Antony Garrett Lisi

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Antony Garrett Lisi
Antony Garrett Lisi in Iceland, for the 2007 FQXI conference.
Antony Garrett Lisi in Iceland, for the 2007 FQXI conference.
Born 1968
Nationality American
Fields Theoretical physics
Institutions none: independent
Alma mater UCLA
UCSD

Antony Garrett Lisi (born 1968; uses the name Garrett by preference[1]) is an American-born theoretical physicist, known for his academic paper "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything," which proposes a unified field theory connecting quantum physics and gravitation using Wilhelm Killing's exceptional Lie algebra E8.[2]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Born in Los Angeles and raised in San Diego, California,[3] Lisi graduated the Cate School (south of Santa Barbara, California) in 1986, received two B.S. degrees with highest honors in physics and mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1991, and received a Ph.D in physics from the University of California, San Diego in 1999.[4]

While not holding a university faculty position, he was lecturer at the University of Hawaii,[5] and short-term visitor at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.[6] He has been awarded a grant from the Foundational Questions Institute.[7]

[edit] Post-academic independent research

Since Lisi was never a fan of the contemporary and widely accepted String Theory, which he considered virtually untestable and bearing no resemblance to the real world,[8] he decided to abandon academia after completing his Ph.D. He had been quoted saying: "I've never been much of a follower, so I walked off to search for my own theory."[7] In the few years afterwards, while struggling to make a living in an unsteady financial state, Lisi attempted to formulate new equations that would fit into new conceptual models he was trying to establish, but altogether, these models were not entirely all-encompassing as he hoped to obtain in his search for a 'theory of everything' that would stand firm versus the known string theory.

In May 2007,[7] however, Lisi stumbled upon a research paper analyzing the known E8 eight-dimensional mathematical pattern. He noticed that some of the equations describing the pattern’s structure matched his own equations. Lisi described this realization as a moment of thrilling inspiration and awe: "The moment this happened my brain exploded with the implications and the beauty of the thing."

What Lisi had realized was that if he could find a way to place the various elementary particles and forces on the E8 pattern’s 248 points, it might explain, for example, how the forces make particles decay, as seen in particle accelerators.

[edit] Publishing his theory of everything (TOE)

On November 6, 2007, Lisi posted a controversial paper[2] to the popular "arXiv" scientific preprint server, proposing to answer one of the fundamental unsolved problems in physics: Connecting quantum physics and gravitation, to form a unified field theory that models all fundamental interactions that physicists have observed in nature (main article: An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything).

In response to the question of why the Universe should be controlled by Wilhelm Killing's E8 structure, Lisi responded: "I think the universe is pure geometry - basically, a beautiful shape twisting around and dancing over space-time. Since E8 is perhaps the most beautiful structure in mathematics, it is very satisfying that nature appears to have chosen this geometry."[7]

Since its publication, Lisi's story has attracted media attention, while his theory has been applauded but also sharply criticized in the scientific community.[9][10] Numerous news sites from all over the world reported his new theory, noting the unorthodox personal background of Dr. Lisi.

[edit] Personal life

Featured in Surfer magazine,[11] Lisi has been described as a “surfer dude” who is primarily employed in activities outside of physics.[12] The San Diego Union Tribune's sports section notes that "... Lisi has been painted by some with the stereotypical 'surfer dude' brush. Inside the scientific community, however, Lisi says he's had no such problems."[13] He splits his time living in Maui, where he surfs and windsurfs, and Lake Tahoe, Nevada, where he practices alpine snowboarding.[14]

[edit] Interviews to the media

According to Lisi,[13]

“ Surfing acts as a great 'reset button' for whatever I'm worried about in the rest of my life. [...] If I'm struggling with a difficult physics question, focusing on approaches that aren't going anywhere, surfing allows me to get away from the problem. ”

About the initial reception of his model, he commented:[15]

“ OK, the hype (and my inbox) has gotten totally out of control. This is, after all, about an untested theory that may or may not turn out to be true. But, on the other hand, it’s pretty damn amusing. Mostly, all this media attention just makes me want to go hide for fifteen minutes, and I hope to come back to see physicists pondering this E8 theory, despite the hype. ”

Regarding the validity of his new theory, Lisi had been quoted saying:[7]

“ This is an all-or-nothing kind of theory - it's either going to be exactly right, or spectacularly wrong. I'm the first to admit this is a long shot. But it ain't over till the LHC sings. ”

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ A. Garrett Lisi's home page
  2. ^ a b An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything
  3. ^ "San Diego native" Accessed 2007-12-03
  4. ^ Garrett's Curriculum Vitae.
  5. ^ Dr. Garrett Lisi's CV (accessed 2007-12-28) -- Instruction experience
  6. ^ Profile at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
  7. ^ a b c d e Is mathematical pattern the theory of everything? - fundamentals - 15 November 2007 - New Scientist
  8. ^ Surfer makes waves with scientific 'theory of everything'
  9. ^ Surfer makes waves with scientific 'theory of everything'
  10. ^ Graham P. Collins, Scientific American, April 2008, 16-17 http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=wipeout-theory&sc=rss
  11. ^ Surfer magazine interview accessed 2007-12-06.
  12. ^ Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything, Telegraph, November 14, 2007.
  13. ^ a b Physicist balances waves with world of science. San Diego Union Tribune (2007-12-03). Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
  14. ^ http://www.fqxi.org/community/data/articles/Lisi_Garrett.pdf
  15. ^ Comment by Garrett Lisi 16 November 2007, on Cosmic Variance post about his theory[1]

[edit] External links