Riccardo Giacconi presents the film 'Il Corpo Nero' at Rencontres Internationales Paris Berlin at the Centre Pompidou, Auditorium du Louvre, Paris, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin.
Il corpo nero
Experimental doc. | hdv | color | 5'37'' | Italy / | 2018
In physics, a "black body" is an idealized physical body that absorbs all incident electromagnetic radiation, regardless of frequency or angle of incidence. An approximate depiction of a black body is a hole in the wall of a large cavity. Any light entering the hole is reflected indefinitely or absorbed inside and is unlikely to re-emerge, making the hole a nearly perfect absorber. The film has been edited as a palindrome, and it is composed of fragments from a conversation with particle physicist Alessio Del Dotto. The scientist outlines the concept of "black body" by narrating anecdotes about it: ultraviolet catastrophes, the first moments of the universe, Borges' Aleph and the double meaning of the Italian word "spettro".