February Meeting

The Jazz of Physics

Brown University physics professor Stephon Alexander will cover the ancient quest to understand the motion of celestial bodies and the origin of the cosmos and its connection to music. Of particlar importance is Kepler's musical insight into his three laws.  Stephon will discuss the current problems facing cosmology, fine tuning of the constants of nature, and provide a modern musical interpretation that modifies the big bang theory itself.

Stephon Alexander is a professor of physics at Brown University, and focuses on theoretical cosmology, quantum gravity and particle physics. He has studied at Brown University and done postdoctoral research at Imperial College, London and at the Stanford University Linear Accelerator Laboratory.

The research of Dr. Stephon Alexander primarily focuses on understanding t nature of dark energy in the universe, the origin of matter over anti-matter (baryogenesis) in the universe, the origin of large scale structure in the universe from fundamental theory, how space-time singularities, like the initial big-bang singularity are resolved, and how to test a theory of quantum gravity with observations in cosmology.

Alexander also plays jazz saxophone and sees improvisation as an extension of his scholarship.

Observing at Seagrave Observatory will follow the presentation, weather-permitting.