{{Short description|Czech physicist and translator}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Luboš Motl | image = Lubos Motl in 2011.jpg | caption = Motl in 2011 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1973|12|05|df=yes}} | birth_place = Plzeň, Czechoslovakia (present-day Czech Republic) | field = Theoretical physics, String theory | education = Charles University (MA)<br>Rutgers University (PhD) | doctoral_advisor = Tom Banks | doctoral_students = | thesis_title = Nonperturbative Formulations of Superstring Theory | thesis_url = https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0109149 | thesis_year = 2001 | known_for = {{Plainlist| * Matrix string theory * Weak gravity conjecture * ''The Reference Frame'' {{small|(blog)}} }} | awards = | footnotes = }}
'''Luboš Motl''' ({{IPA|cs|ˈluboʃ ˈmotl̩|lang}}; born 5 December 1973) is a Czech blogger. He was an assistant professor in physics at Harvard University from 2004 to 2007. His scientific publications were focused on string theory.
==Life and career== Motl was born in Plzeň, present-day Czech Republic. He won a Bronze Medal at the 1992 International Mathematical Olympiad.<ref name="International Mathematical Olympiad">{{cite web | title=International Mathematical Olympiad | website=International Mathematical Olympiad | url=https://www.imo-official.org/participant_r.aspx?id=3111 | access-date=2017-10-11}}</ref> He received his master's degree from the Charles University in Prague, and his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Rutgers University (2001) and has been a Harvard Junior Fellow (2001–2004) and assistant professor (2004–2007) at Harvard University. In 2007, he left Harvard and returned to the Czech Republic.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}
Although an undergraduate at a Czech university where none of the faculty specialized in string theory, Motl came to the attention of string theorist Thomas Banks in 1996, when Banks read an arXiv posting by Motl on matrix string theory. "I was at first a little annoyed by [Motl's] paper, because it scooped me," said Banks. "This feeling turned to awe when I realized that Lubos was still an undergraduate".<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/01/science/world-science-becomes-global-village-archive-opens-new-realm-research.html "The World of Science Becomes a Global Village; Archive Opens a New Realm of Research"], James Glanz, New York Times, May 1, 2001</ref> He then became a graduate student of Banks, and wrote his PhD thesis on matrix theory. While at Harvard, Motl worked on the pp-wave limit of AdS/CFT correspondence,{{clarify|date=September 2019}} twistor theory and its application to gauge theory with supersymmetry, black hole thermodynamics and the conjectured relevance of quasinormal modes for loop quantum gravity, deconstruction, and other topics. In 2006, he proposed the weak gravity conjecture with Nima Arkani-Hamed, Alberto Nicolis and Cumrun Vafa.<ref>Nima Arkani-Hamed, Lubos Motl, Alberto Nicolis, Cumrun Vafa, ''The String Landscape, Black Holes and Gravity as the Weakest Force'', JHEP 0706:060,2007, ''arXiv:hep-th/0601001''.</ref>
He is the author of ''L'équation Bogdanov'', a 2008 French-language book discussing the scientific ideas and controversy of the Bogdanov brothers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Motl |first1=Luboš |title=L'équation Bogdanov: le secret de l'origine de l'univers? |publisher=Presses de la Renaissance |year=2008 |isbn= 978-2750903862 }}</ref>
Motl has not been publishing scientific papers since 2015.<ref>{{cite web | title= Luboš Motl's Google Scholar Homepage | url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=zz-EcVUAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate | access-date= 2026-04-06}}</ref>
== The Reference Frame == For many years, Motl wrote a science and politics blog called "The Reference Frame: Supersymmetric world from a conservative viewpoint", in which he expresses his scientific and right-wing political opinions, including invectives as well as personal insults.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodlanews.com/sabine-hossenfelder-physicist-lubos-motl-blogger/|title=German Physicist Fights Back Against Sexist Blogger After 12 Years of Relentless Online Abuse|publisher=HollywoodLAnews|date=2019-03-16|access-date=2021-08-21}}</ref> The blog has been described by George Musser as an "over-the-top" defense of string theory, defining one of the extremes of scientific opinions on that topic, with the other extreme being represented by Peter Woit.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HoqJ9TbteLYC&dq=lubos+motl&pg=PA279 |title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to String Theory - George Musser |page=279 |isbn=9781592577026 |access-date=2015-08-25|last1=Musser |first1=George |year=2008 |publisher=Penguin }}</ref> Following the example of Oriana Fallaci, Motl characterizes himself as a Christian atheist.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://motls.blogspot.com/2011/09/are-all-climate-skeptics-theocratic.html |title=Are all climate skeptics theocratic?|work=The Reference Frame |date=2011-09-09 |access-date=2015-08-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://motls.blogspot.com/2006/09/oriana-fallaci-force-of-reason.html |title=The Reference Frame: Oriana Fallaci: The Force of Reason |publisher=Motls.blogspot.com |date=2006-09-27 |access-date=2015-08-25}}</ref> He also describes himself as a "champion of the consistent histories interpretation of quantum mechanics",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://motls.blogspot.com/2011/05/copenhagen-interpretation-of-quantum.html |title=Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics|work=The Reference Frame |date=2011-05-29 |access-date=2019-06-17}}</ref> and has strongly criticised Erik Verlinde's entropic gravity theory.<ref name="New Scientist 2016">{{cite web | title=First test of rival to Einstein's gravity kills off dark matter | website=New Scientist | date=2016-12-15 | url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2116446-first-test-of-rival-to-einsteins-gravity-kills-off-dark-matter/ | access-date=2017-08-01}}</ref><ref name="TheReferenceFrame2016">{{cite web | title=Verlinde's de Sitter MOND is highly incomplete, to say the least | website=The Reference Frame | date=2016-11-12 | url=http://motls.blogspot.com/2016/11/verlindes-de-sitter-mond-is-highly.html | access-date=2017-08-01|type=Blog}}</ref> In April 2022, Motl retired the blog, citing censorship pressures and general dissatisfaction.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Is The CDF W Mass Measurement A Nail In The SM Coffin? |url=https://www.science20.com/tommaso_dorigo/is_the_cdf_w_mass_measurement_a_nail_in_the_sm_coffin-256017 |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=science20.com|date=27 August 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Reference Frame: AdSense became unusable |url=https://disqus.com/home/discussion/thereferenceframe/the_reference_frame_adsense_became_unusable/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=disqus.com}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{wikiquote}} * [http://motls.blogspot.com/ The Reference Frame] ({{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220329115810/https://motls.blogspot.com/|date=2022-03-29}}), Luboš Motl's blog
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Motl, Lubos}} Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:Czech physicists Category:Charles University alumni Category:Rutgers University alumni Category:String theorists Category:Scientists from Plzeň Category:Czech male bloggers Category:Czech critics of Islam