Over 600 pupils from 13 schools from Bolton, Bury, Rochdale, Wigan and Tyldesley descended on Bolton School to attend the Institute of Physics' lecture entitled: "Rock in 11 dimensions: where physics and guitars collide”.  The exciting, interactive and inspiring lecture used rock guitars, superstrings, 11 dimensions and the world's largest and highest energy particle accelerator to help reveal the secrets behind the distinctive sounds of rock guitars and how string vibrations might answer the questions about the Big Bang.

Pupils were transported to the School through the financial support of the Ogden Trust and the lecture, organised by Dr Michael Yates, Head of Chemistry and Dr Janet Thatcher, Head of Physics in the Boys’ Division, marked the launch of the Ogden Trust Science Partnership between local schools and universities.   

In his mind-expanding and ear-stimulating show, acoustics physicist Dr Mark Lewney, had more than simple entertainment in mind when he strapped on his Ibanez Sabre rock guitar and leaped onto the stage.

Dr Lewney told the audience: “If you understand string vibrations you can appreciate music with both your head and your heart. And understanding the fundamentals of the universe as well is a massive bonus!”

As well as demonstrating the physics of rock guitar and showing how the vibrations of guitar strings form the basis of String Theory, he introduced students to the biggest experiment ever built - the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland and explained why the science community is so excited about what might happen once they press the “on” button later this year.

"The LHC will let us glimpse what the universe was like in its first trillionth of a second and may even help us discover the origins and nature of matter.  It might even find the 'hidden dimensions' of String Theory, but there’s plenty to be excited about even if it doesn’t,” said Dr Lewney.

“Everyone should be excited to live at a time when this experiment is so new and we’re entering such unknown territory. People in future will say, 'Wow! Imagine living back then!’”

But while CERN’s experiments are expected to bring major technological advances in superconductivity and computation, they are also important for the role they will play in exploring the fabric of the universe and understanding the very deepest questions of our existence and the universe’s beginnings, such as where its mass came from and where most of it mysteriously disappeared to.