Movatterモバイル変換


[0]ホーム

URL:


Jump to content
WikipediaThe Free Encyclopedia
Search

Sean M. Carroll

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American theoretical cosmologist (born 1966)
This article is about the theoretical physicist. For the biologist, seeSean B. Carroll.

Sean M. Carroll
Carroll in 2017
Born
Sean Michael Carroll

(1966-10-05)October 5, 1966 (age 58)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Education
Known forDark electromagnetism
f(R) gravity
poetic naturalism
SpouseJennifer Ouellette
AwardsAndrew Gemant Award(2014)
Guggenheim Fellowship(2015)
Scientific career
Fields
InstitutionsCalifornia Institute of Technology
Santa Fe Institute
Johns Hopkins University
ThesisCosmological Consequences of Topological and Geometric Phenomena in Field Theories (1993)
Doctoral advisorGeorge B. Field
Websitewww.preposterousuniverse.com

Sean Michael Carroll (born October 5, 1966) is an Americantheoretical physicist who specializes inquantum mechanics,cosmology, and thephilosophy of science. He is the Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy atJohns Hopkins University.[1][2] He was formerly a research professor at theWalter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics at theCalifornia Institute of Technology (Caltech) department ofphysics.[3] He also is currently an external professor at theSanta Fe Institute,[4] and he has been a contributor to the physics blogCosmic Variance, where he has published in scientific journals such asNature as well as other publications, includingThe New York Times,Sky & Telescope, andNew Scientist. He is known for hisatheism, his vocal critique oftheism and defence ofnaturalism.[5][6][7][8] He is considered a prolific public speaker and science popularizer.[8][9][10] In 2007, Carroll was named NSF Distinguished Lecturer by theNational Science Foundation.[11]

He has appeared on theHistory Channel'sThe Universe,Science Channel'sThrough the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman,Closer to Truth (broadcast onPBS),[12] andComedy Central'sThe Colbert Report. Carroll is the author ofSpacetime And Geometry, a graduate-level textbook ingeneral relativity, and has also recorded lectures forThe Great Courses on cosmology,Time in physics and theHiggs boson.[13] He is also the author of four popular books:From Eternity to Here about thearrow of time,The Particle at the End of the Universe about the Higgs boson,The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself aboutontology, andSomething Deeply Hidden about the foundations of quantum mechanics. He began a podcast in 2018 calledMindscape, in which he interviews other experts andintellectuals coming from a variety of disciplines, including "[s]cience, society, philosophy, culture, arts and ideas" in general.[14] He has also published a YouTube video series entitled "The Biggest Ideas in the Universe" which provides physics instruction at a popular-science level but with equations and amathematical basis, rather than mere analogy. The series has become the basis of a new book series with the installment,The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion, published in September 2022[15] and the second volume,Quanta and Fields, published in May 2024, with the third and final volume pending publication.[16][17]

Career

[edit]

Carroll received his PhD inastronomy in 1993 fromHarvard University, where his advisor wasGeorge B. Field. Hisdissertation was entitledCosmological Consequences of Topological and Geometric Phenomena in Field Theories. He worked as apostdoctoral researcher at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) andKavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara[18] and as an assistant professor at theUniversity of Chicago until 2006 when he was denied tenure.[19] From 2006 until 2022, he was a Research Professor of Physics atCalifornia Institute of Technology. In 2022, he was named the Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy atJohns Hopkins University, teaching in both the Department of Philosophy and The Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Carroll has a B.S. in astronomy, Astrophysics and Philosophy fromVillanova University inPennsylvania.[20][21]

In 2010, Carroll was elected fellow of theAmerican Physical Society for "contributions to a wide variety of subjects incosmology,relativity andquantum field theory, especially ideas forcosmic acceleration, as well as contributions to undergraduate, graduate and public science education".[22] In 2014, he was awarded theAndrew Gemant Award by theAmerican Institute of Physics for "significant contributions to the cultural, artistic or humanistic dimension of physics".[23] In 2015, he was awarded aGuggenheim Fellowship.[24]

He is also a very prolific public speaker, hosting the podcast series Mindscape,[25] which he describes as "Sean Carroll hosts conversations with the world's most interesting thinkers", and The Biggest Ideas in the Universe.[26] He also delivers public speeches as well asgetting engaged in public debates in wide variety of topics.

