Peking University, Nov. 21: On the afternoon of Nov. 16, Novel Prize 2007 winner Peter Grunberg visited School of Physics of Peking University (PKU) on invitation and delivered a speech named “Fourier theorem: from harmony in music to speech recognition” in the Yingjie Overseas Exchange Center. The meeting was hosted by Prof. Yang Jinbo from School of Physics of PKU. About 300 experts, scholars, students and teachers from Peking University, Tsinghua University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Science and Technology Beijing and some other scientific research institutions, attended the meeting.

In his speech, Prof. Peter Grunberg first explained the fundamental theory and important characteristics of speech recognition, introduced applications of dealing with speech in the way of Fourier theorem, analyzed the laws of harmony in music and demonstrated the application of Fourier analysis in the guitar and the violin. Later, he showed the application of Fourier transformation in electromagnetical devices. Finally, he played the guitar for the audience.

Professor Grunberg played the guitar for the audience

The wonderful speech brought a lot of applause. After the speech, students majoring in different subjects asked questions actively, showed interest in the contents of the speech and discussed their creative ideas and relative professional questions with Prof. Peter Grunberg. He also shared his understanding of music and physics with the audience and encouraged the students to keep their interest in science.

Written by: Xu Xinyi
Edited by: Cao Yixing
Source: PKU News (Chinese)