ACTIVE20 participants social distancing in the Charles T. Munger Physics Residence. From left to right: Luiza Angheluta-Bauer, Cecilia Leal, Ivan Smalyukh, Yair Shokef.
Photo by Tom Faulkner
When the Governor of California issued the “Shelter in Place” executive order during the COVID-19 pandemic, we and two other participants (Yair Shokef of Tel-Aviv University and Luiza Angheluta-Bauer from University of Oslo) of KITP’s “Symmetry, Thermodynamics and Topology in Active Matter” program, hereafter known as ACTIVE20, were already residents at the Munger Residence. ACTIVE20 would begin as the first KITP program to launch online and we were the only participants at the Munger Residence. That was a bit of a head scratch. What will this program look like to us and our small kids while we shelter at home away from home, without their toys, games, and distractions?
Mark Bowick, KITP’s Deputy Director and one of the ACTIVE20 organizers recently shared with us the story of Sophie Germain (1776-1831), a self-taught French mathematician who made seminal contributions to the theory of elasticity. Sophie could only do mathematics in isolation, having to hide from her parents in the dark as they took away her candles in attempts to prevent her studies. Mathematics kept her mind secluded from the problems surrounding her, so she persisted, waking up at the crack of dawn to do math “under covers” as her ink froze in the ink-pot. COVID-19 isn’t a hardship compared to this. We don’t have to pretend to be a man to do science, and the lights are always on. But COVID-19 did force us to isolate and isolation is not commensurate with scientific development. Not even for Sophie Germain, who despite working in isolation, thoroughly enjoyed her exchanges with other scientists like Gauss and Lagrange. While a tempting thought, isolation is not a great aid to pure theorists either. The KITP program on “Gravitational Holography” (QGRAVITY20) was just ending at the onset of COVID-19 concerns. It was fantastic to be at the Munger Residence during that social time and witness how science emerges from a vibrant group who can socialize, play table tennis and even music together.
The Munger Residence is a lot calmer now, but that also means that our group can have discussions in person while remaining 12 feet apart (in all dimensions really). We can still have barbecues, play music and table tennis, and the big blackboards are fantastic to homeschool the kids. While COVID-19 is not fully going away anytime soon, scientific conferences and KITP programs will have to adapt to the new realities of pandemic-impacted scientific exchange. Could our stay and participation in the virtual ACTIVE20 program provide some insights on how (perhaps in stages) KITP programs could be brought back as onsite events with face-to-face scientific interactions even before a vaccine is available? The Munger Residence is spacious and the best equipped facility for long-term stay of researchers that we have seen in our careers. At a fraction of its occupancy, it could possibly house two dozen researchers (and some of their families) with plenty of room for “long-range” social and scientific interactions.
The online ACTIVE20 program is fantastic, bringing over 100 online attendees to every talk, with many engaging discussions, spin half-hour events (where you meet new researchers in Zoom breakout rooms), Slack-enabled follow-up exchanges, tutorials, and so on. Most of these events are also recorded and posted on KITP’s website, letting the whole world benefit. However, by no means will virtual programs replace what researchers practiced over centuries – the in-person interactions. The Munger Residence was designed to be a home away from home for researchers attending KITP programs and it still is capable of serving this mission during these challenging times. With its caring and helpful staff and location, we believe that Munger is the best place to “shelter in place” at a home away from home.
These days, blackboards at the Residence often feature a mix of remnants of first-grader homeschooling and field theories of active matter, along with messages like “Happy Birthday, Amy!” from a new friend. These blackboards, the embodiment of the knowledge exchange ranging from first-grade math to homotopy theory, wait for new groups of scientists from all over the world to arrive once travel and other restrictions are relaxed. We hope that new groups of residents can come and fill the walls of the Munger Residence with a unique mix of joyful laughter of children and engaging scientific debate.
Tom Faulkner, one of the QGRAVITY20 organizers, homeschooling in the Children’s Room at the Munger Residence. Photo by Cecilia Leal.
Amy Faulkner taking Zoom violin lessons in the Munger Residence Music Room under the watchful eye of a young Joni Mitchell, photographed by Gary Smaby
Photo by Cecilia Leal.
- Cecilia Leal, Associate Professor and Racheff Faculty Scholar in Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign and Ivan Smalyukh, Professor of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder
KITP Newsletter, Spring 2020