Physical Society Colloquium
(Co-presented with the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT))

The Jazz of Physics:
Music and the Structure of the Universe

Stephon Alexander

Department of Physics
Brown University

In this talk I will give a personal account of my journey in jazz and physics and explore the interconnection between music and the structure in the universe beginning with Kepler. We will also explore new ways that music, in particular jazz music, mirrors modern physics, such as quantum mechanics, general relativity, and the physics of the early universe. Finally, I discuss ways that innovations in physics have been and can be inspired from the “improvisational logic” exemplified in Jazz performance and practice.

Stephon Alexander: Author of “The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link Between Music and the Structure of the Universe”

Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrup8miuPEY