BENGALURU: With sci-fi movies and books becoming popular with each passing day, the trend of scientists serving as consultants on movie projects has become a necessity for studios. Professor Hirosi Ooguri, a theoretical physicist from Caltech and an ardent science communicator and populariser, was recently in the city to introduce Bengalureans to The Man From 9 Dimensions, a movie about the origins and workings of the universe, in which he served as scientific advisor. He also gave a lecture at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences.
He has won several accolades such as the 2016 Best Educational Production Award of the International Planetarium Society and the 2017 Best Full Feature Film and Best 3D Show of the Immersive Film Festival in Portugal. City Express interacted with Professor Ooguri. Excerpts:
Can you tell us about premise of the Man From 9 Dimensions and your work behind the movie?
The Man From 9 Dimensions is an adventure story about a group of scientists chasing after a mysterious man who takes them to the microscopic world of elementary particles to the macroscopic world of the universe, and to its beginning- the Big Bang.
By following their journey, audiences will experience the forefront of fundamental research in physics and experience the excitement of scientists trying to understand the mystery of the universe. I helped a group of science communicators in all the aspects of the movie - from writing the proposal to the science museum in Tokyo, called Miraikan, which funded the project, coming up with the storyline, getting them connected to various scientific resources, such as the Illustris Project and more.
How challenging is it to make a scientifically accurate movie?
I wanted make a film everyone can enjoy and learn from. Another challenge was that we had this ambitious plan to describe, in 30 minutes, scientific concepts such as quantum mechanics of the microscopic world, the history of the universe including galaxy formation, the first stars, the dark ages, the Big Bang, and the superstring theory. We needed some organizational principle to present all these materials in a coherent way. After a few brainstorming sessions, we came up with the idea of a mysterious man and a “catch-me-if-you-can” game between him and a group of scientists, as metaphors of the theory of everything and scientists’ quest to discover it.
What are your future plans and projects?
My primary occupation is research in fundamental physics and education at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Most of my time is spent on my own research projects, teaching undergraduate and graduate students at Caltech, and running the Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics as its director and the Aspen Centre for Physics, where I am the president.
I am also involved with the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe at the University of Tokyo as a Principal Investigator. However, I also feel I can contribute to the society by improving public understanding of science. It is my hope that this movie, popular books I write (seven so far), and public lectures I give are inspiring school children to learn more about science and are conveying the excitement of scientific discoveries to the general public.