Quantum Buckyball, 2009

Stainless steel

10” x 10” x 10” (25 cm x 25 cm x 25 cm)

This sculpture was inspired by my physics research using buckyballs (C-60 molecules) to probe the validity of quantum physics for very large molecules. The sculpture is a succession of four nested, concentrically arranged buckyballs, attached in place by thin rods going radially through the sixty vertices. The nested structure echoes the structure of a typical quantum mechanical wave function, a spherical wave emanating from a central source. The open air-filled structure of the piece also conveys the ephemeral character of a quantum object.