Stephon Alexander is a

theoretical physicist Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...

, cosmologist, musician, and author who blends the worlds of theoretical physics and jazz music.

Personal life and education

Alexander was born in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

and moved to the United States when he was eight. He grew up in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and attended DeWitt Clinton High School where his physics teacher Daniel Kaplan inspired him to study physics. Alexander is a scientist and a jazz saxophonist who ponders links, including sound, between small and big things in the universe that go beyond Einstein's curved space-time and big bang theory.

Einstein's field equation In the general theory of relativity, the Einstein field equations (EFE; also known as Einstein's equations) relate the geometry of spacetime to the distribution of matter within it. The equations were published by Einstein in 1915 in the fo ...

being his favorite equation, his publication ''The Jazz of Physics'' is an autobiographical reflection of his research and theories. Involved with cosmology as a professional physicist, he is also a jazz saxophonist and a student of the works of John Coltrane, among other musicians interested in cosmology. At DeWitt Clinton High School in 10th grade, Alexander's mentor was his physics teacher Daniel Kaplan, who was the reason behind diverting Alexander's mind towards physics when discussing velocity and friction. In 2006, Alexander was named as one of the eight ''National Geographic'' inquisitive experimenters and explorers.

Career

After receiving his doctoral degree, Alexander was a research physicist at Imperial College, London, as well as at the

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, is a United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, United States Department of Energy National Laboratory operated by Stanford Univers ...

, Stanford University. Alexander has held faculty positions at Penn State, Haverford College, and

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

before joining the faculty at Brown University. Alexander is the president of the National Society of Black Physicists. He is also the executive director of Science and Arts Engagement New York Inc. (SAENY).

Academic life

Alexander started his academic career as a postdoctoral researcher at Imperial College, London, (2000-2002) and later on went to be a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University's SLAC and Institute for Theoretical Physics (2002-2005). In 2005, he became an assistant professor of physics at Penn State University. In 2008, he served at Haverford College as an associate professor of physics leading to his positions of Ernest Everett 1907 Associate Professor of Natural Sciences and associate professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College. Alexander also works as a professor at Brown University and has spent much of his career as a first generation advocate. He also advocates for historically under-represented groups in the sciences. He is a member of the editorial board of ''Universe''.

Research

In June 2012, Alexander co-authored a paper that reinterpreted Hořava–Lifshitz gravity. The paper, ''Hořava-Lifshitz theory as a fermionic aether in Ashtekar gravity'' described how the ''HL theory'' could be naturally occurring. The authors also theorized that ''HL gravity'' could be interpreted as a time-like current that fills space-time. In December 2012, Alexander was the co-author of the paper "Gravitational origin of the weak interaction's chirality". Focusing on the Lorentz group, the authors studied the unification of the electroweak and gravitational interactions and the space-time connection. The authors theorized, in ways similar to Plebanski and Ashtekar, how those weak interactions on the right-handed chiral half in space-time connection could explain the weak interaction. The theory devised by Alexander and his co-authors was broken down into two phases. The first is a

parity Parity may refer to: * Parity (computing) ** Parity bit in computing, sets the parity of data for the purpose of error detection ** Parity flag in computing, indicates if the number of set bits is odd or even in the binary representation of the r ...

symmetric phase, similar to the studies and workings of Speziale. The next phase depends on whether the parity is broken or not. Under the breaking, it shows a Dirac fermion expressing itself as a chiral neutrino.Stephon Alexander; Antonino Marciano; Lee Smolin (December 2012)
"Gravitational origin of the weak interaction's chirality"
INSPIRE-HEP. Around the same time, Alexander co-authored another paper that focused on the study of electric time in quantum cosmology. The paper formulated and studied new possibilities of the quantum behavior of space-time. Alexander has mainly worked to extend Einstein's general theory of relativity curved space-time, taking it to extremes in the connection between the smallest and largest entities in the universe. Alexander has worked as the director of

's EE Just STEM Scholars Program, volunteered for public speaking in inner city schools, taught mathematics in prisons and monitors activities relevant to his scholarship.

Media

In February 2013, Alexander wrote in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' about the need for black academics to set a positive trend for the next generation. In the article, he called upon a number of personal experiences from his own education and life. Alexander has been interviewed or quoted in media sources such as the ''Tavis Smiley Show'', ''Forbes Magazine'', ''NPR'', Brian Lehrer Show, Science Salon/''Skeptic Society'', ''Downbeat Magazine'', and ''Mercury News''.

Music

His album with

Rioux Rioux () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regio ...

was ''Here Comes Now''. Alexander and bassist Melvin Gibbs formed a group that they named God Particle. Alexander is also the author of ''The Jazz of Physics'', a book that discusses the link between music and the structure of the universe. On a '' Nova'' documentary, Alexander was featured discussing his life as a jazz saxophonist, while also working as a physicist during the day.Marykwas, Donna (November 19, 2010). "PBS NOVA's secret life of scientist Stephon Alexander: sax-playing physicist".

Publications

* 2016 ''The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link Between Music and the Structure of the Universe''. * 2021 ''Fear of a Black Universe: An Outsider's Guide to the Future of Physics''.

Awards

*2006 National Geographic Emerging Explorers *2008 NSF Career Award. *2010 AAAS John Wesley Powell Memorial Award. *2013 APS E. BOUCHET AWARD. *2022 Fellow of the American Physical Society

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Stephon American cosmologists American physicists American writers about music American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Brown University alumni Haverford College alumni American male jazz musicians Brown University faculty Fellows of the American Physical Society