Lee Smolin
Lee Smolin | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 6, 1955 |
| Residence | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Quantum gravity, Loop quantum gravity, Cosmological natural selection, critique of String Theory |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Theoretical physics |
Lee Smolin (born June 6, 1955) is an American theoretical physicist and a founding faculty member of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario. He is an adjunct professor of physics at the University of Waterloo and a member of the graduate faculty of the philosophy department at the University of Toronto. Smolin is a mainstream physicist best known for his work on quantum gravity and for his widely-read books criticising the dominance of String Theory in fundamental physics and calling for a greater diversity of approaches — a theme that has made his work frequently cited in dissident-physics circles.
Biography
Smolin studied at Hampshire College and received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Harvard University in 1979. He held postdoctoral positions at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, and the University of Chicago, and was a faculty member at Yale, Syracuse and Pennsylvania State universities before becoming one of the founding members of the Perimeter Institute in 2001.
Research
Smolin has worked mainly on approaches to quantum gravity that do not depend on string theory. He was one of the initiators of loop quantum gravity and of deformed (or "doubly") special relativity. He is also known for the idea of cosmological natural selection, a proposal in which universes reproduce through the formation of black holes and their physical parameters are "selected" for producing many black holes. In later work — including Time Reborn and Einstein's Unfinished Revolution — he has argued for the reality of time and for a realist interpretation of quantum mechanics, positioning himself against purely instrumentalist readings of the theory.
Books
- 1997 - The Life of the Cosmos
- 2001 - Three Roads to Quantum Gravity
- 2006 - The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next
- 2013 - Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe
- 2014 - The Singular Universe and the Reality of Time (with Roberto Mangabeira Unger)
- 2019 - Einstein's Unfinished Revolution: The Search for What Lies Beyond the Quantum
His 2006 book The Trouble with Physics is his best-known work: it argues that string theory has produced no testable predictions, has an unhealthy near-monopoly on fundamental physics, and that science advances better through a diversity of competing approaches. See the main article on The Trouble with Physics.
Awards
- 2007 - Majorana Prize (Electronic Journal of Theoretical Physics)
- 2009 - Klopsteg Memorial Award, American Association of Physics Teachers
He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the American Physical Society.