Physics Frontiers

By Jim Rantschler

What's Physics Frontiers about?

Jim Rantschler and Randy Morrison discuss physics from elementary particles to cosmological effects at the limits of our theoretical knowledge or have recently emerged.

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Physics Frontiers episodes:

03.31.2024
Episode 77: Maxwellian Ratchets with Alex Jurgens
Jim talks with Alex Jurgens about Maxwellian ratchets, automata that are similar to Maxwell's Demon. They talk about their implications for information processing and entropy.http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/77
01.29.2024
Episode 76: Undeciability and Theories of Everything with Claus Kiefer
Jim talks with Claus Kiefer about the implications of Goedel's incompleteness theorems on the search for the theory.Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/76
08.20.2023
Episode 75: Categorical Probability and the Measurement Problem
Jim talks with Nick Ormrod and V. Vilasini about their use of categorical probability theory to analyze the measurement problem. We discuss categorical probability theory, which allows them to abstract from particular mathematical formulations of quantum mechanics to more general...
07.09.2023
Episode 74: Stochastic Thermodynamics with David Wolpert
Jim talks with David Wolpert about the non-equilibrium behavior of computation, what it means for entropy, and how it relates to traditional thermodynamics.Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/74
06.18.2023
Episode 73: Quantum Money with Jiahui Liu
Jim discusses quantum money with Jiahui Liu. Quantum money is a linchpin of quantum cryptography. The ability to create secure banknotes using quantum computers would allow even more secure methods of encryption for communications.
04.23.2023
Episode 72: Born Rule and Gravity with Antony Valentini
Jim talks with Antony Valentini about the difficulties of interpretation of quantum mechanics in light of quantum gravity. In particular, Antony discusses the failure of the Born Rule due to the impossibility of normalization (the fact that probabilities must sum...
02.19.2023
Episode 71: Primordial Graviton Background
Jim talks with Sunny Vagnozzi about using the Primoridial Graviton Background to rule out all inflation models. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/71
12.18.2022
Episode 70: Path Integrals and Entanglement with Ken Wharton
Jim talks with Ken Wharton about how to describe entangled states as sums over histories of particle paths using the path integral method. He shows how this works for Bell-type experiments, entanglements swapping, delayed choice experiments, and the triangle network. ...
11.20.2022
Episode 69: The Flavor Puzzle with Joe Davighi
Jim talks with Joe Davighi of the University of Zurich about the flavor unification at high energies - the merging of all leptons into one kind of particle. The discussion includes symmetries in particle physics, symmetry breaking at low temperatures,...
09.26.2022
Episode 68: Quantum Resource Theories with Gilad Gour
Jim talks with Gilad Gour of the University of Toronto about quantum resource theories. These are theories of largish systems that describe the relationships between possible states by the different levels of resources required for each. By using resources, a...
08.14.2022
Episode 67: Optical Gravity with Matthew R. Edwards
Jim talks with Matthew R. Edwards about his theory of Optical Gravity. This is a Le Sage model of gravity based on graviton filiments.Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/67
06.26.2022
Episode 66: The Limit of General Relativity with James Owen Weatherall
Jim talks with James Owen Weatherall about his work on viewing general relativity as an effective field theory and where it should give way to another theory. General relativity does a very good job of describing the world we see...
05.22.2022
Episode 65: Causality, Time and the Experiment Paradox with Michal Eckstein
Jim talks with Michal Eckstein of the Copernicus Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies about how two different kinds of ordering, chronological and causal, give rise to a robust idea of time. Additionally, we discuss the Experiment Paradox, a generalization of other...
04.24.2022
Episode 64: Born's Rule with Blake Stacey
Jim talks with Blake Stacey about recent attempts to replace Born's rule. Born's rule is the principle used in quantum mechanics that associates quantum states to the probability of measurement. There has been a recent interest in Quantum Foundations to...
03.20.2022
Episode 63: Gleason's Theorem with Blake Stacey
Jim talks with Blake Stacey about Gleason's Theorem, a foundational topic in the foundations of quantum mechanics. Gleason's theorem gives us a set of characteristic states for a measurement and the probability rule associated measuring them. This is the first...
02.13.2022
Episode 62: Deformed Special Relativity
Jim and Randy talk about how special relativity might be amended to incorporate a minimum length scale. Such scales are common in quantum gravity theories, and in the limit where both QM and GR are less important, QG should induce...
10.31.2021
Episode 61: Dark Stars
Jim and Randy talk about alternatives to black holes without event horizons or singularities.Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/61
09.12.2021
Episode 60: Warp Bubbles
Randy tells Jim about developments of metrics describing isolated spacetime bubbles that could, possibly, move faster than light.Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/60
07.05.2021
Episode 59: The Hubble Crisis
Randy and Jim discuss the current tension between measurements of the Hubble constant by different methods, and some attempts to resolve the issue.Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/59
06.06.2021
Episode 58: Phantom Matter
Jim and Randy talk about the Higgs portal to dark matter and the nightmare scenario for particle physicists: what if the LHC never saw any traces of supersymmetric particles? Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/58
05.02.2021
Episode 57: Quantum Effects in Gravitational Waves
Randy and Jim talk about two proposals to use gravitational wave interferometry to show that gravitons exist through noise measurements. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/57
04.01.2021
Episode 56: Anomalous Magnetic Moment of the Muon
Jim and Randy discuss the measurements of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon and some of the ways in which the discrepancy between theory and experiment could manifest themselves in new physics. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/56
12.07.2020
Episode 55: Multiversality