Carroll has appeared on numerous television shows includingThe Colbert Report andThrough the Wormhole.[27] He also worked as a consultant in several movies[28][29] likeAvengers: Endgame[30] andThor: The Dark World. Besides consulting, Carroll worked as a voice actor inEarth to Echo.[31]

Personal life

[edit]

Carroll is married toJennifer Ouellette, a science writer and the former director of theScience & Entertainment Exchange.[32] He has two cats, Ariel and Caliban.[33]

Research

[edit]

Carroll has worked on a number of areas of theoretical cosmology, field theory and gravitation theory. His research papers include models of, and experimental constraints on, violations ofLorentz invariance; the appearance ofclosed timelike curves in general relativity; varieties oftopological defects in field theory; and cosmological dynamics ofextra spacetime dimensions. He has written extensively on models ofdark energy and its interactions with ordinary matter anddark matter, as well as modifications ofgeneral relativity in cosmology. He has also worked on the foundations ofquantum mechanics, especially themany-worlds interpretation, including a derivation of theBorn rule for probabilities.

His most-cited work, "Is Cosmic Speed-Up Due To New Gravitational Physics?" (2003) was written with Vikram Duvvuri,Mark Trodden andMichael Turner. With over 2,400 citations, it helped pioneer the study off(R) gravity in cosmology.[34][failed verification][independent source needed]

Carroll has also worked on thearrow of time problem. He and Jennifer Chen posit that theBig Bang is not a unique occurrence as a result of all of the matter and energy in the universe originating in a singularity at the beginning of time, but rather one of manycosmic inflation events resulting fromquantum fluctuations ofvacuum energy in a coldde Sitter space. They claim that the universe is infinitely old but never reachesthermodynamic equilibrium as entropy increases continuously without limit due to the decreasing matter and energy density attributable to recurrent cosmic inflation. They assert that the universe is "statistically time-symmetric", insofar as it contains equal progressions of time "both forward and backward".[35][36][37] Some of his work has been on violations of fundamental symmetries, the physics of dark energy, modifications of general relativity and the arrow of time. Recently he started focusing on issues at the foundations of cosmology, statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics and complexity.

In 2017, Carroll presented an argument for rejecting certain cosmological models, including those withBoltzmann brains, on the basis that they are cognitively unstable: they cannot simultaneously be true and justifiably believed.[38] The article was solicited as a contribution to a larger work onCurrent Controversies in Philosophy of Science.

Philosophical and religious views

[edit]

Carroll, while raised as anEpiscopalian,[39] is anatheist, or as he calls it, a "poetic naturalist". He turned down an invitation to speak at a conference sponsored by theJohn Templeton Foundation, because he did not want to appear to be supporting a reconciliation between science and religion.[40]In 2004, he andShadi Bartsch taught an undergraduate course at the University of Chicago on the history of atheism. In 2012, he organized the workshop "Moving Naturalism Forward", which brought together scientists and philosophers to discuss issues associated with anaturalistic worldview. His article "Does the Universe Need God?" inThe Blackwell Companion to Science and Christianity develops the claim that science no longer needs to posit a divine being to explain the existence of the universe. The article generated significant attention when it was discussed onThe Huffington Post.[41] Carroll received an "Emperor Has No Clothes" award at theFreedom From Religion Foundation Annual National Convention in October 2014.[42]

His 2016 bookThe Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning and the Universe Itselfdevelops the philosophy of poetic naturalism, the term he is credited with coining. The book talks about wide range of topics such as submicroscopic components of the universe, whether human existence can have meaning without God—and everything between the two.[8]

Carroll's speeches on the philosophy of religion also generate interest as his speeches are often responded to and talked about by philosophers andapologists.[6][43][44][45][46][47][48] Carroll believes that thinking like a scientist leads one to the conclusion that God does not exist.[10] Carroll thinks that over four centuries of scientific progress have convinced most professional philosophers and scientists of the validity ofnaturalism.[49] Carroll also asserts that the termmethodological naturalism is an inaccurate characterisation of science, that science is not characterised by methodological naturalism but bymethodological empiricism.[50]

