My research straddles both philosophy and science. My philosophical research is at the intersection of philosophy of science (particularly philosophy of physics) and philosophy of religion. I am investigating:

James Read and I are co-authoring a book-length guide to singularity theorems in General Relativity and what they may, or may not, tell us about the beginning of the universe. I am also interested in what these issues in philosophy of cosmology may have to tell us about long standing debates in philosophy of religion. A broad family of arguments in philosophy of religion — cosmological arguments — identify some ubiquitous feature of physical reality and then claim that, in light of that feature, the totality of physical reality must have a cause, typically claimed to be God. However, cosmological arguments raise perennial philosophical issues that should be of interest to philosophers with no interest in God (particularly to philosophers of physics and metaphysicians), that should not be marginalized to philosophy of religion, and that form the core of a fruitful philosophical research program.

I am a contributing member of the astrophysics research group run by Balša Terzić. In Quantum ChromoDynamics (QCD), nonlinear self-interaction effects result in a weaker interaction at short distances and a stronger interaction on long distances. Due to a formal analogy between General Relativity and Quantum Chromodynamics, similar effects may be expected, where the gravitational force behaves differently in compact objects, such as within galaxies, than in non-compact objects, such as in the space between galaxies. This non-linear self-interaction effect should modify both galaxy rotation curves and the expansion of the universe. Two effects have led researchers to postulate a dark sector, that is, that most of the matter-energy populating our universe is not visible in telescopes. Stars have been noticed to orbit the center of their host galaxies faster than is expected given the amount of amount visible matter. The anomalous galaxy rotation curves led researchers to postulate dark matter, i.e., that an invisible fraction contributes to the mass of each galaxy. Meanwhile, the universe’s expansion is accelerating, leading researchers to postulate that dark energy, with a repulsive gravitational influence, permeates the universe. While a variety of candidates for dark matter and dark energy have been offered, none have succeeded thus far. Non-linear self-interaction effects play a confounding factor for the dark sector; depending upon the magnitude of the effects, the dark sector may be reduced or even eliminated. Our group is investigating the strength of non-linear self-interaction effects within General Relativity.

I care deeply about undergraduate education and have ongoing pedagogical research. In collaboration with Matthew Grau’s lab and undergraduate researchers, we have designed and built a prototype for a single device that can be used in physics, chemistry, or engineering classrooms to demonstrate some of the pivotal phenomena that initiated the twentieth century’s revolution in the physical sciences. Our device makes use of the fact that some car tail light bulbs contain two tungsten filaments. When current is run through one of the filaments, the filament heats to incandescence and spontaneously emits electrons. The other filament can be used to detect the emitted electrons. This phenomenon is called thermionic emission. Thermionic emission was pivotal in the early development of quantum mechanics and is one of the core principles in the operation of early computers, particle accelerators, microwave ovens, high end audio amplifiers, and in an earlier generation of televisions. Our ambition is to design a hands-on, affordable classroom demonstration that helps students to connect the recondite world of quantum mechanics with the practical history of technology.

On this page, you can find links to my publications, curriculum vitae, media appearances, Google Scholar page, Academia.edu page, and my Phil People page.

Header background: Helen Lundeberg: Microcosm and Macrocosm, 1937; oil on Masonite; 37 x 19 1/2 in.; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.