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{{Short description|American theoretical cosmologist (born 1966)}}
{{About|the theoretical physicist|the biologist|Sean B. Carroll}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Sean M. Carroll
| image = Sean Carroll 2017.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Carroll in 2017
| birth_name = Sean Michael Carroll
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1966|10|5}}
| birth_place = [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| citizenship =
| fields = {{hlist|[[Physics]]|[[cosmology]] [[astrophysics]]|[[general relativity]]}}
| workplaces = [[California Institute of Technology]] {{br}} [[Santa Fe Institute]] {{br}} [[Johns Hopkins University]]
|
| thesis_title = Cosmological Consequences of Topological and Geometric Phenomena in Field Theories
| thesis_url = https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=%22Cosmological+Consequences+of+Topological+and+Geometric+Phenomena+in+Field+Theories%22&as_sdt=80000&as_ylo=&as_vis=0
| thesis_year = 1993
| doctoral_advisor = [[George B. Field]]
| academic_advisors =
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students =
| known_for = [[Dark electromagnetism]]<br />[[f(R) gravity]]<br />[[poetic naturalism]]
| awards = [[Andrew Gemant Award]] <small>(2014)</small><br />[[Guggenheim Fellowship]] <small>(2015)</small>▼
|
▲|awards = [[Andrew Gemant Award]] <small>(2014)</small><br />[[Guggenheim Fellowship]] <small>(2015)</small>
|
▲|signature = <!--(filename only)-->
}}
'''Sean Michael Carroll''' (born October 5, 1966) is an American [[Theoretical physics|theoretical physicist]] and [[philosopher]] who specializes in [[quantum mechanics]], [[cosmology]], and [[philosophy of science]]. Formerly a research professor at the [[Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics]] at the [[California Institute of Technology]] (Caltech) department of physics,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://burkeinstitute.caltech.edu/people/faculty |title=Caltech Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics Faculty Page |access-date=February 21, 2015 |archive-date=May 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508215833/http://burkeinstitute.caltech.edu/people/faculty |url-status=live }}</ref> he is currently an external professor at the [[Santa Fe Institute]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.santafe.edu/people/profile/sean-carroll |title=Santa Fe Institute Faculty Page |access-date=November 28, 2020 |archive-date=December 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204045255/https://www.santafe.edu/people/profile/sean-carroll |url-status=live }}</ref> and the Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at [[Johns Hopkins University]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/seanmcarroll/status/1500576910853632000 | title=Sean Carroll on Twitter | date = March 7, 2022|access-date = March 8, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-06 |title=Johns Hopkins |url=https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2022/03/06/johns-hopkins/ |access-date=2022-03-12 |website=Sean Carroll |language=en-US}}</ref> He has been a contributor to the physics blog [[Cosmic Variance (blog)|Cosmic Variance]], and has published in scientific journals such as [[Nature (journal)|''Nature'']] as well as other publications, including ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''[[Sky & Telescope]]'' and ''[[New Scientist]]''. He is known for his [[atheism]], his vocal critique of [[theism]] and defense of [[Metaphysical naturalism|naturalism]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-08-02|title=Atheist Physicist Sean Carroll: An Infinite Number of Universes Is More Plausible Than God|url=https://evolutionnews.org/2017/08/atheist-physicist-sean-carroll-an-infinite-number-of-universes-is-more-plausible-than-god/|access-date=2021-04-09|website=Evolution News|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite web|last=Chan|first=Kai-yan|title=On Sean Carroll's Case for Naturalism and against Theism|url=https://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/2018/PSCF6-18Chan.pdf
He has appeared on the [[History Channel]]'s [[The Universe (TV series)|''The Universe'']], [[Science Channel]]'s ''[[Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman]]'', ''[[Closer to Truth]]'' (broadcast on [[PBS]]),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.closertotruth.com/contributor/sean-carroll/profile|title=Sean Carroll – Closer to Truth|website=www.closertotruth.com|access-date=February 23, 2017|archive-date=February 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224131618/https://www.closertotruth.com/contributor/sean-carroll/profile|url-status=live}}</ref> and Comedy Central's ''[[The Colbert Report]]''. Carroll is the author of ''Spacetime And Geometry'', a graduate-level textbook in general relativity, and has also recorded lectures for [[The Great Courses]] on cosmology, the physics of time and the [[Higgs boson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/professors/professor_detail.aspx?pid=339|title=Professor Bio Page|access-date=July 31, 2013|archive-date=March 17, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317123414/http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/professors/professor_detail.aspx?pid=339|url-status=live}}</ref> He is also the author of four popular books: ''From Eternity to Here'' about the [[arrow 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'' about [[ontology]], and ''Something Deeply Hidden'' about the foundations of quantum mechanics. He began a podcast in 2018 called ''Mindscape'', in which he interviews other experts and intellectuals coming from a variety of disciplines, including "[s]cience, society, philosophy, culture, arts and ideas" in general.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/ |title=Mindscape podcast |access-date=November 14, 2018 |archive-date=November 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114141448/https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 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 a mathematical basis, rather than mere analogy. The series has become the basis of a new book series with the installment,
== Career ==
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== Personal life ==
Carroll is married to [[Jennifer Ouellette]], a science writer and the former director of the [[Science & Entertainment Exchange]].<ref>Claudia Dreifus, [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/science/20conv.html?_r=1 "Sean Carroll Talks School Science and Time Travel"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227194302/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/science/20conv.html?_r=1 |date=February 27, 2017 }}, The New York Times, April 19, 2010</ref> He has two cats, Ariel and Caliban.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carroll |first=Sean |title=Sean Carroll – Preposterous Universe |url=https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/ |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=www.preposterousuniverse.com |quote="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."}}</ref>
== Research ==
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 of [[Lorentz invariance]]; the appearance of [[closed timelike curve]]s in general relativity; varieties of [[topological defect]]s in field theory; and cosmological dynamics of [[Kaluza–Klein theory|extra spacetime dimensions]]. He has written extensively on models of [[dark energy]] and its interactions with ordinary matter and [[dark matter]], as well as modifications of [[general relativity]] in cosmology. He has also worked on the foundations of [[quantum mechanics]], especially the [[many-worlds interpretation]], including a derivation of the [[Born rule]] for probabilities.
