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#72 | Stephon Alexander | Universal Beats
When Dr. Stephon Alexander listens to the music of the cosmos, he hears structure, but also flexibility. He hears familiar cadences and novel riffs. He hears strings vibrating in ten-dimensional spacetime and resonating loops of quantum gravity. He hears Einstein’s musical mind and Coltrane’s cosmic sensibility. He hears the jazz of physics. And so will you.
In this episode, Stephon tells Jocelyn and Bradley how a journey wending through the dusty halls of old jazz clubs and the chalky floors of physics offices ultimately led him from Trinidad to the Bronx to Brown University. He shares how his experience as a jazz saxophonist has shaped his approach to physics, and how incorporating more elements from the improvisational, inclusive culture of jazz will benefit the future of physics. Along the way, he explains how he is working to integrate general relativity with quantum mechanics by uncovering the quantum nature of gravity, and the friends speculate that the answer may ultimately shed light on the origins of consciousness itself.
Follow Stephon on Twitter @stephstem, and learn more about his amazing work at the links below!
Secret Lives of Scientists on NOVA:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/stephon-alexander-theoretical-physicist/
Big Think:
“Sources of Inspiration”: https://bigthink.com/videos/sources-of-inspiration
“Beyond Einstein”: https://bigthink.com/videos/beyond-einstein
The Jazz of Physics:
https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Physics-Between-Structure-Universe/dp/0465034993
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/06/11/481664722/scientist-stephon-alexander-infinite-possibilities-unite-jazz-and-physics
TEDx Talk San Diego: https://youtu.be/v9_ZzY99-6U
“Black Academics Have a Responsibility to the Next Generation” (New York Times editorial) : https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/02/04/do-black-intellectuals-need-to-talk-about-race/black-academics-have-a-responsibility-to-the-next-generation
Brown University:
https://vivo.brown.edu/display/salexan4
https://www.stephonalexanderlab.com/
Check out some of Stephon’s technical papers:
Brane Gases: https://journals.aps.org/prd/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevD.62.103509
Noncommutative inflation: https://journals.aps.org/prd/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevD.67.081301
Gravitational waves: https://journals.aps.org/prd/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevD.67.081301
Chern–Simons modified general relativity: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037015730900177X
Super strings and baryon asymmetry:
In this episode, Stephon tells Jocelyn and Bradley how a journey wending through the dusty halls of old jazz clubs and the chalky floors of physics offices ultimately led him from Trinidad to the Bronx to Brown University. He shares how his experience as a jazz saxophonist has shaped his approach to physics, and how incorporating more elements from the improvisational, inclusive culture of jazz will benefit the future of physics. Along the way, he explains how he is working to integrate general relativity with quantum mechanics by uncovering the quantum nature of gravity, and the friends speculate that the answer may ultimately shed light on the origins of consciousness itself.
Follow Stephon on Twitter @stephstem, and learn more about his amazing work at the links below!
Secret Lives of Scientists on NOVA:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/stephon-alexander-theoretical-physicist/
Big Think:
“Sources of Inspiration”: https://bigthink.com/videos/sources-of-inspiration
“Beyond Einstein”: https://bigthink.com/videos/beyond-einstein
The Jazz of Physics:
https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Physics-Between-Structure-Universe/dp/0465034993
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/06/11/481664722/scientist-stephon-alexander-infinite-possibilities-unite-jazz-and-physics
TEDx Talk San Diego: https://youtu.be/v9_ZzY99-6U
“Black Academics Have a Responsibility to the Next Generation” (New York Times editorial) : https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/02/04/do-black-intellectuals-need-to-talk-about-race/black-academics-have-a-responsibility-to-the-next-generation
Brown University:
https://vivo.brown.edu/display/salexan4
https://www.stephonalexanderlab.com/
Check out some of Stephon’s technical papers:
Brane Gases: https://journals.aps.org/prd/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevD.62.103509
Noncommutative inflation: https://journals.aps.org/prd/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevD.67.081301
Gravitational waves: https://journals.aps.org/prd/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevD.67.081301
Chern–Simons modified general relativity: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037015730900177X
Super strings and baryon asymmetry:
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By Science! With FriendsWhen Dr. Stephon Alexander listens to the music of the cosmos, he hears structure, but also flexibility. He hears familiar cadences and novel riffs. He hears strings vibrating in ten-dimensional spacetime and resonating loops of quantum gravity. He hears Einstein’s musical mind and Coltrane’s cosmic sensibility. He hears the jazz of physics. And so will you.