Carroll is a vocal atheist who has debated withChristian apologists such asDinesh D'Souza andWilliam Lane Craig.[8] He occasionally takes part in formal debates and discussions about scientific, religious and philosophical topics with a variety of people. Politically, Carroll has expressed his opposition toDonald Trump. He wrote ahead of the2016 United States presidential election that "[Trump] has continually vilified immigrants and foreigners generally, promoting an us-against-them mentality between people of different races and ethnicities" and that he posed a threat to liberal democratic values.[51]

Debates, dialogues and discussions

[edit]

Carroll has been involved in numerous public debates and discussions with other academics and commentators. In 2012, he gathered a number of well-known academics from a variety of backgrounds for a three-day seminar titled "Moving Naturalism Forward".[52][49][53] The participants wereSteven Weinberg,Richard Dawkins,Daniel C. Dennett,Jerry Coyne,Simon DeDeo,Massimo Pigliucci,Janna Levin,Owen Flanagan,Rebecca Goldstein,David Poeppel,Alex Rosenberg,Terrence Deacon and Don Ross with James Ladyman.

Also in 2012, Carroll teamed up withMichael Shermer to debate withIan Hutchinson of MIT and authorDinesh D'Souza at Caltech in an event titled "The Great Debate: Has Science Refuted Religion?"[54][55]

In 2014, Carroll participated in a highly anticipated debate with philosopher and Christian apologistWilliam Lane Craig as part of the Greer-Heard Forum in New Orleans. The topic of debate was "The Existence of God in Light of Contemporary Cosmology".In a podcast in 2018,Sam Harris engaged with Carroll. They discussed consciousness, themany-worlds view of quantum mechanics, thearrow of time,free will, facts and values, and other topics includingmoral realism.[56][independent source needed]

Also in 2014, Carroll partook in a debate held byIntelligence Squared, the title of the debate was "Death is Not Final". Carroll teamed up withSteven Novella, a neurologist by profession known for his skepticism, and the two argued against the motion. Their adversaries wereEben Alexander, neurosurgeon and an author, andRaymond Moody, a philosopher, author, psychologist and physician.

In 2016, he delivered theGifford Lectures onThe Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself at theUniversity of Glasgow.[57]

In 2017, Carroll took part in a discussion withB. Alan Wallace, a Buddhist scholar and monk ordained by theDalai Lama. It was organized by an institution sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation.[58] In this public dialogue, they discussed the nature of reality from spiritual and scientific viewpoints.[59]

In 2018, Carroll andRoger Penrose held a symposium on the subject of The Big Bang and Creation Myths.[60] The two also engaged in a dialogue in Sean Carroll's MindScape Podcast on its 28th episode.[61][independent source needed]

