Max Tegmark
Encyclopedia
Max Tegmark is a Swedish
-American
cosmologist
. Tegmark is a professor
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and belongs to the scientific directorate of the Foundational Questions Institute
.
, studied at the Royal Institute of Technology
in Stockholm
, and later received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley
. After having worked at the University of Pennsylvania
, he is now at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
. While still in high-school, Max wrote, and sold commercially, together with school buddy Magnus Bodin a word processor written in pure machine code http://x42.com/teddy/ for the Swedish 8-bit computer ABC80
.
, combining theoretical work with new measurements to place constraints on cosmological models and their free parameters, often in collaboration with experimentalists.
He has over 200 publications, of which 9 have been cited over 500 times.
He has developed data analysis tools based on information theory and applied them to Cosmic Microwave Background experiments such as COBE
, QMAP
, and WMAP, and to galaxy redshift surveys such as the Las Campanas Redshift Survey
, the 2dF Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
.
With Daniel Eisenstein and Wayne Hu, he introduced the idea of using Baryon Acoustic Oscillations
as a Standard Ruler
.
With Angelica de Oliveira-Costa and Andrew Hamilton, he discovered the anomalous multipole alignment in the WMAP data sometimes referred to as the "axis of evil".
He developed the quantum suicide
thought experiment from earlier proposals by Hans Moravec
and Bruno Marchal, and has come up with a mathematical argument for the multiverse
.
He has also been a strong critic of those who would infer a theory of consciousness
from quantum effects, such as Roger Penrose
and Stuart Hameroff
.
Tegmark has also formulated the "Ultimate ensemble theory of everything", whose only postulate is that "all structures that exist mathematically exist also physically". This simple theory, with no free parameters at all, suggests that in those structures complex enough to contain self-aware substructures (SASs), these SASs will subjectively perceive themselves as existing in a physically "real" world. This idea is formalized as the "Mathematical universe hypothesis" in his paper The mathematical universe, a short version of which was published as Shut up and calculate.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cosmologist
Physical cosmology
Physical cosmology, as a branch of astronomy, is the study of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of the universe and is concerned with fundamental questions about its formation and evolution. For most of human history, it was a branch of metaphysics and religion...
. Tegmark is a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
and belongs to the scientific directorate of the Foundational Questions Institute
Foundational Questions Institute
The Foundational Questions Institute, styled FQXi, is an organization which provides grants to “catalyze, support, and disseminate research on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology.” It has run two worldwide grant competitions....
.
Early life
Tegmark was born as Max Shapiro in Sweden, son of Karin Tegmark and Harold S. ShapiroHarold S. Shapiro
Harold Seymour Shapiro is a professor emeritus of mathematics at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, best...
, studied at the Royal Institute of Technology
Royal Institute of Technology
The Royal Institute of Technology is a university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH was founded in 1827 as Sweden's first polytechnic and is one of Scandinavia's largest institutions of higher education in technology. KTH accounts for one-third of Sweden’s technical research and engineering education...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, and later received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. After having worked at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, he is now at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. While still in high-school, Max wrote, and sold commercially, together with school buddy Magnus Bodin a word processor written in pure machine code http://x42.com/teddy/ for the Swedish 8-bit computer ABC80
ABC80
The ABC 80 was a home computer engineered by the Swedish corporation Dataindustrier AB and manufactured by Luxor in Motala, Sweden in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
.
Career
His research has focused on cosmologyCosmology
Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
, combining theoretical work with new measurements to place constraints on cosmological models and their free parameters, often in collaboration with experimentalists.
He has over 200 publications, of which 9 have been cited over 500 times.
He has developed data analysis tools based on information theory and applied them to Cosmic Microwave Background experiments such as COBE
COBE
The COsmic Background Explorer , also referred to as Explorer 66, was a satellite dedicated to cosmology. Its goals were to investigate the cosmic microwave background radiation of the universe and provide measurements that would help shape our understanding of the cosmos.This work provided...
, QMAP
QMAP
QMAP is a balloon experiment to measure the anisotropy of the Cosmic microwave background. It flew twice in 1996, and was used with an interlocking scan of the skies to produce cosmic microwave background maps....
, and WMAP, and to galaxy redshift surveys such as the Las Campanas Redshift Survey
Las Campanas Redshift Survey
The Las Campanas Redshift Survey is considered the first attempt to map a large area of the universe out to a redshift of z = 0.2. It was begun in 1991 using the Las Campanas telescope in Chile to catalog 26418 separate galaxies. It is considered one of the first surveys to document the so-called...
