Physical Society of Japan to Hold ‘Quantum Fest’ in Tokyo in June; Event Marks 100th Anniversary of Quantum Mechanics

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Koto Ward, Tokyo

The Physical Society of Japan (JPS) plans to hold a festival to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the theory of quantum mechanics in Tokyo in June.

In 1925, physicist Werner Heisenberg published a paper laying down the foundations of quantum mechanics – the laws of physics governing the ultramicroscopic world.

The JPS plans to hold the festival, which it has dubbed “Quantum Fest,” at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, also known as Miraikan, in Koto Ward, Tokyo, on June 14 and 15.

The festival will not only feature lectures and exhibitions about the latest quantum mechanics theories and cutting-edge related technologies but also a music concert in which the nature of quantum is expressed by sound.

JPS members said that visitors will be able to physically feel the strange world of quantum during the concert, which features a professional orchestra. Each of the 17 elementary particles – such as the photon and the Higgs boson – have been assigned a particular chord in the music.