__NOTOC__ Stephen Matthew Barr (born November 28, 1953) is an American physicist who is a professor emeritus of physics at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

. A member of its Bartol Research Institute, Barr does research in theoretical particle physics and cosmology. In 2011, he was elected Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

, the citation reading "for original contributions to grand unified theories, CP violation, and

baryogenesis In physical cosmology, baryogenesis (also known as baryosynthesis) is the physical process that is hypothesized to have taken place during the early universe to produce baryonic asymmetry, i.e. the imbalance of matter (baryons) and antimatter (an ...

Career

His notable work includes co-discovering the much studied

flipped SU(5) The Flipped SU(5) model is a grand unified theory (GUT) first contemplated by Stephen Barr in 1982, and by Dimitri Nanopoulos and others in 1984. Ignatios Antoniadis, John Ellis, John Hagelin, and Dimitri Nanopoulos developed the supersymmetr ...

scheme of unification, identifying the Barr–Zee diagram as an important source of electric

dipole In physics, a dipole () is an electromagnetic phenomenon which occurs in two ways: *An electric dipole deals with the separation of the positive and negative electric charges found in any electromagnetic system. A simple example of this system i ...

moment for basic particles such as the electron and neutron in many theories, and proposing the so-called Nelson–Barr mechanism as a solution to the

strong CP problem The strong CP problem is a puzzling question in particle physics: Why does quantum chromodynamics (QCD) seem to preserve CP-symmetry? In particle physics, CP stands for the combination of charge conjugation symmetry (C) and parity symmetry (P) ...

. He is the author of the article on "Grand Unified Theories" for the ''Encyclopedia of Physics''. Barr received his PhD in theoretical particle physics from Princeton University in 1978. Princeton awarded him the Charlotte Elizabeth Proctor Fellowship "for distinguished research." He went on to do research at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

as a post-doctoral fellow (1978–80), the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

as a research assistant professor (1980–85), and

Brookhaven National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Upton, Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base and Japanese internment c ...

as an associate scientist (1985–87), before joining the faculty of the University of Delaware in 1987. He was elected director of the

Bartol Research Institute The Bartol Research Institute (formerly the ''Bartol Research Foundation'') is a scientific research institution at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Delaware. Its members belong to the faculty of the University of Delaw ...

of the University of Delaware in 2011. Barr, a practicing Catholic, writes and lectures frequently on the relation of

science and religion The relationship between religion and science involves discussions that interconnect the study of the natural world, history, philosophy, and theology. Even though the ancient and medieval worlds did not have conceptions resembling the modern u ...

. Since 2000 he has served on the editorial advisory board (now the advisory council) of the ecumenical religious intellectual journal ''

First Things ''First Things'' (''FT'') is an ecumenical and conservative religious journal aimed at "advanc nga religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". The magazine, which focuses on theology, liturgy, church history, religio ...

'', in which many of his articles and book reviews have appeared since 1995. His writing has also appeared in ''

Commonweal Commonweal or common weal may refer to: * Common good, what is shared and beneficial for members of a given community * Common Weal, a Scottish think tank and advocacy group * Commonweal (magazine), ''Commonweal'' (magazine), an American lay-Cath ...

'', ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief i ...

'', ''

Modern Age The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is applie ...

'', ''

The Public Interest ''The Public Interest'' (1965–2005) was a quarterly public policy journal founded by Daniel Bell and Irving Kristol, members of the loose New York intellectuals group, in 1965.Gillian Peele, "American Conservatism in Historical Perspective", in ' ...

'', ''

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', and other publications. In 2002 he gave the Erasmus Lecture, sponsored by the Institute on Religion and Public Life. In 2007 he was awarded the Benemerenti Medal by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

. In 2010 he was elected a member of the Academy of Catholic Theology. He is also president of the

Society of Catholic Scientists The Society of Catholic Scientists is an organization of Catholic scientists formed to promote fellowship among Catholic scientists. Founded in 2016, it promotes the practice of the Gold Mass. Background The society was formed in June 2016 by a ...

Personal life

He is married to Kathleen Whitney Barr. They have five children. Barr is the younger brother of

William Barr William Pelham Barr (born May 23, 1950) is an American attorney who served as the 77th and 85th United States attorney general in the administrations of Presidents George H. W. Bush and Donald Trump. Born and raised in New York City, Barr ...

, the 77th and 85th Attorney General of the United States, and the son of

Donald Barr Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

, an educator who served as headmaster of

Dalton School The Dalton School, originally the Children's University School, is a private, coeducational college preparatory school in New York City and a member of both the Ivy Preparatory School League and the New York Interschool. The school is located in ...

and

Hackley School Hackley School is a private college preparatory school located in Tarrytown, New York, and is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. Founded in 1899 by a wealthy philanthropist, Frances Hackley, Hackley was intended to be a Unitarian a ...

. He graduated from Columbia College in 1974.

Publications

* Stephen M. Barr, (2006) Modern Physics and Ancient Faith. University of Notre Dame Press. . * Stephen M. Barr, (2006) A Student's Guide to Natural Science. ISI Press. * Stephen M. Barr, (2011) Science and Religion: The Myth of Conflict (Explanations). Catholic Truth Society. * Stephen M. Barr, (2016) The Believing Scientist: Essays on Science and Religion.
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Eerdmans.

References

External links

* *
University of Delaware faculty page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barr, Stephen 21st-century American physicists University of Delaware faculty Particle physicists Princeton University alumni University of Pennsylvania faculty University of Washington faculty Living people 1953 births Writers about religion and science American people of Jewish descent American Roman Catholics Recipients of the Benemerenti medal Columbia College (New York) alumni Fellows of the American Physical Society

Career

Personal life

Publications

See also

References

External links