Maria Mannone

Subject expert at Ca' Foscari University of Venice
European Centre for Living Technology, Ca' Foscari University of Venice; Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, University of Palermo
Venice / Palermo, Italy
http://mariamannone.com
My research focuses on interactions between mathematics, music, and images. I achieved BSc and MSc in Theoretical Physics, with two thesis in Quantum Mechanics (about entanglement and non-Markovian dynamics), then I achieved another MSc and thus my Ph.D. in Composition. Recently, I’ve been collaborating to the development of the Quantum Vocal Theory of Sound, where the quantum formalism is used to investigate human voice and the world of sound, and I’m learning the basics of Quantum Computing. I also studied Music, Ancient Greek, and Latin. It’s nice to see when different fields converge toward a core idea. Arts can help achieve an intuition of such an idea.
Quantum Sphinx
Quantum Sphinx
24 x 32 cm
paper and pencil
2021

Atoms shine like stars, and the Moon is a Bloch sphere. A modern sphinx, waiting for her Oedipus, sits on a pedestal, on a book of quantum logic gates. Her wings display the quantum circuit of the Grover search algorithm, and her body is shaped by physical circuits. The pedestal contains the basics of quantum mechanics, by Shrödinger and Planck. A book on the left shows a truth table. Old computers, gates, and human bones represent technology obsolescence. Computer mice surround a vertebrae-made abacus. The eyes indicate measurements. Another sphinx, entering the scene from the upper-right corner, has the quantum FFT on her arm. Bach’s “Quaerendo invenietis” and Puccini’s score for Turandot's riddles indicate enigmas to be solved.