Black holes are so massive that they curve space—but what does that actually look like?

See into the beautiful and unusual realm of warped space at “Warped Worlds: A Virtual Tour” in the Hill Library Fishbowl Forum on Tuesday, Oct. 15 from 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. Georgia Tech Physics professor Dr. Sabetta Matsumoto will take us on an equation-free tour—enabled by the latest in virtual reality technology—of nanoengineered spaces right out of an M.C. Escher drawing.

While the ability of massive, space-warping phenomena like black holes has fueled the imagination of many, materials science warps space on the very small scale through the science of nanostructures and nanoengineering. In fact, often these small spaces are very strongly curved, far from what mathematicians call “Euclidean”—for example, two parallel lines may no longer only meet at infinity. Until recently, these complex spaces defied most people’s imagination, but virtual reality technology can now help us immerse in them.

This event is free and open to the public, and is a collaboration with the Department of Physics. Dr. Matsumoto will also be presenting on Monday, Oct 14 at the Department of Physics Colloquium. For more information about Dr. Matsumoto’s visit, please contact Karen Daniels, Dept. of Physics, kdaniel@ncsu.edu.

After the event, participants will have the opportunity to explore examples in the Hill Library Virtual Reality Studio.