{"681899":{"#nid":"681899","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Poetry Helped 20th Century Physicists Make the Quantum Leap","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat do poetry and physics have in common? If your first answer is \u201cthe letter \u2018P,\u2019\u201d you\u2019re not alone. Georgia Tech Professor John Lyon, however, traces a much deeper connection between the two disciplines.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPoetry was extremely important for the leading minds in quantum physics,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/20db9345-1e19-5699-ad88-9d1a84e7ad2b\u0022\u003ELyon\u003C\/a\u003E, who is a professor of German and the Charles Smithgall Jr. Institute Chair of Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Modern Languages. \u201cQuantum physics is the science of the unseeable, the indescribable \u2014 and poetry is at least part of its language.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Lyon, physicists like Max Planck, Werner Heisenberg, Albert Einstein, and others all had a strong background in the humanities, in literature and poetry. Erwin Schr\u00f6dinger even published his own volume of poetry, \u003Cem\u003EGedichte \u003C\/em\u003E[\u003Cem\u003EPoems\u003C\/em\u003E], in 1949.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut these early 20th century physicists weren\u2019t just conversant in poetry \u2014 they viewed it as essential to their work.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cNeils Bohr said \u2018When it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry.\u2019 He and others needed a way to understand and manipulate concepts that are too small to see and beyond the language of our everyday experiences,\u201d said Lyon.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause of its focus on building imagery and helping us make mental connections, says Lyon, poetry helped quantum physicists bridge the gap between existing language and their new ideas.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPoetry might be one of the best ways to get at new concepts and thoughts, because it uses words in unusual ways and helps us see the world differently,\u201d said Lyon.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWith Apologies to Cats and Physicists\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Lyon, one example of stretching language around a hard-to-grasp idea is Schr\u00f6dinger\u2019s Cat. This thought experiment loosely illustrates the concept of quantum superposition, in which opposing states can exist simultaneously.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EImagine a cat trapped in a box with a vial of poison that may or may not have broken open, killing the cat. Both outcomes are equally likely. You cannot see into the box, nor can you open it (yet). Is the cat alive or dead? From your perspective, it is both \u2014 at the same time.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat Schr\u00f6dinger\u2019s Cat may lack in detail or exactitude, says Lyon, it makes up for by making the impossible a concrete, graspable idea.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnfortunately, there is no corresponding thought experiment to help us understand quantum entanglement. (Scientists at CalTech \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/magazine.caltech.edu\/post\/untangling-entanglement\u0022\u003Egave it a try\u003C\/a\u003E, comparing entangled particles to twins separated at birth.) When two particles become entangled, a change in one is simultaneously reflected in the other, even if they are separated by great distances.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd while poetry and quantum physics may seem to be at either ends of the galaxy, Lyon says themes of superposition, paradox, and entanglement resonate across both.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cLudwig Wittgenstein said, \u2018the limits of my language are the limits of my world,\u2019\u201d said Lyon. \u201cBy pushing the boundaries of language, poetry pushes the boundaries of thought.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEarly 20th century quantum physicists like Max Planck, Werner Heisenberg, Albert Einstein, and others weren\u2019t just conversant in poetry \u2014 they viewed it as essential to their work. Georgia Tech Professor John Lyon explores how.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Early 20th century quantum physicists weren\u2019t just conversant in poetry \u2014 they viewed it as essential to their work. Georgia Tech\u0027s John Lyon explains."}],"uid":"35777","created_gmt":"2025-04-18 15:57:38","changed_gmt":"2025-04-29 14:40:13","author":"Stephanie Kadel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-04-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-04-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"676881":{"id":"676881","type":"image","title":"Poetry---Quantum-Physics.png","body":null,"created":"1744991867","gmt_created":"2025-04-18 15:57:47","changed":"1744991867","gmt_changed":"2025-04-18 15:57:47","alt":"An illustration of two bonded atoms.","file":{"fid":"260728","name":"Poetry---Quantum-Physics.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/04\/18\/Poetry---Quantum-Physics.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/04\/18\/Poetry---Quantum-Physics.png","mime":"image\/png","size":433699,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/04\/18\/Poetry---Quantum-Physics.png?itok=1uVbrn0C"}}},"media_ids":["676881"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/featured-news\/2025\/04\/why-georgia-tech-poetry-literature","title":"\u0027OK With Uncertainty\u0027: Why a Georgia Tech Education is Unique Training for Poets, Writers, and Creatives"},{"url":"https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/news\/item\/669017\/meet-john-lyon-chair-school-modern-languages","title":"Meet John Lyon, Chair of the School of Modern Languages"}],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1283","name":"School of Literature, Media, and Communication"},{"id":"1284","name":"School of Modern Languages"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:stephanie.kadel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EStephanie N. Kadel\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["stephanie.kadel@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}