His most-cited work, "Is Cosmic Speed-Up Due To New Gravitational Physics?" (2003) was written with Vikram Duvvuri, [[Mark Trodden]] and [[Michael Turner (cosmologist)|Michael Turner]]. With over 1,900 citations, it helped pioneer the study of [[f(R) gravity]] in cosmology.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://inspirehep.net/record/621682/citations |title=inSPIRE High-Energy Physics Database |access-date=June 30, 2012 |archive-date=February 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130222203040/http://inspirehep.net/record/621682/citations |url-status=live }}</ref>{{
Carroll has also worked on the [[arrow of time]] problem. He and Jennifer Chen posit that the [[Big 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 many [[cosmic inflation]] events resulting from [[quantum fluctuation]]s of [[vacuum energy]] in a cold [[de Sitter space]]. They claim that the universe is infinitely old but never reaches [[thermodynamic 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".<ref>Sean M. Carroll, Jennifer Chen, [https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0410270 "Spontaneous Inflation and the Origin of the Arrow of Time"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118235015/https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0410270 |date=November 18, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Frank|first=Adam|author-link=Adam Frank|date=April 2008|title=3 Theories That Might Blow Up the Big Bang|url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/3-theories-that-might-blow-up-the-big-bang|url-status=live|magazine=[[Discover (magazine)|Discover]]|pages=57–58|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121033722/https://www.discovermagazine.com/2008/apr/25-3-theories-that-might-blow-up-the-big-bang/article_view?b_start:int=1&-C=|archive-date=January 21, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Henderson|first=Harold|date=August 12, 2005|title=The Cosmic Jiggle|page=14|work=[[Chicago Reader]]|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/pdf/050812/050812_scientists.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725062936/https://www.chicagoreader.com/pdf/050812/050812_scientists.pdf|archive-date=July 25, 2020}}</ref> 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 with [[Boltzmann brain]]s, on the basis that they are cognitively unstable: they cannot simultaneously be true and justifiably believed.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Carroll|
== Philosophical and religious views ==
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His 2016 book ''The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning and the Universe Itself ''develops 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.<ref name=":4"/>
Carroll's speeches on the philosophy of religion also generate interest as his speeches are often responded to and talked about by philosophers and [[apologist]]s.<ref name=":9"/><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|title=Responding to Sean Carroll: What If There Had Been a Camera at the Resurrection?|url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/responding-to-sean-carroll-what-if-there-had-been-a-camera-at-the-resurrection
Carroll is a vocal atheist who has debated with [[Christian apologist]]s such as [[Dinesh D'Souza]] and [[William Lane Craig]].<ref name=":4"/> 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 to former president [[Donald Trump]]. He wrote ahead of the [[2016 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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Carroll |first1=Sean |title=The Future of Democratic Values |url=https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2016/11/07/the-future-of-democratic-values/ |website=Preposterous Universe |date=November 7, 2016 |access-date=19 November 2023}}</ref>
== Debates, dialogues and discussions ==
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".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Farrell|first=John|title=What Happens When You Lock Scientists And Philosophers In A Room Together|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnfarrell/2012/12/11/what-happens-when-you-lock-scientists-and-philosophers-in-a-room-together/|access-date=2021-06-18|website=Forbes|language=en}}</ref><ref
Also in 2012, Carroll teamed up with [[Michael Shermer]] to debate with [[Ian Hutchinson (scientist)|Ian Hutchinson]] of MIT and author [[Dinesh D'Souza]] at Caltech in an event titled "The Great Debate: Has Science Refuted Religion?"<ref>Carroll, Sean M. [http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2012/03/25/sciencereligion-debate-live-streaming-today/#.VIaF1GfZcS8 "Science/Religion Debate Live-Streaming Today : Cosmic Variance"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214233805/http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2012/03/25/sciencereligion-debate-live-streaming-today/#.VIaF1GfZcS8 |date=December 14, 2014 }} Cosmic Variance. N.p., March 25, 2012.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Great Debate: Has Science Refuted Religion?|url=https://www.caltech.edu/campus-life-events/master-calendar/the-great-debate-has-science-refuted-religion|access-date=2021-06-05|website=California Institute of Technology|language=en}}</ref>