In this episode, Stephon tells Jocelyn and Bradley how a journey wending through the dusty halls of old jazz clubs and the chalky floors of physics offices ultimately led him from Trinidad to the Bronx to Brown University. He shares how his experience as a jazz saxophonist has shaped his approach to physics, and how incorporating more elements from the improvisational, inclusive culture of jazz will benefit the future of physics. Along the way, he explains how he is working to integrate general relativity with quantum mechanics by uncovering the quantum nature of gravity, and the friends speculate that the answer may ultimately shed light on the origins of consciousness itself.
Follow Stephon on Twitter @stephstem, and learn more about his amazing work at the links below!
Secret Lives of Scientists on NOVA:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/stephon-alexander-theoretical-physicist/
Big Think:
“Sources of Inspiration”: https://bigthink.com/videos/sources-of-inspiration
“Beyond Einstein”: https://bigthink.com/videos/beyond-einstein
The Jazz of Physics:
https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Physics-Between-Structure-Universe/dp/0465034993
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/06/11/481664722/scientist-stephon-alexander-infinite-possibilities-unite-jazz-and-physics
TEDx Talk San Diego: https://youtu.be/v9_ZzY99-6U
“Black Academics Have a Responsibility to the Next Generation” (New York Times editorial) : https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/02/04/do-black-intellectuals-need-to-talk-about-race/black-academics-have-a-responsibility-to-the-next-generation
Brown University:
https://vivo.brown.edu/display/salexan4
https://www.stephonalexanderlab.com/
Check out some of Stephon’s technical papers:
Brane Gases: https://journals.aps.org/prd/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevD.62.103509
Noncommutative inflation: https://journals.aps.org/prd/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevD.67.081301
Gravitational waves: https://journals.aps.org/prd/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevD.67.081301
Chern–Simons modified general relativity: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037015730900177X
Super strings and baryon asymmetry:
In this episode, Stephon tells Jocelyn and Bradley how a journey wending through the dusty halls of old jazz clubs and the chalky floors of physics offices ultimately led him from Trinidad to the Bronx to Brown University. He shares how his experience as a jazz saxophonist has shaped his approach to physics, and how incorporating more elements from the improvisational, inclusive culture of jazz will benefit the future of physics. Along the way, he explains how he is working to integrate general relativity with quantum mechanics by uncovering the quantum nature of gravity, and the friends speculate that the answer may ultimately shed light on the origins of consciousness itself.
Follow Stephon on Twitter @stephstem, and learn more about his amazing work at the links below!
Secret Lives of Scientists on NOVA:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/stephon-alexander-theoretical-physicist/
Big Think:
“Sources of Inspiration”: https://bigthink.com/videos/sources-of-inspiration
“Beyond Einstein”: https://bigthink.com/videos/beyond-einstein
The Jazz of Physics:
https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Physics-Between-Structure-Universe/dp/0465034993
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/06/11/481664722/scientist-stephon-alexander-infinite-possibilities-unite-jazz-and-physics
TEDx Talk San Diego: https://youtu.be/v9_ZzY99-6U
“Black Academics Have a Responsibility to the Next Generation” (New York Times editorial) : https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/02/04/do-black-intellectuals-need-to-talk-about-race/black-academics-have-a-responsibility-to-the-next-generation
Brown University:
https://vivo.brown.edu/display/salexan4
https://www.stephonalexanderlab.com/
Check out some of Stephon’s technical papers:
Brane Gases: https://journals.aps.org/prd/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevD.62.103509
Noncommutative inflation: https://journals.aps.org/prd/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevD.67.081301
Gravitational waves: https://journals.aps.org/prd/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevD.67.081301
Chern–Simons modified general relativity: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037015730900177X
Super strings and baryon asymmetry: