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Antony Garrett Lisi

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Antony Garrett Lisi
Antony Garrett Lisi in Iceland, for the 2007 FQXI conference
BornJanuary 24, 1968
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUCLA
UCSD
Known for"An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything"
Surfing
Scientific career
FieldsTheoretical physics
Institutionsnone: independent

Antony Garrett Lisi (born January 24, 1968), who uses the name Garrett by preference,[1] is an American theoretical physicist and adventure sports enthusiast. Lisi works as an independent researcher without an academic position. He is a strong proponent of balance in life, in his case between scientific research and enjoyment of the outdoors.[2][3]

Lisi is known for "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything," a paper proposing a unified field theory based on the E8 Lie group, combining particle physics with Einstein's theory of gravitation.

Biography

Early life

Born in Los Angeles and raised in San Diego, California,[4] Lisi graduated the Cate School (south of Santa Barbara, California) in 1986. He learned to surf in San Diego, where he traveled between surf breaks in an old VW Bus.[5] Lisi went on to receive two B.S. degrees with highest honors in physics and mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1991. Lisi received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, San Diego in 1999.[6]

After the Ph.D.

After getting his Ph.D., Lisi left academia and moved to Maui — expressing his dissatisfaction with the state of theoretical physics:

I got my PhD and looked at my options. I love differential geometry, general relativity, and particle physics. But the only options available then for a postdoc in those combined areas were in string theory, and I thought string theory was overly speculative. There are many really impressive aspects of strings — anomaly cancelation in particular — but there are other things that just seem wild and physically unsubstantiated. I had gotten lucky by investing my graduate stipend in a little company many thought was going out of business (AAPL), so I decided to go to Maui, learn to windsurf, and work on physics on my own.[7]

On Maui, Lisi volunteered as a staff member at a local Sudbury school, and split his time between working on his own physics research and surfing.[8]

While living in a customized van with his girlfriend, Crystal Baranyk, Lisi taught physics classes at University of Hawaii – Maui College.[8] After two years on Maui, Lisi says he was offered a tenure track teaching position at the local college, but turned it down (even though he was nearly broke) because it wouldn't have given him enough time for his physics research.[1] At the same time, he submitted a grant application to the newly formed Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi). Lisi says the decision to turn down the job offer and hope for FQXi funding was "a hell of a gamble."[1]

Academic reentry

On July 31, 2006, Lisi was awarded an FQXi grant to develop his research in quantum mechanics and unification.[9] The grant allowed Lisi to devote his full attention to physics and create his personal research wiki, Deferential Geometry.[10] On June 9, 2007, Lisi realized that the algebraic structure he had constructed to unify the standard model of particle physics with general relativity perfectly matched the algebraic structure of the E8 Lie group.

On July 21, 2007, Lisi traveled to the inaugural FQXi conference in Reykjavik, Iceland. He was invited to give several academic talks.[8] On invitation from Lee Smolin, Lisi visited the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in October, and posted his paper, "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything,"[11] to the arXiv on November 6, 2007. Discussions of Lisi's theory developed rapidly over most major physics blogs,[5] and the story of Lisi's theory and personal history was reported by many online and traditional media sources around the world.

Lisi presented at the TED Conference on February 28, 2008,[12] and has since presented several academic talks and colloquia.

On July 8, 2009, at a FQXi conference in the Azores, Lisi made a public bet with Frank Wilczek that superparticles would not be detected by July 8, 2015.[citation needed]

In July, 2010, mathematicians and physicists met with Lisi at the Banff International Research Station in Alberta, Canada, for a week to discuss his theory.[13]

Physics research

Work on quantum mechanics

On May 8, 2006, in an arXiv preprint, "Quantum mechanics from a universal action reservoir,"[14] Lisi described how the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics can be derived from information theory and the existence of a universal action reservoir.[15]

Deferential Geometry

Lisi is an early practitioner of open notebook science.[16] Lisi created his "personal wiki notebook in theoretical physics" — the Deferential Geometry website — by using TiddlyWiki and jsMath.[10] Lisi uses this wiki to organize his research notes in theoretical physics, referring to this as "open source physics."[9][17]

An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything

Main article: An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything

Lisi's main work in theoretical physics is his Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything, which proposes a unified field theory combining a grand unification theory of particle physics with Albert Einstein's general relativistic description of gravitation, using the largest simple exceptional Lie algebra, E8. In a paper posted to the physics arXiv on November 6, 2007,[11] and in a popular article published in Scientific American in December, 2010,[18] Lisi describes how gravity, the standard model bosons and fermions can be unified as parts of an E8 superconnection. This unified field theory attempts to describe all fundamental interactions observed in nature, and stands as a possible theory of everything, unifying Albert Einstein's general relativity with the standard model of particle physics. The theory, called E8 Theory, also predicts the existence of many new particles.

Lisi designed a web application, the Elementary Particle Explorer,[19] for visualizing the charge structure of the elementary particles in the standard model, in grand unified theories, and in E8 Theory.

Lisi's theory has been applauded but also criticized in the scientific community.[20][21][22] He has addressed the criticism, while acknowledging that the theory is incomplete. In a Scientific American post, Garrett himself states:

(the 3 generation) ... issue remains the most significant problem, and until it is solved the theory is not complete and cannot be considered much more than a speculative proposal. Without fully describing how the three generations of fermions work, the theory and all predictions from it remain tenuous.[23]

Adventure sports

Garrett Lisi is an adventure sports enthusiast — surfing, snowboarding, and kitesurfing at the expert level as well as participating in many other adventure sports.[2][5][24] In an interview for Wired News, Lisi says:

Surfing and snowboarding are what I do for fun – to get out and play in nature. We live in a beautiful universe, and I wish to enjoy it and understand it as best I can. And I try to live a balanced life. Surfing is simply the most fun I know how to have on this planet. And physics, and science in general, is the best way of understanding how everything works. So this is what I spend my time doing. I do what I love, and follow my interests. Shouldn't everyone?[25]

Lisi brings some of his physics to his sports activities. During graduate school and years in Maui, most of Lisi's surfboards were adorned with the wave equation as decorative art.[2] And when riding an extra-long carving board, for alpine snowboarding, in Colorado and Tahoe, Lisi always wears a long white lab coat.[2][5][26][27] He has also become a sponsored team rider for an Oregon surfboard manufacturer, 42 Surfboards.[25]

Although concentrating on surfing, kitesurfing and snowboarding, Lisi participates in a wide variety of adventure sports. On his online journal, Lisi describes his experiences surfing, snowboarding, windsurfing, sailing, kitesurfing, mountain biking, skateboarding, motorcycling, cliff diving, rock climbing, hang gliding, paragliding, backpacking, water skiing, wakeboarding, flying, sky diving, and scuba diving.[8] Lisi is working on a film about young scientists who combine cutting-edge research with adventure sports.[28]

Science hostel

Lisi proposes the creation of a more casual kind of science institute—a science hostel —which he says "would essentially be large houses in beautiful locations where theorists could live and work."[26] Citing his experience living in Maui and the mountains of Tahoe and Colorado, Lisi says that for theoretical research it is good to have opportunities for hiking and things to do outside in attractive environments.[29][30] Describing the idea more formally, Lisi says:

The physical requirements for conducting scholarly research have changed dramatically with the rise of the internet. It is now viable for researchers with laptop computers to work autonomously – with access to current articles and communication channels on par with the resources available at large universities. These new circumstances motivate the creation of a new kind of research enterprise: a Science Hostel. By providing places to live and work with other researchers, in beautiful locations, a Science Hostel could increase creative productivity and overall quality of life for scholars in the internet age.[31]

