory, with its natural decay, is never destroyed,” she said. “It is elsewhere, and the measured error is a sign of its mixing with the rest of the universe. Thus, information is always in the universe, even when it has left memory.”
A visualization of a four-legged cat state, plotted by Babla
The resulting work highlights the quantum phenomenon of superposition.
“Superposition” occurs when two particles of light, for example, exist in multiple states simultaneously, such as being in two places at once or moving with two distinct momenta at the same time, Babla said.
“Superposition creates intricate interference patterns, which are the hallmark of quantum mechanics,” he said. “Serena’s work vividly showcases these patterns. She also explores how these patterns are disrupted by undesired interactions with the environment.
“A corresponding phenomenon occurs in quantum optics, where superposition allows light to store energy across multiple configurations at once,” he noted. “These configurations correspond to energy stored in the electric field, or in the magnetic field, or in both. In our lab, these states are crucial for storing and correcting quantum information.”
Scapagnini replicates the intricacies of quantum states, in part, through different densities of materials.
“From the body of pure pigment and of paint to the liquid dimensions of inks, to the more airy and rarefied density of mineral powders, the geometric horizon underlying the installations mixes with the elusive mimesis of the drawings,” Scapagnini said.
“The project that we shared and created together connects these different material densities, from the aluminum plate to the paper that was handmade for the work, up to the engraved metal soul that is inside each single element,” she said. “The work that emerged connects these different densities in a choral way, to suggest quantum intuition, as an internal law to the phenomena of the world.”
Yale will figure prominently in the June 21 A&I event, both in the documentary and during the panel discussion.
“Serena Scapagnini — The Space Beyond,” a 21-minute documentary film directed by Nicola Campiotti, includes several scenes of Scapagnini talking with researchers at YQI during her residency. Those conversations, along with previous work in the Higley Lab at Yale School of Medicine — which explores the development, organization, and function of the mammalian neocortex — have informed much of Scapagnini’s work.
The panel discussion will highlight common themes of both experiences, such as the parallels between coping with human memory loss and correcting quantum errors.
One of the new art installations mimics the way quantum information can be altered by observation.
The last stop on the June 24 walking tour will be “Refractions,” an installation on display at the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library on York Street. There, suspended in the atrium, are 10 hand-made paper elements that each cover a thin copper plate that is engraved with a representation of a quantum state.
Thus, the installation reminds us, it is not possible to view the quantum states without affecting the surrounding elements.