, the 2dF Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Sloan Digital Sky Survey
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey or SDSS is a major multi-filter imaging and spectroscopic redshift survey using a dedicated 2.5-m wide-angle optical telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, United States. The project was named after the Alfred P...
.
With Daniel Eisenstein and Wayne Hu, he introduced the idea of using Baryon Acoustic Oscillations
Baryon acoustic oscillations
In cosmology, baryon acoustic oscillations refers to an overdensity or clustering of baryonic matter at certain length scales due to acoustic waves which propagated in the early universe. In the same way that supernova experiments provide a "standard candle" for astronomical observations, BAO...
as a Standard Ruler
Standard ruler
A standard ruler is an astronomical object whose approximate size is known. By measuring its apparent angular diameter in the sky, one can determine its distance from Earth....
.
With Angelica de Oliveira-Costa and Andrew Hamilton, he discovered the anomalous multipole alignment in the WMAP data sometimes referred to as the "axis of evil".
He developed the quantum suicide
Quantum suicide
In quantum mechanics, quantum suicide is a thought experiment. It was originally published independently by Hans Moravec in 1987 and Bruno Marchal in 1988 and was independently developed further by Max Tegmark in 1998...
thought experiment from earlier proposals by Hans Moravec
Hans Moravec
Hans Moravec is an adjunct faculty member at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. He is known for his work on robotics, artificial intelligence, and writings on the impact of technology. Moravec also is a futurist with many of his publications and predictions focusing on...
and Bruno Marchal, and has come up with a mathematical argument for the multiverse
Multiverse (science)
The multiverse is the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes that together comprise everything that exists and can exist: the entirety of space, time, matter, and energy as well as the physical laws and constants that describe them...
.
He has also been a strong critic of those who would infer a theory of consciousness
Consciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
from quantum effects, such as Roger Penrose
Roger Penrose
Sir Roger Penrose OM FRS is an English mathematical physicist and Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College...
and Stuart Hameroff
Stuart Hameroff
Stuart Hameroff is an anesthesiologist and professor at the University of Arizona known for his scientific studies of consciousness.-Career:...
.
Tegmark has also formulated the "Ultimate ensemble theory of everything", whose only postulate is that "all structures that exist mathematically exist also physically". This simple theory, with no free parameters at all, suggests that in those structures complex enough to contain self-aware substructures (SASs), these SASs will subjectively perceive themselves as existing in a physically "real" world. This idea is formalized as the "Mathematical universe hypothesis" in his paper The mathematical universe, a short version of which was published as Shut up and calculate.
Personal life
He was married to astrophysicist Angelica de Oliveira-Costa (1997-2009). They have two sons, Philip and Alexander. http://space.mit.edu/home/tegmark/personal.html.In the media
- In 2006, Tegmark was one of fifty scientists interviewed by New ScientistNew ScientistNew Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...
about their predictions for the future. His prediction: "In 50 years, you may be able to buy T-shirts on which are printed equations describing the unified laws of our universes." - Tegmark appears in the documentary Parallel Worlds, Parallel LivesParallel Worlds, Parallel LivesParallel Worlds, Parallel Lives is a BAFTA-winning television documentary broadcast in 2007 on BBC Scotland and BBC Four, in which American rock musician Mark Oliver Everett talks with physicists and the former colleagues of his father—Hugh Everett—about his father's many-worlds interpretation of...
in which he is interviewed by Mark Oliver EverettMark Oliver EverettMark Oliver Everett is the lead singer, songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist and sometime drummer of the independent rock band Eels...
, son of the founder of the many-worlds interpretationMany-worlds interpretationThe many-worlds interpretation is an interpretation of quantum mechanics that asserts the objective reality of the universal wavefunction, but denies the actuality of wavefunction collapse. Many-worlds implies that all possible alternative histories and futures are real, each representing an...
of quantum mechanics, Hugh EverettHugh EverettHugh Everett III was an American physicist who first proposed the many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics, which he termed his "relative state" formulation....
. - Tegmark also appears in "Who's afraid of a big black hole?","What time is it?", "To Infinity and Beyond", "Is Everything We Know About The Universe Wrong?" and "What is Reality?", all part of the BBC's Horizon scientific series of programmes.