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In a podcast in 2018, [[Sam Harris]] engaged with Carroll. They discussed consciousness, the [[Many-worlds interpretation|many-worlds view of quantum mechanics]], the [[arrow of time]], [[free will]], facts and values, and other topics including [[moral realism]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Making Sense Podcast #124 – In Search of Reality|url=https://samharris.org/podcasts/124-search-reality/|access-date=2021-06-01|website=Sam Harris|language=en-US}}</ref>{{third-party inline|date=June 2021}}
Also in 2014, Carroll partook in a debate held by [[Intelligence Squared]], the title of the debate was "Death is Not Final". Carroll teamed up with [[Steven Novella]], a neurologist by profession
In 2016, he delivered the [[Gifford Lectures]] on ''The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself'' at the [[University of Glasgow]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Glasgow Gifford Lectures |url=https://www.gla.ac.uk/events/lectures/gifford/ |website=gla.ac.uk |publisher=University of Glasgow}}</ref>
In
In 2018, Carroll and [[Roger Penrose]] held a symposium on the subject of The Big Bang and Creation Myths.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Raza|first=S. Abbas|date=2019-01-10|title=Roger Penrose, Sean Carroll, and Laura Mersini-Hougton debate the Big Bang and Creation Myths|url=https://3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2019/01/roger-penrose-sean-carroll-and-laura-mersini-hougton-debate-the-big-bang-and-creation-myths.html|access-date=2021-04-16|website=[[3 Quarks Daily]]|language=en-US}}</ref> The two also engaged in a dialogue in Sean Carroll's MindScape Podcast on its 28th episode.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Episode 28: Roger Penrose on Spacetime, Consciousness, and the Universe – Sean Carroll|url=https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2019/01/07/episode-28-roger-penrose-on-spacetime-consciousness-and-the-universe/|access-date=2021-06-18|website=www.preposterousuniverse.com}}</ref>{{Third-party inline|date=June 2021}}
== Selected publications ==
* {{Cite book |last=Carroll |first=Sean |title=Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity |date=2003 |publisher=Addison Wesley |isbn=0-8053-8732-3}} Reprinted 2019.
* {{Cite book |last=Carroll |first=Sean |title=[[From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time]] |date=2010 |publisher=Dutton |isbn=978-0-525-95133-9}} It tackles a fundamental open principle in physics: the [[arrow of time]].
* {{Cite book |last=Carroll |first=Sean |title=[[The Particle at the End of the Universe: How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World]] |date=2012 |publisher=Dutton |isbn=978-0-525-95359-3}} It describes the hunt for and discovery of the Higgs boson at the [[Large Hadron Collider]] at [[CERN]] and was the 2013 winner of the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books.<ref name="Royal Society">{{cite web|title=Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books|url=http://royalsociety.org/awards/science-books/|publisher=Royal Society|access-date=November 26, 2013|archive-date=November 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130175213/http://royalsociety.org/awards/science-books/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{Cite book |last=Carroll |first=Sean |title=[[The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself]] |date=2016 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-5259-5482-8}}, where Carroll introduces the concept of [[poetic naturalism]].
* {{Cite book |last=Carroll |first=Sean |title=[[Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime]] |date=2019 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-5247-4301-7}}
* {{Cite book |last=Carroll |first=Sean |title=
* [http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&p=a+carroll%2C+s+m&of=hb&action_search=Search&sf=earliestdate&so=d Research publication list], from the [[INSPIRE-HEP]] digital library.
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* [https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/45034 Oral history interview transcript with Sean Carroll on 4 January 2021, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives]
* [http://preposterousuniverse.com/ Carroll's web site, ''Preposterous Universe'']
* {{
* [http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/dark-matter-dark-energy-the-dark-side-of-the-universe.html Dark Matter, Dark Energy: The Dark Side of the Universe], lectures at [[The Teaching Company]].
* Video of Sean Carroll's panel discussion, "Quantum to Cosmos", answering the biggest questions in physics today, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QePNKlCpgl4 Part 1] at [[Perimeter Institute]]'s Quantum to Comos (Q2C) festival
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[[Category:Science bloggers]]
[[Category:Bayesian statisticians]]
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[[Category:Critics of parapsychology]]
[[Category:American relativity theorists]]
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[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American podcasters]]
[[Category:MIT Center for Theoretical Physics
[[Category:21st-century American philosophers]]
[[Category:American atheism activists]]
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