Jim and Randy discuss the rationales for multiverses based on quantum mechanics, string theory, and the anthropic principle. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/55
10.18.2020
Episode 54: The ANITA Experiment
Randy and Jim talk about the strange results of the ANITA experiment: tau neutrinos that seem to come up out of the Earth. Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/54
08.17.2020
Electromagnetic Gravitational Repulsion
Randy tells Jim about ways in which electromagnetism reduces the gravitational attraction caused by a body.
07.08.2020
Sterile Neutrinos
Jim and Randy discuss the hypothesis of sterile neutrinos, neutrinos that are even more ghostly than neutrinos that are dark matter candidates.
06.10.2020
Gravitational Wave Astronomy
Jim and Randy talk about gravitational waves.
05.03.2020
X17
Jim and Randy discuss a possible "fifth force," the hypothetical X17 particle that has been seen in several experiments. Erratum: The g-2 of the muon was shown to be off by 1 part in 500,000 in 2001 at Brookhaven....
04.04.2020
The Unruh Effect
Jim and Randy discuss the apparent creation of quanta seen by comparing the viewpoints of relatively accelerating observers -- the Unruh Effect. (There is a little noise that shows up on Randy's track half way through - I did my...
01.19.2020
The Gertsenshtein Effect
Randy introduces Jim to the Gertsenshtein effect, the conversion of gravitational waves to electromagnetic waves through resonances. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/48
11.24.2019
Bimetric Gravity
Randy introduces Jim to Sabine Hossenfelder's bimetric theory of gravity. In this gravitational theory, there are two types of matter whose only interaction is through gravitation. However, each one reacts to space-time differently, resulting in different metric tensors...
09.22.2019
Wigner's Friend
Randy and Jim discuss experiments that purport to show that there is no such thing as objective reality. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/46
08.16.2019
Loop Quantum Gravity
Jim and Randy discuss loop quantum gravity, and integration of quantum mechanics and gravity that quantizes space-time itself through the use of uncertain quanta of volumes and the random connections between them.
07.16.2019
Spooky Action at a Distance
Jim and Randy discuss experiments that put a minimum superluminal speed of communication between parts of a wavefunction. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/44
06.06.2019
The Positive Energy Theorem
Randy introduces Jim to a refutation of the positive energy theorem in a universe with a cosmological constant. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/43
05.04.2019
Entropic Gravity
Jim and Randy discuss Eric Verlinde's theory thermodynamic theory of gravity. This theory purports to explain gravitational attraction and inertia through statistical mechanics. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/42
02.24.2019
The Chameleon Field
Randy and Jim discuss the chameleon field -- a way to model dark energy with a scalar boson of varying strength. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/41
12.23.2018
The Octonions
Randy tells Jim about a way to use an extension of an extension of the complex numbers to reveal the nature of elementary particles. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/40
12.09.2018
Negative Effective Mass
Randy tells Jim about experiments with Neutrons and Photons in materials that exhibit negative effective mass. Not only do these effects show that the inertial mass of quasiparticles in a material can become negative, they show that these negative...
11.25.2018
The Dimensionality of Space-Time
Jim discusses why the world we observe is 4-dimensional with Randy. We discuss anthropic and fundamental reasons why we need 3 dimensions and no more than one time dimension for reasons of complexity, predictability and stability. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/38
10.30.2018
The Einstein-Cartan Torsion Field Theory
Randy explains to Jim theories on how to incorporate a native angular momentum into general relativity. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/37
10.15.2018
The Metamaterial Stress Tensor
Randy tells Jim about recent results in the description of the electromagnetic stress tensor in metamaterials. In particular, we discuss the efforts to computationally model the stress tensor in amorphous metamaterials. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/36
09.22.2018
The String Theory Landscape
Jim and Randy explore the landscape of string theory in the anthropic manner put forward by Leonard Susskind. Show Notes: http:frontiers.physicsfm.com/35
08.10.2018
CPT Symmetry and Gravitation
CPT Symmetry is a fundamental symmetry in the standard model. Jim and Randy discuss what happens when it is applied to general relativity. Show Notes: frontiers.physicsfm.com/34 [Really sorry for the muted tracks on the first upload. The problem has been...
07.25.2018
Retrocausality
Jim and Randy look at how quantum mechanics is affected by time. Most importantly, what happens when temporal boundary conditions are used to create standing waves in the wave function of a particle? Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/33
07.07.2018
Tunneling Time
Jim talks to Randy about the amount of time it takes for an electron to tunnel through a forbidden region of space. Astoundingly, how quickly this happens has been a subject of debate for eighty years and is still unresolved. Show...
06.08.2018
Post-Newtonian Gravitation
Jim discusses the Parameterized Post-Newtonian formalism with Randy. The PPN framework is a general, linearized metric theory of gravity that can simulate all metric theories of gravity and compare them to solar system sized experiments. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/31
05.24.2018
The Consistent Histories Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
Jim and Randy discuss the consistent histories interpretation of quantum mechanics. The brainchild of Robert Griffiths and with a surprisingly strong set of supporters, Consistent Histories seems to be a strong, logical description of what happens in the quantum world. Show...
05.16.2018
Gravitational Alternatives to Dark Energy
Jim and Randy discuss how modifications to general relativity can be used to mimic the effects of dark energy. They discuss various forms of gravitational theory that can do the job, as well as the field particles that mediate...
04.25.2018
The Quantum Vacuum and the Casimir Effect
Jim and Randy review two very convincing papers that make the claim that the Casimir effect is due to materials fluctuations and not the zero point energy. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/28

