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Sabine Hossenfelder

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Sabine Hossenfelder
Hossenfelder in 2017
Born (1976-09-18) 18 September 1976 (age 48)
Frankfurt, West Germany
Alma materGoethe University Frankfurt (Diploma, 1997; Dr. phil. nat., 2003)[1]
SpouseStefan Scherer[5]
Scientific career
FieldsQuantum gravity
Institutions
  • GSI Helmholtz Centre, Darmstadt (post-doc)[1]
  • University of Arizona (post-doc)[2]
  • UC Santa Barbara (post-doc)[2]
  • Perimeter Institute, Canada (post-doc)[2]
  • NORDITA (assistant professor, 2009–2015)[2]
  • FIAS (research fellow, 2015–2023)[3]
  • LMU Munich, Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (from 2023)[4]
ThesisSchwarze Löcher in Extra-Dimensionen : Eigenschaften und Nachweis (2003)
Doctoral advisorHorst Stöcker
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2007–present
GenreScience communication
Subscribers1.7 million[6][7]
Views293 million[6][7]
Silver Play Button100,000 subscribers2020
Gold Play Button1,000,000 subscribers2023
Last updated: 27 April 2025

Sabine Karin Doris Hossenfelder (born 18 September 1976) is a German theoretical physicist whose research examines possible empirical signatures of quantum gravity. Outside academia she writes popular-science books and hosts the YouTube channel ‘‘Science without the Gobbledygook.’’[8]

Early life and education

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Hossenfelder was born in Frankfurt and earned a mathematics diploma from Goethe University Frankfurt in 1997.[1] She stayed on to complete a doctorate in theoretical physics in 2003; her dissertation, supervised by Horst Stöcker, studied microscopic black-hole production in models with large extra dimensions.[9]

Academic career

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After post-doctoral posts at the GSI Helmholtz Centre, University of Arizona, UC Santa Barbara and Perimeter Institute,[2] she joined NORDITA in Stockholm as an assistant professor in 2009. In 2015 she moved to the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, where she led the “Analog Systems for Gravity Duals’’ group and, in 2019, received the institute’s inaugural Award for Innovative Thinking.[3] Since 2023 she has been based at LMU Munich’s Center for Mathematical Philosophy, researching the role of locality and fine-tuning in quantum-mechanical foundations.[4]

Public engagement

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Hossenfelder has written the popular-science blog ‘‘Backreaction’’ since 2006 and has contributed articles to Nature, New Scientist and Quanta Magazine.[8] Her first trade book, Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray (Basic Books, 2018), argues that an aesthetic preference for “beautiful’’ theories has hindered progress in fundamental physics; reviewers in Nature called it “provocative”.[10] Her follow-up, Existential Physics: A Scientist’s Guide to Life’s Biggest Questions, was published by Viking in 2022.[11]

On YouTube, her channel reached 1.7 million subscribers and 293 million total views by April 2025, making it one of the largest physics channels on the platform.[6]

Honours

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  • FIAS Award for Innovative Thinking (2019)[3]

Selected publications

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  • Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray. Basic Books (2018). ISBN 978-0-465-09426-4.
  • Existential Physics: A Scientist’s Guide to Life’s Biggest Questions. Viking (2022). ISBN 978-1-9848-7945-5.
  • Hossenfelder, S.; Palmer, T. “Rethinking Superdeterminism.” Frontiers in Physics 8 (2020): 139. doi:10.3389/fphy.2020.00139.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Sabine Hossenfelder – Scholarly Community Encyclopedia". encyclopedia.pub. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e "New staff members at NORDITA". NORDITA Newsletter. 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  3. ^ a b c "FIAS is courageous and encourages—FIAS Award for Innovative Thinking 2019". fias.news. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Dr Sabine Hossenfelder". LMU Munich. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  5. ^ "Why I am a physicist: Stefan Scherer". Backreaction. 11 March 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  6. ^ a b c "Sabine Hossenfelder – YouTube Statistics". SocialBlade. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  7. ^ a b "About Sabine Hossenfelder". YouTube.
  8. ^ a b Fox, Killian (26 November 2022). "Physicist Sabine Hossenfelder: 'There are quite a few areas where physics blurs into religion'". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  9. ^ "Schwarze Löcher in Extra-Dimensionen : Eigenschaften und Nachweis". Goethe-University publication server. 2003. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  10. ^ "Lost in Math – Basic Books catalogue". Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  11. ^ "Existential Physics". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
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