{"id":2167,"date":"2024-10-10T08:14:06","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T08:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quantum.closelycoded.site\/?page_id=2167"},"modified":"2024-12-17T09:33:04","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T09:33:04","slug":"backstory-demons-hunt-darkness","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/events.cqt.sg\/shorts\/backstory-demons-hunt-darkness\/","title":{"rendered":"Backstory: Demons Hunt in Darkness"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Backstory: Demons Hunt in Darkness<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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A Q&A with\u00a0S.G. Phillips<\/strong>, Quantum Shorts finalist<\/p>

Read the story first:\u00a0Demons Hunt in Darkness<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Can you give a short introduction of yourself?<\/strong><\/p>

I am a doctoral\u00a0student\u00a0researching the\u00a0properties of the earliest\u00a0galaxies,\u00a0towards a\u00a0better\u00a0understanding of\u00a0cosmic reionisation – the\u00a0last\u00a0major\u00a0phase\u00a0transition of the\u00a0Universe. I live by the beach and enjoy walks along the coast spotting birds and baby seals.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Your story takes place in a fantastical, demon haunted world. How did you come up with the idea for your story?<\/strong><\/p>

I was taught about Laplace\u2019s demon in undergraduate lectures, and as I have brought the\u00a0love of literature, poetry and theatre that was instilled in\u00a0me as a child to\u00a0my study of physics and astronomy, the dramatic flair of invoking a demon in a thought experiment struck me and stayed with me. I always enjoyed the\u00a0demonic personification of physics concepts, from Maxwell\u2019s demon to Laplace\u2019s. The last line of my story is a nod to Carl Sagan\u2019s book\u00a0The Demon Haunted World<\/em>\u00a0and its treatise on the importance of science and the scientific method as a tool of critical and sceptical thinking.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

What was your quantum inspiration?<\/strong><\/p>

It has been a great privilege\u00a0and pleasure to me to have studied quantum mechanics at university; I\u00a0found the\u00a0mathematics of it\u00a0beautiful, and the apparent\u00a0contradictions and\u00a0great\u00a0mysteries of it\u00a0endlessly\u00a0intriguing. In this story,\u00a0I wanted to explore the implications quantum mechanical indeterminism would have on the traditional framing of the Laplace\u2019s\u00a0demon thought experiment.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

What was your writing process like?<\/strong><\/p>

I decided on the central idea for my story very quickly in response to the prompt – to write a piece of fiction inspired by an idea in quantum mechanics. Having a\u00a0foundational idea, I took it for a walk – metaphorically and literally – as I wandered around a park telling myself the story that I would write, so that when I sat down with my laptop the words flowed easily.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

What is your favourite science-inspired book?<\/strong><\/p>

The Periodic Table<\/em>, by Primo Levi. I admire the\u00a0dexterous, natural way he uses chemical\u00a0elements as a lens through which we see the story of his\u00a0extraordinary life. Each story, rooted in science, blooms into poetry – the beauty and complexity of the world to which science can open our\u00a0eyes.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

What does being a Quantum Shorts finalist mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>

As a\u00a0physicist and writer, it is a delight to be\u00a0recognised by an\u00a0award\u00a0which\u00a0celebrates both with such enthusiasm. The concept of Quantum Shorts is fun and\u00a0original, providing the spark for many\u00a0interesting and\u00a0surprising ideas, so it has been a pleasure to participate and to see that people have enjoyed my\u00a0contribution.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about you or your story?<\/strong><\/p>

I would\u00a0like to\u00a0thank the\u00a0organisers and\u00a0judges for their\u00a0inspiration to\u00a0begin\u00a0this competition and the time and thought they have put into running it. I would also like to thank the readers who have\u00a0enjoyed\u00a0my\u00a0story.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Backstory: Demons Hunt in Darkness A Q&A with\u00a0S.G. Phillips, Quantum Shorts finalist Read the story first:\u00a0Demons Hunt in Darkness Can you give a short introduction of yourself? I am a doctoral\u00a0student\u00a0researching the\u00a0properties of the earliest\u00a0galaxies,\u00a0towards a\u00a0better\u00a0understanding of\u00a0cosmic reionisation – the\u00a0last\u00a0major\u00a0phase\u00a0transition of the\u00a0Universe. I live by the beach and enjoy walks along the coast spotting birds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2167","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBackstory: Demons Hunt in Darkness - Quantum Shorts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/events.cqt.sg\/shorts\/backstory-demons-hunt-darkness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Backstory: Demons Hunt in Darkness - Quantum Shorts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Backstory: Demons Hunt in Darkness A Q&A with\u00a0S.G. Phillips, Quantum Shorts finalist Read the story first:\u00a0Demons Hunt in Darkness Can you give a short introduction of yourself? I am a doctoral\u00a0student\u00a0researching the\u00a0properties of the earliest\u00a0galaxies,\u00a0towards a\u00a0better\u00a0understanding of\u00a0cosmic reionisation – the\u00a0last\u00a0major\u00a0phase\u00a0transition of the\u00a0Universe. 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