What's Physics Frontiers about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Physics Frontiers episodes:

Episode 77: Maxwellian Ratchets with Alex Jurgens

Episode 76: Undeciability and Theories of Everything with Claus Kiefer

Episode 75: Categorical Probability and the Measurement Problem

Episode 74: Stochastic Thermodynamics with David Wolpert

Episode 73: Quantum Money with Jiahui Liu

Episode 72: Born Rule and Gravity with Antony Valentini

Episode 71: Primordial Graviton Background

Episode 70: Path Integrals and Entanglement with Ken Wharton

Episode 69: The Flavor Puzzle with Joe Davighi

Episode 68: Quantum Resource Theories with Gilad Gour

Episode 67: Optical Gravity with Matthew R. Edwards

Episode 66: The Limit of General Relativity with James Owen Weatherall

Episode 65: Causality, Time and the Experiment Paradox with Michal Eckstein

Episode 64: Born's Rule with Blake Stacey

Episode 63: Gleason's Theorem with Blake Stacey

Episode 62: Deformed Special Relativity

Episode 61: Dark Stars

Episode 60: Warp Bubbles

Episode 59: The Hubble Crisis

Episode 58: Phantom Matter

Episode 57: Quantum Effects in Gravitational Waves

Episode 56: Anomalous Magnetic Moment of the Muon

Episode 55: Multiversality

Episode 54: The ANITA Experiment

Electromagnetic Gravitational Repulsion

Sterile Neutrinos

Gravitational Wave Astronomy

X17

The Unruh Effect

The Gertsenshtein Effect

Bimetric Gravity

Wigner's Friend

Loop Quantum Gravity

Spooky Action at a Distance

The Positive Energy Theorem

Entropic Gravity

The Chameleon Field

The Octonions

Negative Effective Mass

The Dimensionality of Space-Time

The Einstein-Cartan Torsion Field Theory

The Metamaterial Stress Tensor

The String Theory Landscape

CPT Symmetry and Gravitation

Retrocausality

Tunneling Time

Post-Newtonian Gravitation

The Consistent Histories Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

Gravitational Alternatives to Dark Energy

The Quantum Vacuum and the Casimir Effect