Selected publications

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^"Sean Carroll on Twitter". March 7, 2022. RetrievedMarch 8, 2022.
  2. ^"Johns Hopkins".Sean Carroll. March 6, 2022. RetrievedMarch 12, 2022.
  3. ^"Caltech Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics Faculty Page".Archived from the original on May 8, 2019. RetrievedFebruary 21, 2015.
  4. ^"Santa Fe Institute Faculty Page".Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. RetrievedNovember 28, 2020.
  5. ^"Atheist Physicist Sean Carroll: An Infinite Number of Universes Is More Plausible Than God".Evolution News. August 2, 2017. RetrievedApril 9, 2021.
  6. ^abChan, Kai-yan."On Sean Carroll's Case for Naturalism and against Theism"(PDF).American Scientific Affiliation. RetrievedMarch 30, 2021.
  7. ^Premier."William Lane Craig & Sean Carroll debate God & Cosmology – Unbelievable?: Saturday 22 March 2014 2:30:00 am".Premier Christian Radio.Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. RetrievedMarch 20, 2021.
  8. ^abcd""The evidence is pretty incontrovertible that he doesn't exist": Stephen Colbert's favorite scientist on the universe, naturalism and finding meaning without God".Salon. May 8, 2016. RetrievedJune 5, 2021.
  9. ^Carroll, Sean M."Sean M Carroll | Speaker | TED".www.ted.com. RetrievedJune 5, 2021.
  10. ^ab"Sean Carroll".www.aip.org. January 28, 2021. RetrievedJune 5, 2021.
  11. ^"Sean Carroll | Edge.org".www.edge.org. RetrievedJune 5, 2021.
  12. ^"Sean Carroll – Closer to Truth".www.closertotruth.com.Archived from the original on February 24, 2017. RetrievedFebruary 23, 2017.
  13. ^"Professor Bio Page".Archived from the original on March 17, 2013. RetrievedJuly 31, 2013.
  14. ^"Mindscape podcast".Archived from the original on November 14, 2018. RetrievedNovember 14, 2018.
  15. ^Crumey, Andrew (October 6, 2022)."'The Biggest Ideas in the Universe' Review: Physics for All!".Wall Street Journal.ISSN 0099-9660. RetrievedJanuary 31, 2025.
  16. ^"The Biggest Ideas in the Universe".Archived from the original on October 17, 2022. RetrievedJanuary 3, 2023.
  17. ^"Review: "The Biggest Ideas in the Universe" by Sean Carroll".Big Think. October 20, 2022. RetrievedJanuary 31, 2025.
  18. ^"Sean M. Carroll CV".Archived from the original on June 27, 2017. RetrievedJune 27, 2017.
  19. ^"How To Get Tenure at a Major Research University | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine". Blogs.discovermagazine.com.Archived from the original on April 14, 2012. RetrievedApril 14, 2012.
  20. ^"CV – Sean Carroll".www.preposterousuniverse.com. RetrievedApril 19, 2021.
  21. ^"Activities – Sean Carroll".www.preposterousuniverse.com. RetrievedApril 11, 2021.
  22. ^"APS Fellow Archive".Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. RetrievedOctober 15, 2016.
  23. ^Bardi, Jason Socrates (July 24, 2014).""Outspoken" Caltech Scientist Wins 2014 Gemant Award" (Press release).American Institute of Physics.Archived from the original on May 11, 2020.
  24. ^Dajose, Lorinda C. (April 24, 2015)."Sean Carroll Awarded Guggenheim Fellowship" (Press release).California Institute of Technology.Archived from the original on March 9, 2019.
  25. ^"Sean Carroll's Mindscape Podcast – Sean Carroll".www.preposterousuniverse.com. RetrievedApril 16, 2021.
  26. ^"Biggest Ideas in the Universe".Sean Carroll. RetrievedApril 16, 2021.
  27. ^"Sean Carroll".IMDb. RetrievedAugust 16, 2021.
  28. ^"Sean Carroll Bridges Spacetime between Science, Hollywood and the Public | American Association for the Advancement of Science".www.aaas.org. July 19, 2019. RetrievedAugust 16, 2021.
  29. ^"Meet the professor who helped put the science into Avengers: Endgame".7NEWS. February 24, 2020. RetrievedAugust 16, 2021.
  30. ^"Sean Carroll – the physicist who taught the Avengers all about time".Stuff. December 21, 2019. RetrievedAugust 16, 2021.
  31. ^"Sean Carroll".IMDb. RetrievedAugust 17, 2021.
  32. ^Claudia Dreifus,"Sean Carroll Talks School Science and Time Travel"Archived February 27, 2017, at theWayback Machine, The New York Times, April 19, 2010
  33. ^Carroll, Sean."Sean Carroll – Preposterous Universe".www.preposterousuniverse.com. RetrievedMarch 28, 2023.My official title is Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins, and I am also Fractal Faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. I live in Baltimore with my wife, writer Jennifer Ouellette, and two cats, Ariel and Caliban.