Personal articles and interviews

Garrett Lisi's story attracted a great deal of media attention. Numerous news sites from all over the world reported on his new theory, also noting his unorthodox personal background. Lisi has been the subject of many biographical articles and interviews:

  • August 6, 2007 – On her blog, "Backreaction," in "Garrett Lisi's Inspiration,"[29] Sabine Hossenfelder interviews Lisi about his views and theory.
  • October 26, 2007 – In an article commissioned by FQXi, "Surfing the Folds of Spacetime,"[26] Scott Dodd reports on Lisi's history and theory.
  • November 14, 2007 – In The Daily Telegraph, Roger Highfield reports "Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything."[32]
  • November 15, 2007 – In New Scientist, Zeeya Merali reports "Is mathematical pattern the theory of everything?"[33]
  • November 15, 2007 – For Fox News, Jim Patton reports "'Physics is Beautiful' And a few other thoughts from Garrett Lisi."[4]
  • November 16, 2007 – CBC News reports "Surfer makes waves with scientific 'theory of everything'."[20]
  • November 16, 2007 – The Daily Galaxy reports "How a Surfer Dude Stunned the World of Science With the 'Theory of Everything'."[34]
  • November 18, 2007 – User Friendly features Garrett in its Sunday morning comic, as a "Wave Mechanic."[35]
  • November 18, 2007 – In The Sunday Times, Steve Farrar reports on "Einstein on a snowboard."[24]
  • November 19, 2007 – In Surfer Magazine, Scott Bass interviews Lisi in "ONE BIG THEORY: A Q & A w/ Surfing Scientist Garrett Lisi."[24]
  • November 20, 2007 – On an FQXi forum, "An Exceptionally Simple Personal FAQ,"[1] Lisi provides his detailed responses to questions from the media.
  • November 21, 2007 – In The Daily Telegraph, Roger Highfield reports "Surfer Dude's Theory of Everything – The Movie."[27]
  • November 22, 2007 – The Economist reports "Geometry is all."[36]
  • December 1, 2007 – In Surfer Magazine, Scott Bass lists Lisi as #3 in "Most interesting surfers of 2007: The Top Ten."[37]
  • December 3, 2007 – In The San Diego Union Tribune, Brad Melekian reports "Physicist balances waves with world of science."[3]
  • January 4, 2008 – The Edge Foundation includes Garrett's response to the question, "What Have You Changed Your Mind About?"[38]
  • February 26, 2008 – Discover Magazine reports "Could the Next Einstein Be a Surfer Dude?"[39]
  • February 27, 2008 – In Wired Magazine, Kim Zetter reports "Surfer-Physicist's Unified Theory Leads to Fame, Backlash."[25]
  • March 1, 2008 – In Scientific American, Graham P. Collins reports "Wipeout?"[21] In this article, Collins briefly describes Lisi's theory and the related discussion, referring to previous criticisms from Marcus Du Sautoy and Jacques Distler.
  • March 1, 2008 – The Science Channel interviews Garrett in "Ten Quick Questions With... Garrett Lisi."[40]
  • April 1, 2008 – In Symmetry Magazine, Amber Dance reports on "Outsider Science."[41]
  • May 1, 2008 – In Outside Magazine, Evan Ratliff writes "Has A Surfer/Snowboarder Who Lives In A Van Rewritten Physics? Maybe"[2]
  • June 1, 2008 – In Men's Journal, James Owen Weatherall writes "No Strings Attached."[5]
  • July 21, 2008 – In The New Yorker, Benjamin Wallace-Wells writes "Surfing the Universe."[42]
  • September 20, 2008 – For The Center for Science Writings, John Horgan writes "Surfing Einstein's Really Revolutionary Idea,"[30] discussing Lisi's idea for a Science Hostel.
  • September 25, 2008 – On O'Reilly Community, Timothy M. O'Brien writes "A. Garrett Lisi on Using Wikis to Support Open Source Science,"[17] discussing and presenting a video of Lisi describing his Deferential Geometry wiki.
  • November 17, 2008 – In SEED Magazine, Greg Boustead writes "Garrett Lisi's Exceptional Approach to Everything."[43]
  • January 4, 2009 – The Edge Foundation includes Garrett's response to the question, "What will change everything?"[44]
  • April 10, 2009 – On surfing.about.com, in "Garrett Lisi: Dropping in and Dropping Science,"[45] Jay DiMartino interviews Lisi.
  • April 25, 2009 – In the Financial Times, John O'Connor writes "First Person: A. Garrett Lisi."[46]
  • November 10, 2009 – In The Daily Telegraph, Roger Highfield writes "Surfer dude's theory of everything: the magic of Garrett Lisi."[28]
  • January 30, 2010 – In the Toronto Star, Mitch Porter writes "Surfer inspires comparisons to Albert Einstein."[47]
  • June 9, 2010 – Lisi was profiled in Morgan Freeman's science show, Through the Wormhole.[48]
  • December 1, 2010 – In Scientific American, Garrett Lisi and James Owen Weatherall write "A Geometric Theory of Everything."[18]
  • February 2, 2011 – In Maui Time Weekly, Jacob Shafer writes on "Physicist Garrett Lisi And His Theory of Everything."[49]
  • May 4, 2011 - In Scientific American, Garrett Lisi Responds to Criticism of his Proposed Unified Theory of Physics [50]

