Leonard Mlodinow (born November 26 1954) is an American theoretical physicist and mathematician, screenwriter and author. In physics, he is known for his work on the
large N expansion, a method of approximating the spectrum of atoms based on the consideration of an infinite-dimensional version of the problem, and for his work on the
quantum theory of light inside
dielectrics.
Mlodinow completed his doctorate at the
University of California, Berkeley. It was in that PhD dissertation that he developed a new type of
perturbation theory for
nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, based upon solving the problem in infinite dimensions, and then correcting for the fact that we live in three. The method has become the basis of the 1/d expansion used by theoretical chemists.[3][4][5][6][7][8] He has also done pioneering[9][10] and innovative[11][12][13] work in the quantum theory of
nonlinear optics.[14][15][16] The central problem of quantum nonlinear optics is how to quantize a
dielectric that, as well as the usual homogeneities and
anisotropy, can also have nonlinearities and
dispersion, and earlier attempts in this direction, while incorporating the known linear theory, had not fully reproduced the nonlinear equations.[11]
Stephen Hawking: A Memoir of Friendship and Physics (2020) (
ISBN978-1524748685)
Elastic: Flexible Thinking in a Time of Change (2018) (
ISBN1-101-87092-3) A new look at the neuroscience of change—and how elastic thinking can help us thrive in a world changing faster than ever before.
The Upright Thinkers: The Human Journey from Living in Trees to Understanding the Cosmos (2015) (
ISBN978-0-30790-823-0) A history of human progress, from our time on the African savannah through the invention of modern quantum physics..
Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior (2012) (
ISBN0-307-37821-7) Describes how things that we think are conscious, freely made choices, are in fact governed by our
subconscious.
Feynman's Rainbow: A Search for Beauty in Physics and in Life (2003) (as published in US) (
ISBN0-446-53045-X), is about his relationship with Richard Feynman and Richard Feynman's brilliance, during his post-doctoral years in Caltech, in the early eighties. The book offers an insight into Feynman's attitude towards physics and life, his relationship with
Murray Gell-Mann and the rise of
String Theory.
Euclid's Window: The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace (2001) (
ISBN0-684-86523-8) is a work on popular science that chronicles the idea of
curved space and the
history of geometry.
Children's books
The Kids of Einstein Elementary: Titanic Cat, co-authored with Matt Costello and Josh Nash (2004) (
ISBN0-439-53774-6)
The Kids of Einstein Elementary: The Last Dinosaur, co-authored with Matt Costello and Josh Nash (2004) (
ISBN0-439-53773-8)
Articles
Mlodinow, Leonard. "Mindware and Superforecasting." New York Times (October 15, 2015): 23.
Mlodinow, Leonard. "It is, in Fact, Rocket Science," New York Times (May 15, 2015): 23.
Mlodinow, Leonard. "Love and Math: The Heart of Hidden Reality." New York Times (October 25, 2013): 15.
Mlodinow, Leonard. "Most of Us are Biased After All." New York Times (April 4, 2013): 58.
Mlodinow, Leonard. "In Hollywood, Theories of Infinite Dimensions." New York Times (June 3, 2012): 58.
Mlodinow, Leonard. "A Facial Theory of Politics." New York Times (April 22, 2012): 58.
Mlodinow, Leonard. "Physics: Fundamental Feynman." Nature 471 (2011), 296–297.
Hawking, Stephen, and Leonard Mlodinow. "The (elusive) theory of everything." Scientific American 303.4 (2010): 68–71.
Hawking, Stephen, and Leonard Mlodinow. "Why God did not create the universe." Wall Street Journal (September 4—5, 2010) W 3 (2010).
Mlodinow, Leonard. "A hint of hype, a taste of illusion." Wall Street Journal (November 20, 2009).
Mlodinow, Leonard. "The Triumph of the Random," Was Joe Di Maggio's hitting streak a fluke?" Wall Street Journal (July 16, 2009).
Mlodinow, Leonard. "Meet Hollywood's Latest Genius." Los Angeles Times (July 2, 2006).
2010 Liber Press Award for the Popularization of Science[citation needed]
2008 Robert P. Balles Prize for Critical Thinking for his book The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules our Lives awarded by the
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSICOP)
^Mlodinow, L. D., and N. Papanicolaou (1981). "Pseudo-spin structure and large N expansion for a class of generalized helium Hamiltonians". Annals of Physics. 131 (1): 1–35.
Bibcode:
1981AnPhy.131....1M.
doi:
10.1016/0003-4916(81)90181-0.
^Bender, Carl M., L. D. Mlodinow, and N. Papanicolaou (1982). "Semiclassical perturbation theory for the hydrogen atom in a uniform magnetic field". Physical Review A. 25 (3): 1305–1314.
Bibcode:
1982PhRvA..25.1305B.
doi:
10.1103/PhysRevA.25.1305.{{
cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
^Doren, D. J., and D. R. Herschbach (1985). "Accurate semiclassical electronic structure from dimensional singularities". Chemical Physics Letters. 118 (2): 115–119.
Bibcode:
1985CPL...118..115D.
doi:
10.1016/0009-2614(85)85280-5.{{
cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
^Loeser, J. G., and D. R. Herschbach. (1985). "Dimensional interpolation of correlation energy for two-electron atoms". The Journal of Physical Chemistry. 89 (16): 3444–3447.
doi:
10.1021/j100262a004.{{
cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
^Bezgabadi, Abolfazl Safaei, and Mohammad Agha Bolorizadeh (2016). Yin, Shizhuo; Guo, Ruyan (eds.). "Quantum mechanical treatment of the third order nonlinear term in NLS equation and the supercontinuum generation". Photonic Fiber and Crystal Devices: Advances in Materials and Innovations in Device Applications X. 9958: 995803.
Bibcode:
2016SPIE.9958E..03S.
doi:
10.1117/12.2236882.
S2CID125661387.{{
cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)