李·思莫林1955—

Lee Smolin (; born June 6, 1955) is an American theoretical physicist, a founding member of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 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's 2006 book The Trouble with Physics criticized string theory's viability. He has made contributions to quantum gravity theory, in particular the approach known as loop quantum gravity. He advocates that the two primary approaches to quantum gravity, loop quantum gravity and string theory, can be reconciled as different aspects of the same underlying theory. He also advocates an alternative view on space and time that he calls temporal naturalism. His research interests also include cosmology, elementary particle theory, the foundations of quantum mechanics, and theoretical biology.

Early life and education

Smolin was born in New York City to Michael Smolin, an environmental and process engineer and Pauline Smolin, a playwright. Smolin said his parents were Jewish followers of the Fourth Way, founded by George Gurdjieff, an Armenian mystic. Smolin describes himself as Jewish. His brother, David M. Smolin, became a professor at the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama.

Smolin dropped out of Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Career

He held postdoctoral research positions at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, and the University of Chicago, before becoming a faculty member at Yale, Syracuse, and Pennsylvania State Universities. He was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in 1995 and a visiting professor at Imperial College London (1999–2001), before becoming one of the founding faculty members at the Perimeter Institute in 2001.

Theories and work

Loop quantum gravity

Smolin contributed to the theory of loop quantum gravity (LQG) in collaborative work with Ted Jacobson, Carlo Rovelli, Louis Crane, Abhay Ashtekar and others. LQG is an approach to the unification of quantum mechanics with general relativity which utilizes a reformulation of general relativity in the language of gauge field theories, which allows the use of techniques from particle physics, particularly the expression of fields in terms of the dynamics of loops.

The Trouble with Physics

Smolin's 2006 book The Trouble with Physics explored the role of controversy and disagreement in the progress of science. It argued that science progresses fastest if the scientific community encourages the widest possible disagreement among trained and accredited professionals prior to the formation of consensus brought about by experimental confirmation of predictions of falsifiable theories.

Views

In an excerpt from The Trouble With Physics, Smolin stated his view on the nature of time:

More and more, I have the feeling that quantum theory and general relativity are both deeply wrong about the nature of time. It is not enough to combine them. There is a deeper problem, perhaps going back to the beginning of physics.

Smolin does not believe that quantum mechanics is a "final theory":

Awards and honors

Smolin was named as #21 on Foreign Policy magazine's list of Top 100 Public Intellectuals. He is also one of many physicists dubbed the "New Einstein" by the media. The Trouble with Physics was named by Newsweek magazine as number 17 on a list of 50 "Books for our Time", June 27, 2009.

Personal life and family

Smolin has stayed involved with theatre becoming a scientific consultant for such plays as A Walk in the Woods by Lee Blessing, Background Interference by Drucilla Cornell, and Infinity by Hannah Moscovitch.

Smolin is married to Dina Graser, a lawyer and urban policy consultant in Toronto, Ontario. He was previously married to Fotini Markopoulou-Kalamara. His brother is law professor David M. Smolin.