References

  1. ^ a b c d A. G. Lisi (2008-07-05). "A". sifter.org. Retrieved 2008-07-05. Cite error: The named reference "fq" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d e Evan Ratliff (2008-05-01). "Has A Surfer/Snowboarder Who Lives In A Van Rewritten Physics? Maybe". Outside Magazine. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  3. ^ a b Brad Melekian (2007-12-03). "Physicist balances waves with world of science". The San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  4. ^ a b Jim Patton (2007-11-15). "'Physics is Beautiful' And a few other thoughts from Garrett Lisi". Fox News. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  5. ^ a b c d e James Owen Weatherall (2008-06-01). "No Strings Attached". Men's Journal.
  6. ^ A. G. Lisi (2008-07-05). "A. Garrett Lisi's C.V." sifter.org. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
  7. ^ Sean Carroll (2008-07-06). "Garrett Lisi's Theory of Everything!". Cosmic Variance. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  8. ^ a b c d Antony Garrett Lisi (1999-10-13). "The Mauitian Chronicles". The Mauitian Chronicles. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  9. ^ a b "FQXi awards: A. Garrett Lisi". FQXi. 2006-07-31. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
  10. ^ a b Antony Garrett Lisi (2008-07-05). "Deferential Geometry". Deferential Geometry. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
  11. ^ a b Garrett Lisi, A. (2007). "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything". arXiv:0711.0770 [hep-th].
  12. ^ A. G. Lisi (2008-02-28). "Garrett Lisi profile". TED talks. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  13. ^ Merali, Zeeya (2010). "Rummaging for a Final Theory: Can a 1960s Approach Unify Gravity with the Rest of Physics?". Scientific American. Retrieved 2011-01-15. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  14. ^ Garrett Lisi, A. (2006). "Quantum mechanics from a universal action reservoir". arXiv:physics/0605068. {{cite arXiv}}: |class= ignored (help)
  15. ^ John Reilly (2007-11-17). "This could end the String Theory industry". The Long View. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  16. ^ Dave Bacon (2008-06-26). "Pseudo Open Notebook Science?". The Quantum Pontiff. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  17. ^ a b Timothy M. O'Brien (2008-09-25). "A. Garrett Lisi on Using Wikis to Support Open Source Science". O'Reilly. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  18. ^ a b A. G. Lisi; J. O. Weatherall (2010). "A Geometric Theory of Everything". Scientific American. 303 (6): 54–61. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1210-54. PMID 21141358.
  19. ^ Troy Gardner (2008-08-09). "Elementary Particle Explorer". Deferential Geometry. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
  20. ^ a b "Surfer makes waves with scientific 'theory of everything'". CBC News. 2007-11-16. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  21. ^ a b Collins, Graham P. (2008). "Wipeout?". Scientific American: 30–32. Retrieved 2008-06-18. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  22. ^ J. Distler; S. Garibaldi (2010). "There is No "Theory of Everything" Inside E8". Communications in Mathematical Physics. 298 (2): 419–436. arXiv:0905.2658. Bibcode:2010CMaPh.298..419D. doi:10.1007/s00220-010-1006-y. {{cite journal}}: Text "arxiv" ignored (help)
  23. ^ Garrett Lisi (2011-5-4) http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=garrett-lisi-responds-to-criticisms-2011-05-04 Scientific American retrieved 2011-6-2
