Phymaths podcast

Description

Jonathan Heckman is a theoretical physicist at the University of Pennsylvania and works on generalized symmetries, the swampland program, holography, and F theory, among other related areas. The list of his works can be found at the link provided below.

Some links

1) His works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/1045268

2) Link to the high-energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/

Contact Info

My website: hassaansaleem.com

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/

Join the WhatsApp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1X

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHY

Email Queries: [email protected]

Time Stamps

(0:00) Coming Up

(0:24) Introduction of the guest

(0:40) His current projects

(4:54) Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) and F theory

(17:19) Algebraic Geometry for F theory

(22:40) Role of singularities in model building

(24:53) GUT models in F theory (continued)

(28:50) Engineering SCFTs from F theory

(43:38) Engineering SCFTs in odd dimensions

(48:58) Transitioning to generalized symmetries

(52:54) Defining QFTs

(55:44) Swampland and Cobordism conjecture

(1:03:20) R7 branes

(1:08:35) Falsifying string theory at colliders

(1:18:33) Building collaborations (and fear of being wrong)

(1:22:56) Choosing a problem to work on

(1:27:53) Handling multiple projects

(1:30:34) Selecting a Ph.D student

(1:34:30) (People's question) Learning string theory

(1:36:27) (People's question) Learning abstract topics

(1:38:12) (People's question) Important problems

(1:43:30) (People's question) UPenn funding

(1:45:03) (People's question) Symmetries on T folds

Description

Jacob McNamara is a theoretical physicist at Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, who has worked on swampland (quite notably on the cobordism conjecture), holography, and non invertible symmetries. The list of his works can be found at the link provided below.

Some links

1) His works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/1804692?ui-citation-summary=true

2) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/

Contact Info

My website: hassaansaleem.com

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/

Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1X

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHY

Email Queries: [email protected]

Time Stamps

(0:00) Coming Up

(0:45) Introduction of the guest

(1:01) His current projects

(4:40) Swampland and no global symmetries

(16:30) Cobordism conjecture

(35:34) R7 branes

(51:26) Stringy Non-Invertible Symmetries

(59:39) What does gauging mean?

(1:08:34) Weak Gravity Conjecture

(1:13:36) Use of the word "conjecture"

(1:17:42) Consciousness and Swampland

(1:27:27) Weak Gravity Conjecture (contd.)

(1:30:16) Distance conjecture(s)

(1:35:45) Dark dimension

(1:40:45) Emergent String & generalized distance conjectures

(1:53:15) No scale separation conjecture

(1:59:30) Gravity being classical

(2:09:26) Why study JT gravity?

(2:13:21) Baby universes

(2:16:05) Cobordism conjecture and Wheeler Dewitt equation

(2:21:40) Building collaborations and doing research

(2:32:45) Imposter syndrome

(2:38:16) Learning Geometry and Topology

(2:38:55) Using different platforms

(2:42:07) Pure Math rabbit hole

(2:45:10) Physics vs. Math perspectives and attitudes

(2:25:36) Book recommendations

(2:54:40) Interpretational issues

(3:03:58) What problems do you want to be solved

DescriptionDr. Shiraz Minwalla is a theoretical physicist at TIFR Mumbai, India. He has worked on the problem of classification and existence of conformal and superconformal field theories in various dimensions, black holes and superfluids. The list of his works can be found at the link provided below.Some links1) His works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/997328?ui-citation-summary=true2) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/Contact InfoMy website: hassaansaleem.comFollow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1XFollow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHYEmail Queries: [email protected]Time stamps(0:00) Coming Up(0:48) Intro of the guest(1:07) His current projects(4:37) Grey Galaxies(10:48) Non-commutative field theories(16:51) Cosmological Constant problem(27:25) Non-commutative solitons(29:27) Existence of CFTs and SCFTs(41:41) Index of SCFTs(47:16) Gravity/Fluid correspondence(1:00:05) Turbulence(1:03:57) Millenium Prize problem (Navier Stokes)(1:10:30) His interest in Physics(1:12:33) How to choose a Ph.D. student?(1:14:14) How to choose a problem to work on?(1:21:44) Talent and environment for Physics(1:23:20) (People's question) Advice for Ph.Ds(1:25:51) (People's question) Fav. collaboration(1:26:12) (People's question) Fuzzball and Islands(1:30:42) (People's question) Becoming a Physicist(1:31:31) (People's question) Coming back to India(1:33:14) (People's question) Regrets about returning(1:33:54) (People's question) Research spending(1:35:38) (People's question) Learning a new topic(1:37:17) (People's question) CBS Mumbai(1:37:50) (People's question) His Infinite Energy

