David Snoke

Snoke received his bachelor's degree in physics from Cornell University and his PhD in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has worked for The Aerospace Corporation and was a visiting scientist and Fellow at the Max Planck Institute. His experimental and theoretical research has focused on fundamental quantum mechanical processes in semiconductor optics, i.e. phase transitions of electrons and holes. Two main thrusts have been Bose-Einstein condensation of excitons and polaritons. He has also had minor efforts in numerical biology, and has published on the topic of the interaction of science and theology. ==Bose-Einstein Condensation of Polaritons==

In 2007, Snoke's research group at the University of Pittsburgh used stress to trap polaritons in confined regions, showing quantized circulation of a polariton condensate in a ring, and the first clear demonstration of Bose-Einstein condensation of polaritons in equilibrium For a general discussion of Bose-Einstein condensation of polaritons, see this page. ==Nonequilibrium dynamics==

The basic questions of how systems out of equilibrium approach equilibrium ("equilibration", or "thermalization") have involved longstanding deep questions of physics, sometimes called the thermodynamic "arrow of time," with debates going back to Boltzmann. In 1989 Snoke was one of the first to perform simulations of the equilibration of a Bose-Einstein condensate, using numerical solution of the quantum Boltzmann equation . In 1994 Snoke showed agreement of time-resolved experimental measurements of a particle distribution to solution of the quantum Boltzmann equation . In 2012 he and theorist Steve Girvin published a seminal paper on the justification of the second law of thermodynamics based on analysis of the quantum Boltzmann equation, which has impacted the philosophy of the second law. Other work by Snoke has included nonequilibrium dynamics of electron plasma and the Mott transition from exciton gas to electron-hole plasma. ==Numerical biology==

In 2004, Snoke co-authored an article with Michael Behe, a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture, in the scientific journal Protein Science, which received widespread criticism. Snoke's contribution to the paper was an appendix which verified the numerical results with analytical calculations that showed the relevant power law, namely that for a novel feature requiring multiple neutral mutations, the time to fixation has a sublinear dependence on population size. Behe has stated that the results of the paper support his notion of irreducible complexity, based on the calculation of the probability of mutations required for evolution to succeed. However, the published version did not address the concept directly; according to Behe, all references to irreducible complexity were eliminated prior to the paper's publication at the behest of the reviewers. Michael Lynch authored a response, to which Behe and Snoke responded. Protein Science discussed the papers in an editorial. Protein Science received letters that "contained many points of disagreement with the Behe and Snoke article", including the points that: • More recent research suggests that Behe and Snoke's model, and even Lynch's response, may have been "substantial underestimates" "of the rate of obtaining an adaptive combination of mutations". • Biochemical analysis of the question has supported an orthodox evolutionary view and rejected Behe and Snoke's approach as an "unreasonable model which assume[s] 'leaps in thin air', such as the evolution of completely novel activities via multiple and simultaneous amino acid changes". On May 7, 2005, Behe described the paper in presenting arguments for irreducible complexity in his testimony at the Kansas evolution hearings. At the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial later that year it was the one article referenced by both Behe and Scott Minnich as supporting intelligent design. In his ruling, Judge Jones noted that "A review of the article indicates that it does not mention either irreducible complexity or ID. In fact, Professor Behe admitted that the study which forms the basis for the article did not rule out many known evolutionary mechanisms and that the research actually might support evolutionary pathways if a biologically realistic population size were used." In 2014 David Snoke, along with coauthors Jeffrey Cox and Donald Petcher, published a numerical study of the evolution of novel structures, in the journal Complexity. The model claimed to address the fundamental problem of the tradeoff of the cost of allowing novel structures which are not yet functional, versus the benefit of the eventual new function. ==Science and theology==

His book, A Biblical Case for an Old Earth (Baker Books, 2006) was described in a review by Law Professor David W. Opderbeck, in the American Scientific Affiliation's Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith as "succeed[ing] admirably" in "establish[ing] that the 'day-age' view is a valid alternative for Christians who hold to biblical inerrancy", but as "less persuasive" at "argu[ing] for a concordist understanding of the Genesis texts and modern science." Snoke was elected a Fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation in 2006. arguing that the prevailing paradigm of modern systems biology favors an intelligent design perspective, namely that systems biologists commonly assume a "good design" paradigm. ==Bibliography==