  24. ^ a b c Steve Farrar (2007-11-18). "Einstein on a snowboard". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 2008-07-02. Cite error: The named reference "surfer" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  25. ^ a b c Kim Zetter (2008-02-27). "Surfer-Physicist's Unified Theory Leads to Fame, Backlash". Wired Magazine. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  26. ^ a b c Scott Dodd (2007-10-26). "Surfing the Folds of Spacetime" (PDF). FQXi article. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  27. ^ a b Roger Highfield (2007-11-21). "Surfer Dude's Theory of Everything – The Movie". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2008-06-12. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  28. ^ a b Roger Highfield (2009-11-10). "Surfer dude's theory of everything: the magic of Garrett Lisi". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
  29. ^ a b Sabine Hossenfelder (2007-08-06). "Garrett Lisi's Inspiration". Backreaction. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  30. ^ a b John Horgan (2008-09-20). "Surfing Einstein's Really Revolutionary Idea". The Center for Science Writings. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  31. ^ Antony Garrett Lisi (2008-07-06). "Science Hostel". Science Hostel. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  32. ^ Roger Highfield (2007-11-14). "Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2008-05-20. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  33. ^ Zeeya Merali (2007-11-15). "Is mathematical pattern the theory of everything?". New Scientist. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  34. ^ "How a Surfer Dude Stunned the World of Science With the 'Theory of Everything'". The Daily Galaxy. 2007-11-16. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  35. ^ "Wave Mechanic". User Friendly. 2007-11-18. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  36. ^ "Geometry is all". The Economist. 2007-11-22. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  37. ^ Scott Bass (2007-12-01). "MOST INTERESTING SURFERS OF 2007: The Top Ten". Surfer Magazine. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  38. ^ "I Used To Think I Could Change My Mind". Edge Foundation. 2008-01-04. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  39. ^ "Could the Next Einstein Be a Surfer Dude?". Discover Magazine. 2008-02-26. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  40. ^ "Ten Quick Questions With... Garrett Lisi". Science Channel. 2008-03-01. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  41. ^ Amber Dance (2008-04-01). "Outsider Science". Symmetry Magazine. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  42. ^ Benjamin Wallace-Wells (2008-07-21). "Surfing the Universe". The New Yorker.
  43. ^ Greg Boustead (2008-11-17). "Garrett Lisi's Exceptional Approach to Everything". SEED Magazine.
  44. ^ "Changes in the Changers". Edge Foundation. 2009-01-04. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  45. ^ Jay DiMartino (2009-04-10). "Garrett Lisi: Dropping in and Dropping Science". About.com. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  46. ^ John O'Connor (2009-04-25). "First Person: A. Garrett Lisi". Financial Times.
  47. ^ Mitch Porter (2010-01-30). "Surfer inspires comparisons to Albert Einstein". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
  48. ^ "Garrett Lisi". IMDB. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
  49. ^ Jacob Shafer (2011). "Physicist Garrett Lisi And His Theory of Everything". Maui Time Weekly.
  50. ^ http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=garrett-lisi-responds-to-criticisms-2011-05-04 | accessdate= 2011-06-02

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