DescriptionDr. Sonia Contera is a professor of Biological Sciences at Oxford, senior fellow at Oxford Martin School. She works at the interface of physics, biology, medicine and nanotechnology. She has authored two books titled “ Nano comes to life” and “Six problems that science can’t solve" which respectively talk about the use of nanotechnology in biological sciences, and the problems that may require a different approach to solve than conventional methods. The list of her works can be found at the link provided below.Some links1) Her works: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=yr6AJ50AAAAJ&hl=en2) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/Contact InfoMy website: hassaansaleem.comFollow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1XFollow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHYEmail Queries: [email protected]Time stamps(0:00) Introduction of the guest(0:36) Her currents projects(4:13) Her interest in Physics(7:02) Quantitative biology and origin of life(15:33) DNA nanotech(18:54) Protein design(21:56) Application in cancer treatment(23:23) Emergence of life(29:40) Overcoming ageing(38:46) Intelligent machines(45:16) Zero emission buildings(51:03) Physics and Power(58:03) Einstein and Eddington example(1:00:02) (People's question) Advice for students(1:01:35) (People's question) Emergent systems(1:02:49) (People's question) Learning languages

DescriptionDr. Alastair Wilson is a philosopher at University of Leeds, who works on metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science and philosophy of physics. His doctoral thesis was on the metaphysics of Everettian interpretation and he works on the development of this interpretation. A list of his works can be found below.Some links1) His works: https://philpeople.org/profiles/alastair-wilson2) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/

Contact InfoMy website: hassaansaleem.comFollow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1XFollow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHYEmail Queries: [email protected]Time stamps(0:00) Coming Up(0:35) Intro of the guest(0:52) Many worlds interpretation (MWI)(3:59) Disagreements about many worlds(6:30) Meaning of "worlds" (11:30) Probabilities in MWI(30:55) Probabilities are objective?(46:14) Meaning of the laws of nature(53:28) Causation and Explanation(1:06:45) Causation and counterfactuals(1:10:34) Explanation by inevitability(1:18:45) Causation by inaction(1:33:36) Emergence and Reductionism(1:38:25) Are emergent properties caused?(1:40:32) Strong emergence(1:44:14) Does 'fundamental' make sense?(1:46:44) Physicist/philosopher collaborations(1:49:45) (People's question) Misconceptions about Philosophy(1:53:53) (People's question) Unpopular conclusion(1:56:13) (People's question) Book recommendations(1:57:47) (People's question) Other routes to MWI(1:59:42) (People's question) Finiteness

DescriptionDr. Sunil Mukhi is a theoretical physicist at IISER Pune. His works include areas like classification of conformal field theories (CFTs), entanglement, quantum gravity, and Black Holes. A list of his works can be found below.Some links1) His works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/996540?ui-citation-summary=true3) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/Contact InfoMy website: hassaansaleem.comFollow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1XFollow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHYEmail Queries: [email protected]Time stamps(0:00) Coming up(0:34) Intro of the guest (0:51) His current projects(2:45) His interest in physics(7:10) His experience with PhD advisors(8:53) Witten's talks before first superstring revolution(13:45) Aftermaths of the revolution(15:38) Story of his most cited paper(22:24) What are CFTs?(28:20) Why study CFTs?(31:17) What are RCFTs?(36:21) Story of the classifation of RCFTs(47:35) Classifying unitary vs non unitary RCFTs(52:32) What are orbifolds?(1:04:04) His 1995 work on Orbifolds(1:09:19) Important moments in his career(1:14:38) His teaching methodology(1:18:02) Discoveries aren't miracles(1:23:40) Good mentiorship's role in physics(1:30:39) How to chose a Ph.D. student(1:39:28) How to choose problems to work on(1:43:10) (People's question) Autodidact physicist?(1:45:13) (People's question) Phenomenology(1:46:26) (People's question) IISER Pune for QFT(1:48:40) (People's question) Most difficult book he read(1:50:10) (People's question) Favorite guitar solo(1:51:28) (People's question) Pursuing multiple passions

Description

Dr. Daniel Whiteson is an experimental high-energy physicist at UC Irvine and works in the ATLAS collaboration. He is also a science communicator, who made the Daytime Emmy nominated series Elinor Wonders Why, and he also hosts a podcast named Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe. His new book titled "Do Aliens speak Physics" is coming on 4th November. In this episode, we talk and speculate about different topics in the context of aliens. The links to his book and podcast are given below.

Some links

1) Do aliens speak physics website: https://sites.uci.edu/alienphysics/

2) His podcast: https://sites.uci.edu/danielandkelly/

3) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/

Contact Info

My website: hassaansaleem.com

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/

Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1X

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHY

Email Queries: [email protected]

Time stamps

(00:00) Introduction of the guest

(00:27) Motivations behind the book

(02:46) Aliens version of geopolitics

(06:01) Is 1+1=2 everywhere?

(17:50) Do Aliens write? (and their language)

(24:36) Physics/Chemistry/Biology distinctions

(28:55) Aliens contacting certain genuises?

(35:41) Peculiar history of discoveries in Physics

(43:53) Talking to strangers and Aliens

(47:11) Is Physics of the universe unique?

(56:39) Can aliens manipulate observations?

(58:51) What if aliens don't care about science?

