Synthesis and analysis of sounds developed from the Bose-Einstein condensate: Theory and experimental results

Abstract

Two seemingly incompatible worlds of quantum physics and acoustics have their meeting point in experiments with the Bose-Einstein Condensate. From the very beginning, the Quantum Music project was based on the idea of converting the acoustic phenomena of quantum physics that appear in experiments into the sound domain accessible to the human ear. Th e fi rst part of this paper describes the experimental conditions in which these acoustic phenomena occur. Th e second part of the paper describes the process of sound synthesis which was used to generate fi nal sounds. Sound synthesis was based on the use of two types of basic data: theoretical formulas and the results of experiments with the Bose-Einstein condensate. Th e process of sound synthesis based on theoretical equations was conducted following the principles of additive synthesis, realized using the Java Script and Max MSP software. The synthesis of sounds based on the results of experiments was done using the MatLab so ft ware. Th e third part or the article deals with the acoustic analysis of the generated sounds, indicating some of the acoustic phenomena that have emerged. Also, we discuss the possible ways of using such sounds in the process of composing and performing contemporary music.