The Center is Everywhere

TL;DR

This paper discusses a sculpture inspired by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey that visualizes the universe's large-scale structure, highlighting the scientific principles of cosmic homogeneity and the infinite nature of the universe.

Contribution

It introduces a unique art-science sculpture based on SDSS data, illustrating complex cosmological concepts through visual representation.

Findings

Visualizes cosmic structure using glass crystals and lamps

Highlights the principle of statistical homogeneity in cosmology

Connects art with scientific understanding of the universe

Abstract

"The Center is Everywhere" is a sculpture by Josiah McElheny, currently (through October 14, 2012) on exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. The sculpture is based on data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), using hundreds of glass crystals and lamps suspended from brass rods to represent the three-dimensional structure mapped by the SDSS through one of its 2000+ spectroscopic plugplates. This article describes the scientific ideas behind this sculpture, emphasizing the principle of the statistical homogeneity of cosmic structure in the presence of local complexity. The title of the sculpture is inspired by the work of the French revolutionary Louis Auguste Blanqui, whose 1872 book "Eternity Through The Stars: An Astronomical Hypothesis" was the first to raise the spectre of the infinite replicas expected in an infinite, statistically homogeneous universe. Puzzles of infinities, probabilities, and replicas continue to haunt modern fiction and contemporary discussions of inflationary cosmology.