(1:04:36) Human dating aliens

(1:07:54) Alien Psychology

(1:09:33) Which past idea may be true

(1:11:17) Topics that he couldn't include in book

(1:14:18) Aliens and money

(1:18:10) (People's question) Aliens and extra dimensions

(1:19:16) (People's question) Aliens and dark matter

(1:20:12) (People's question) Aliens and anti matter

(1:21:10) (People's question) What question to ask?

(1:22:03) (People's question) Have aliens visited us?

(1:24:13) When would the book be available?

*Description*Dr. Chitraang Murdia is a theoretical physicist at UPenn Philadelphia, and his works comprise areas like CFTs, holography, and entanglement. He is quite well known for being the All India Rank 1 holder in the JEE engineering exam in 2014. The list of his works can be found below.*Some links*1) Dr. Murdia's works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/19385402) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/*Contact Info*My website: hassaansaleem.comFollow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1XFollow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHYEmail Queries: [email protected]*Time stamps*(0:00) Coming Up(0:30) Intro of the guest(0:45) His current projects(2:40) His journey from JEE to Physics(13:06) CFTs and why to study them(15:27) TTbar deformation(24:12) Interfaces in CFT(29:16) Islands(36:35) Generalized symmetries(44:38) Minimal strings and matrix models(56:46) Using string field theory(1:02:38) FZZT and ZZ branes(1:05:28) 2D and 10D string theories(1:07:40) Building collaborations(1:09:43) Problem solving and writing papers (undergrad vs. grad)(1:23:19) (People's question) JEE to Ph.D(1:25:09) (People's question) Current state of string theory(1:26:41) (People's question) Avoid distractions(1:28:30) (People's question) Choosing Ph.D. position(1:31:01) (People's question) Lack of motivation(1:32:14) (People's question) Switching to industry(1:35:05) (People's question) Advice for grad students(1:38:00) (People's question) Ups and downs(1:39:18) (People's question) Most difficult textbook(1:40:38) (People's question) Core courses(1:43:30) (People's question) Social media addiction(1:47:11) (People's question) Internation Physics Olympiad(1:49:04) (People's question) Pressure for engineering(1:52:03) (People's question) Approaching researchers(1:53:22) (People's question) No of papers vs. reference letters

*Description*Dr. John Baez is a theoretical physicist and mathematician, previously at UC Riverside and now at the University of Edinburgh, who works on Quantum Gravity, Network Theory, and higher categories. The list of his works is linked below.*Some links*1) Dr. Baez's works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/10176892) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/*Contact Info*My website: hassaansaleem.comFollow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1XFollow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHYEmail Queries: [email protected]*Time stamps*(0:00) Coming up(1:23) Intro of the guest(1:42) His current projects(6:25) Octonions(15:44) Octonions and quantum logic(21:49) Knot theory(28:53) Other Knot invriants(31:04) His categorification program(45:51) Categories and Russell's program(53:45) Future directions for the program(1:01:56) Generalized symmetries(1:06:23) Topos theory(1:12:54) Network theory(1:19:32) OPen networks and compositionality(1:29:07) This Week's findings in Mathematical Physics(1:33:41) The crackpot index(1:42:00) New entry in the crackpot index(1:43:15) AI and future of physics(1:50:01) Advent of Computers vs advent of AI(1:56:02) Sphere packing and practical applications(1:58:14) Unsolved problems in physics(2:05:16) Mathematical rigor of QFT(2:11:28) Dealing with failure in research(2:18:10) (People's question) Beauty as a guide(2:20:25) (People's question) Undergrad math(2:22:23) (People's question) Retaining knowledge(2:25:23) (People's question) "Foolish" idea that was good(2:27:18) (People's question) Moving sofa problem(2:29:31) (People's question) Unsolved problems in maths

DescriptionDr. Manki Kim is a theoretical physicist, working on String Perturbation, String Compactifications, and String Field Theory. The list of his publications can be found below.Some links1) Dr. Kim's works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/14230212) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/Contact InfoMy website: hassaansaleem.comFollow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1XFollow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHYEmail Queries: [email protected]Time stamps(0:00) Coming Up(1:33) Intro of the guest(1:51) His current projects(3:33) Changing cosmological constant(7:51) His interest in physics(15:53) His work on small cosmological constants(37:15) The second step of KKLT(40:58) Scale separation(44:29) Why string field theory isn't used a lot?(50:03) What is string field theory (SFT)?(55:24) Calabi Yau metric and Machine Learning(1:01:07) Non-perturbation definition of string theory(1:06:34) Collaborations in Ph.D.(1:10:53) Choosing a problem to work on(1:13:10) CV of failure(1:18:24) (People's question) Feeling stuck(1:20:16) (People's question) Dark matter candidates(1:22:13) (People's question) Advisor or university?(1:25:49) (People's question) SFT and String perturbation(1:27:14) (People's question) KKLT and Vafa's criticism(1:38:17) (People's question) Doing string theory in 2025