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Woodlands billionaire offers retreat for top scientists

Originally posted on sciy.org by Ron Anastasia on Fri 20 Apr 2007 07:05 PM PDT  





Visionary gives scientists space to ponder universe

Woodlands billionaire offers retreat for top scientists

Billionaire George Mitchell and scientist Stephen Hawking meet at Mitchell's ranch north of Houston.


photos


TACKLING THE MYSTERIES

Stephen Hawking and other influential cosmologists gathered at George Mitchell's ranch this week to debate some of the most important questions of the universe. Among them:

• Black hole paradox: When the theories of quantum mechanics and general relativity are applied to black holes, the results — first done by Hawking himself — suggest that physical information "disappears" into a black hole. This violates a fundamental tenet of science, namely, that such information cannot be destroyed. Hawking claims to have solved the information paradox, but has yet to present a full mathematical proof.

• Dark energy: Astronomers discovered dark energy about a decade ago when they noticed that the universe's brightest, dying stars were actually accelerating away from one another. It's now thought that this force is so strong that it makes up about 70 percent of the universe. But scientists don't know exactly what it is.

• Cosmic inflation: One of the big questions about the universe is why it is so smooth, or why the radiation left over from the Big Bang is spread so evenly throughout the cosmos. By invoking the concept of "inflation," when the early universe passed through a phase of exponential growth, physicists can explain this homogeneity. Hawking thinks the probability of inflation is near 100 percent. Other participants at the meeting suggest it is near zero percent.


The setting wasn't Cambridge. Nor was it Harvard University, the California Institute of Technology or even Princeton, where Albert Einstein once taught.

It was, instead, a pristine 6,000-acre stand of piney woods northwest of Houston where some of the world's most brilliant scientists — theoretical physicists who ponder the universe's deepest questions — chose to gather. Among them was perhaps the most famous living scientist, Stephen Hawking.

They had come at the behest of George Mitchell, a one-time wildcatter and the developer of The Woodlands, who in the last decade has gained a deep appreciation for cosmology, the science of the universe.

With his largesse, more than $60 million and counting, Mitchell has begun centering Texas on the map in this most fundamental of scientific fields.

"He's not trying, he's succeeding," said Nick Warner, a University of Southern California theoretical physicist invited to the private conclave of some of the world's elite physicists this week.

Mitchell, 87, has succeeded in part because he remains a shrewd businessman. He has spent money freely, but also has put forth the effort to cultivate a relationship with Hawking.

That relationship has paid dividends, bringing Hawking, 65, and some of his closest colleagues to Mitchell's ranch near Magnolia for three days this week. During the evenings they enjoyed the hospitality of Mitchell and his daughter, Sheridan Mitchell Lorenz, and supped on high cuisine — much of it, such as wild boar, from the ranch itself.

Comfortable environment

During the days the scientists enjoyed a relaxed approach toward some of the most fundamental questions in science. No PowerPoint presentations, a staple of academic conferences. Just a blackboard and sticks of chalk.

It's the kind of approach needed to tackle the big questions that have stumped scientists, including Einstein, for the better part of a century.

The critical problem is trying to reconcile two leading theories. One, quantum mechanics, explains the behavior of matter at the tiniest scales — atoms, electrons and smaller particles — and the forces that act upon them. At the other end of the spectrum is Einstein's theory of general relativity, which explains gravity and the behavior of planets, stars and galaxies.

The problem is that when quantum mechanics and relativity both are called upon to answer certain questions, they return radically different answers.

Scientists have been searching for an overarching "theory of everything," which might incorporate one or both of the existing theories, and explain the behavior of everything from the smallest subatomic particle to the expansion of the universe.

The last decade or so has dropped a trove of data into the laps of theorists, as new satellites and instruments have delivered exquisitely precise measurements. For example, instead of estimating the universe to be 8 to 15 billion years old, they now estimate it's 13.7 billion years old.

The rush of new data has turned cosmology upside down. Last month, Imperial College in London hosted a scientific meeting titled, "Outstanding questions for the standard cosmological model." That's a polite way of saying, what if our existing theories are wrong?

That's where meetings such as the one northwest of Houston this week come in. In an informal setting, Warner said, participants can step back from their own, more focused areas of work to ponder the big picture. And they can bring up crazy ideas without fear of scorn from their peers.

"That's why this gathering is so incredible," he said.

Added Malcolm Perry, a Cambridge University theoretical physicist at the meeting, "We're all here asking the question, 'Just what is it that one is supposed to do with all of this new information?' "

Seeking to capitalize on all of the uncertainty is none other than Mitchell, a Texas A&M University alumnus who wants to dramatically elevate the school's profile, to put its scientists at the forefront of astronomical and cosmological discovery. Nowhere, he believes, is the ground more unsettled, and fertile, than the deep mysteries of the universe.

"Many of the biggest questions are still unanswered," he said. "There's a world of opportunity in cosmology."

In recent years Mitchell has funded academic chairs at Texas A&M and provided money for dark energy research at the University of Texas at Austin. By contributing $1.25 million he allowed both universities to join a collaboration that proposes to build the half-billlion-dollar Giant Magellan Telescope, which would have 10 times the power of the Hubble Telescope.

Just this month, with his $40 million gift, construction began on two physics buildings at A&M that will bear Mitchell's name, including an institute for fundamental physics.

Hawking may return

This is Hawking's second visit to Texas because of Mitchell, but probably not his last.

"George is a remarkable man and a wonderful supporter of fundamental physics," Hawking said, with the aid of the voice synthesizer he uses because of Lou Gehrig's disease. "He has enabled us to bring together leading experts and promising young researchers to attack some of the most challenging problems in cosmology."

Hawking will give a sold-out public lecture Sunday in Texas A&M's 2,500-seat Rudder Auditorium.

Hawking has gained international acclaim not only for his theoretical work, but also because of his inspiring 45-year persistence through his disease and because of books such as A Brief History of Time. And now Mitchell appears to have succeeded in twinning Hawking's legacy with Texas A&M.

On Wednesday evening, the two took a carriage ride around Mitchell's ranch. As he surveyed the oilman and physicist seated together, one of Hawking's former students stood among the other scientists swatting mosquitoes in the twilight. Some might have wondered what had brought them to this remote location, far from the traditional halls of academia, but not Christopher Pope.

A high-energy theorist at Texas A&M since 1988, Pope has watched as the mysteries of cosmology seduce Mitchell.

"All of this," he said, scanning the countryside and clumps of scientists, "is because of the vision of one man."

eric.berger@chron.com


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