Luboš Motl
Encyclopedia
Luboš Motl is a Czech
theoretical physicist
who keeps a blog
commenting on physics, global warming and politics
. His scientific research concentrated on string theory
, of which he has been a passionate defender. He proposed Matrix string theory
in 1997.
Motl was born in Plzeň, Czech Republic
. He received his master degree from the Charles University in Prague
, and his Doctor of Philosophy
degree from Rutgers University
and has been a Harvard Junior Fellow (2001–2004) and assistant professor (2004–2007) at Harvard University
. It was during his years at Harvard that Motl started his blog, "Luboš Motl's Reference Frame", some of which is still hosted on Harvard's servers. In 2007, he left Harvard and returned to the Czech Republic.
While in Harvard, he worked on the pp-wave limit of AdS/CFT correspondence, twistor theory and its application to gauge theory
with supersymmetry
, black hole
thermodynamics and the conjectured relevance of quasinormal mode
s for loop quantum gravity
, deconstruction, and other topics. He has a presence on the Internet
, where he often participates in discussions supporting string theory against loop quantum gravity.
Motl translated The Elegant Universe
by Brian Greene
to Czech
, and together with Miloš Zahradník
, he co-authored a Czech textbook on linear algebra
(We Grow Linear Algebra). He also authored L'equation Bogdanovhttp://motls.blogspot.com/2008/01/lequation-bogdanov.html, a book published in France discussing the scientific ideas and controversy of the Bogdanov brothers.
Motl keeps a blog mainly discussing general science and politics. The blog discusses new discoveries in string theory and theoretical physics, often clarifies commonly discussed physics topics in the popular media, and points out common errors found in `alternative' theories of physics (such as violations of Lorentz invariance, causality, unitarity, etc). He also frequently disputes what he considers to be alarmism
about global warming
, and some of the statistical models used by some climate researchers on grounds such as incorrect prior probability
distributions.
In politics, he was one of the Harvard faculty who defended then-president Lawrence Summers
after his controversial remarks regarding women in science. He expresses right-wing opinions, e.g. that Greece "needs someone like Pinochet to take over". In religion, following the example of Oriana Fallaci
, he counts himself "as a Christian atheist" http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1ZDPQA6FLY8XM, http://motls.blogspot.com/2006/09/oriana-fallaci-force-of-reason.html although he notes "how simple-minded and naive Christianity can be".http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1ZDPQA6FLY8XM?display=public&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview&page=5
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...
theoretical physicist
Theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...
who keeps a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
commenting on physics, global warming and politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
. His scientific research concentrated on string theory
String theory
String theory is an active research framework in particle physics that attempts to reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity. It is a contender for a theory of everything , a manner of describing the known fundamental forces and matter in a mathematically complete system...
, of which he has been a passionate defender. He proposed Matrix string theory
Matrix string theory
In physics, Matrix string theory is a set of equations that describe superstring theory in a non-perturbative framework. Type IIA string theory can be shown to be equivalent to a maximally supersymmetric two-dimensional gauge theory, the gauge group of which is U for a large value of N...
in 1997.
Motl was born in Plzeň, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. He received his master degree from the Charles University in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, and his Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
degree from Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
and has been a Harvard Junior Fellow (2001–2004) and assistant professor (2004–2007) at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. It was during his years at Harvard that Motl started his blog, "Luboš Motl's Reference Frame", some of which is still hosted on Harvard's servers. In 2007, he left Harvard and returned to the Czech Republic.
While in Harvard, he worked on the pp-wave limit of AdS/CFT correspondence, twistor theory and its application to gauge theory
Gauge theory
In physics, gauge invariance is the property of a field theory in which different configurations of the underlying fundamental but unobservable fields result in identical observable quantities. A theory with such a property is called a gauge theory...
with supersymmetry
Supersymmetry
In particle physics, supersymmetry is a symmetry that relates elementary particles of one spin to other particles that differ by half a unit of spin and are known as superpartners...
, black hole
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
thermodynamics and the conjectured relevance of quasinormal mode
Quasinormal mode
-Wave Mechanics:Quasinormal modes are the modes of energy dissipation of aperturbed object or field. A familiar example is theperturbation of a wine glass with a knife: the glass begins to...
s for loop quantum gravity
Loop quantum gravity
Loop quantum gravity , also known as loop gravity and quantum geometry, is a proposed quantum theory of spacetime which attempts to reconcile the theories of quantum mechanics and general relativity...
