Perc Matjaž
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
J R Soc Interface. 2020 Mar;17(164):20190686. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2019.0686. Epub 2020 Mar 11.
Beauty is subjective, and as such it, of course, cannot be defined in absolute terms. But we all know or feel when something is beautiful to us personally. And in such instances, methods of statistical physics and network science can be used to quantify and to better understand what it is that evokes that pleasant feeling, be it when reading a book or looking at a painting. Indeed, recent large-scale explorations of digital data have lifted the veil on many aspects of our artistic expressions that would remain forever hidden in smaller samples. From the determination of complexity and entropy of art paintings to the creation of the flavour network and the principles of food pairing, fascinating research at the interface of art, physics and network science abounds. We here review the existing literature, focusing in particular on culinary, visual, musical and literary arts. We also touch upon cultural history and culturomics, as well as on the connections between physics and the social sciences in general. The review shows that the synergies between these fields yield highly entertaining results that can often be enjoyed by layman and experts alike. In addition to its wider appeal, the reviewed research also has many applications, ranging from improved recommendation to the detection of plagiarism.
美是主观的，因此当然无法用绝对的术语来定义。但当某事物对我们个人而言是美的时候，我们都知道或能感觉到。在这种情况下，可以使用统计物理学和网络科学的方法来量化并更好地理解是什么唤起了那种愉悦的感觉，无论是在读书还是看画的时候。的确，最近对数字数据的大规模探索揭开了我们艺术表达许多方面的面纱，而这些方面在较小的样本中会永远隐藏起来。从确定艺术画作的复杂性和熵到创建风味网络以及食物搭配的原则，艺术、物理学和网络科学交叉领域的迷人研究比比皆是。我们在此回顾现有文献，特别关注烹饪、视觉、音乐和文学艺术。我们还会涉及文化历史和文化组学，以及一般意义上物理学与社会科学之间的联系。综述表明，这些领域之间的协同作用产生了极具趣味性的结果，外行人与专家通常都能欣赏。除了更广泛的吸引力之外，所综述的研究还有许多应用，从改进推荐到检测剽窃不一而足。