  34. ^"inSPIRE High-Energy Physics Database".Archived from the original on February 22, 2013. RetrievedJune 30, 2012.
  35. ^Sean M. Carroll, Jennifer Chen,"Spontaneous Inflation and the Origin of the Arrow of Time"Archived November 18, 2017, at theWayback Machine
  36. ^Frank, Adam (April 2008)."3 Theories That Might Blow Up the Big Bang".Discover. pp. 57–58.Archived from the original on January 21, 2012.
  37. ^Henderson, Harold (August 12, 2005)."The Cosmic Jiggle"(PDF).Chicago Reader. p. 14.Archived(PDF) from the original on July 25, 2020.
  38. ^Carroll, Sean M. (2017),Why Boltzmann brains are bad,arXiv:1702.00850,Bibcode:2017arXiv170200850C
  39. ^Carroll, Sean[1]Archived March 28, 2021, at theWayback Machine. Saturday 28th October 2017 — 02:30 pm. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  40. ^Carroll, Sean (May 9, 2013)."Science and Religion Can't Be Reconciled: Why I won't take money from the Templeton Foundation".Slate.Archived from the original on May 2, 2020. RetrievedMay 6, 2015.
  41. ^Wolchover, Natalie (September 18, 2012)."Science & God: Will Biology, Astronomy, Physics Rule Out Existence Of Deity?".The Huffington Post.Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. RetrievedSeptember 19, 2012.
  42. ^"2014 National Convention – Los Angeles – Freedom From Religion Foundation". June 26, 2014. Archived from the original on June 26, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  43. ^"Responding to Sean Carroll: What If There Had Been a Camera at the Resurrection?".Discover Magazine. RetrievedApril 22, 2021.
  44. ^Reply to Sean Carroll byPeter van Inwagen.
  45. ^"Is God a good theory? A response to Sean Carroll (Part One) – Uncommon Descent".uncommondescent.com. RetrievedApril 22, 2021.
  46. ^Horgan, John."Multiverse Theories Are Bad for Science".Scientific American Blog Network. RetrievedApril 22, 2021.
  47. ^"Sean Carroll's Preposterous Universe".Evolution News. February 13, 2018. RetrievedApril 22, 2021.
  48. ^"A Theological Critique of the Fine-Tuning Argument".Knowledge, Belief and God: New Insights in Religious Epistemology. Oxford University Press. 2018. p. 133.ISBN 978-0-19-879870-5.
  49. ^ab"Moving Naturalism Forward – Sean Carroll".www.preposterousuniverse.com. RetrievedJune 18, 2021.
  50. ^Carroll, Sean Michael.The Big Picture. p. 133.
  51. ^Carroll, Sean (November 7, 2016)."The Future of Democratic Values".Preposterous Universe. RetrievedNovember 19, 2023.
  52. ^Farrell, John."What Happens When You Lock Scientists And Philosophers In A Room Together".Forbes. RetrievedJune 18, 2021.
  53. ^"Moving Naturalism Forward".Metanexus. December 18, 2012. RetrievedJune 18, 2021.
  54. ^Carroll, Sean M."Science/Religion Debate Live-Streaming Today : Cosmic Variance".Archived December 14, 2014, at theWayback Machine Cosmic Variance. N.p., March 25, 2012.
  55. ^"The Great Debate: Has Science Refuted Religion?".California Institute of Technology. RetrievedJune 5, 2021.
  56. ^"Making Sense Podcast #124 – In Search of Reality".Sam Harris. RetrievedJune 1, 2021.
  57. ^"The Glasgow Gifford Lectures".gla.ac.uk. University of Glasgow.
  58. ^Gleiser, Marcelo (February 16, 2017)."Alan Wallace and Sean Carroll on The Nature of Reality".Dartmouth College.Archived from the original on January 4, 2019.
  59. ^"B. Alan Wallace".The Wisdom Experience. RetrievedJune 6, 2021.
  60. ^Raza, S. Abbas (January 10, 2019)."Roger Penrose, Sean Carroll, and Laura Mersini-Hougton debate the Big Bang and Creation Myths".3 Quarks Daily. RetrievedApril 16, 2021.
  61. ^"Episode 28: Roger Penrose on Spacetime, Consciousness, and the Universe – Sean Carroll".www.preposterousuniverse.com. RetrievedJune 18, 2021.
  62. ^"Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books". Royal Society.Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. RetrievedNovember 26, 2013.

External links

[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related toSean M. Carroll.
International
National
Academics
Artists
People
Other
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sean_M._Carroll&oldid=1280377817"
Categories:
Hidden categories:

[8]ページ先頭

©2009-2025 Movatter.jp