, deconstruction, and other topics. He has a presence on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, where he often participates in discussions supporting string theory against loop quantum gravity.
Motl translated The Elegant Universe
The Elegant Universe
The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory is a book by Brian Greene published in 1999, which introduces string and superstring theory, and provides a comprehensive though non-technical assessment of the theory and some of its shortcomings...
by Brian Greene
Brian Greene
Brian Greene is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. He has been a professor at Columbia University since 1996. Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi-Yau manifolds...
to Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
, and together with Miloš Zahradník
Miloš Zahradník
Miloš Zahradník is a Czech mathematician who works on statistical mechanics in Charles University in Prague. He is also known for the book We Grow Linear Algebra that he wrote with Luboš Motl.-References:...
, he co-authored a Czech textbook on linear algebra
Linear algebra
Linear algebra is a branch of mathematics that studies vector spaces, also called linear spaces, along with linear functions that input one vector and output another. Such functions are called linear maps and can be represented by matrices if a basis is given. Thus matrix theory is often...
(We Grow Linear Algebra). He also authored L'equation Bogdanovhttp://motls.blogspot.com/2008/01/lequation-bogdanov.html, a book published in France discussing the scientific ideas and controversy of the Bogdanov brothers.
Motl keeps a blog mainly discussing general science and politics. The blog discusses new discoveries in string theory and theoretical physics, often clarifies commonly discussed physics topics in the popular media, and points out common errors found in `alternative' theories of physics (such as violations of Lorentz invariance, causality, unitarity, etc). He also frequently disputes what he considers to be alarmism
Climate change alarmism
Climate change alarmism or global warming alarmism is a critical description of a rhetorical style that stresses the potentially catastrophic effects of global warming to the point where the scale of the problem appears to exclude the possibility of real action or agency by the reader or...
about global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, and some of the statistical models used by some climate researchers on grounds such as incorrect prior probability
Prior probability
In Bayesian statistical inference, a prior probability distribution, often called simply the prior, of an uncertain quantity p is the probability distribution that would express one's uncertainty about p before the "data"...
distributions.
In politics, he was one of the Harvard faculty who defended then-president Lawrence Summers
Lawrence Summers
Lawrence Henry Summers is an American economist. He served as the 71st United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He was Director of the White House United States National Economic Council for President Barack Obama until November 2010.Summers is the...
after his controversial remarks regarding women in science. He expresses right-wing opinions, e.g. that Greece "needs someone like Pinochet to take over". In religion, following the example of Oriana Fallaci
Oriana Fallaci
Oriana Fallaci was an Italian journalist, author, and political interviewer. A former partisan during World War II, she had a long and successful journalistic career...
, he counts himself "as a Christian atheist" http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1ZDPQA6FLY8XM, http://motls.blogspot.com/2006/09/oriana-fallaci-force-of-reason.html although he notes "how simple-minded and naive Christianity can be".http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1ZDPQA6FLY8XM?display=public&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview&page=5
Publications
- Higher-order corrections to mass-charge relation of extremal black holes
- The String Landscape, Black Holes and Gravity as the Weakest Force
- Equivalence of twistor prescriptions for super Yang-Mills
- Cubic Twistorial String Field Theory
- Matrix string theory, contact terms, and superstring field theory
- Heterotic plane wave matrix models and giant gluons
- Asymptotic black hole quasinormal frequencies
- An analytical computation of asymptotic Schwarzschild quasinormal frequencies
- PP-Wave / CFT_2 Duality
- PP-wave string interactions from perturbative Yang-Mills theory
- Nonperturbative Formulations of Superstring Theory (Phd Thesis)
- Two-parametric zeta function regularization in superstring theory
- Proposals on nonperturbative superstring interactions
External links
- Luboš Motl's blog
- "The World of Science Becomes a Global Village; Archive Opens a New Realm of Research", James GlanzJames GlanzJames Glanz is an American journalist who was appointed as Baghdad bureau chief of The New York Times in 2007.Glanz joined the Times in 1999. Articles he wrote with Eric Lipton and others on the World Trade Center were chosen as a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in explanatory journalism in 2002...
, New York Times, May 1, 2001 - "Theorists snap over string pieces", Geoff Brumfiel, Nature News, October 5, 2006