Phymaths podcast

DescriptionDr. Daniel Litt is a mathematician at the University of Toronto, working on algebraic geometry, number theory, and Hodge theory. A list of his works is given below.Some links1) His works: https://www.daniellitt.com/publications-and-preprints/2) 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] stamps(0:00) Guest intro(0:18) His interest in math(01:17) Anabelian Geometry(3:47) Local systems(6:41) Differential equations(14:40) Monodromy representations(20:43) Math in the age of AI(34:22) His open problems(37:00) His probability puzzles(38:25) Choosing Ph.D. students(44:38) (People's question) Great mathematicians(46:37) (People's question) Natural language startup(48:11) (People's question) Unreaonable effecitveness(50:48) (People's question) Hodge conjecture(52:58) (People's question) Learning math as a student(54:11) (People's question) Unpublished results(57:23) (People's question) Community & research

DescriptionDr. John Schwarz is the Harold Brown Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus, at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He is one of the pioneers of superstring theory and played a central role in the first superstring revolution through his groundbreaking work with Michael Green. His research focuses on string theory, quantum gravity, and theoretical elementary particle physics. A list of his works is given below.Some links1) His works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/9895842) 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] stamps(0:00) Intro of the guest(0:19) Graduate days with Geoffrey Chew(1:47) Dual resonance models(5:34) Early days of string theory(16:27) His collaboration with Joel Scherk(23:18) Discovery of 11D supergravity(25:23) His collaboration with Michael Green(35:30) Physics Carabet anecdote(39:16) His work on dualities(42:47) His textbooks (GSW and BBS)(48:39) His relationship with Feynman(50:35) Selecting graduate students(51:37) (People's question) Building collaborations(54:21) (People's question) Working on your idea(55:52) (People's question) Dark dimension scenario(1:02:15) (People's question) Amplitudes program(1:02:50) (People's question) Favorite brane(1:03:03) (People's question) Pursuing strings today(1:06:40) (People's question) Underexplored subfield(1:07:38) (People's question) 1984 work reception(1:10:09) (People's question) Pure spinor formalism(1:11:20) (People's question) AI problem solving(1:15:09) (People's question) Worthy problem(1:15:47) (People's question) Aspen center, Colorado(1:17:13) (People's question) Weinberg and strings

DescriptionDr. Kristaps Balodis is a math postdoc at Carleton University, working on representation theory of finite groups and p-adic local Langlands. He also runs a YouTube channel, K-theory, that covers various topics in mathematics and hosts discussions with prominent mathematicians. His works are linked below.Some links1) His works: https://sites.google.com/view/kristapsjohnbalodis/publications?authuser=02) 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] stamps(0:00) Introduction of the guest(0:34) Langlands program(18:29) Geometric Langlands(21:30) KL hypothesis(45:56) p-adic version of the KL hypothesis(49:02) Langlands program and graph theory(53:42) Doing outreach(56:26) Explaining abstract topics(58:12) Coursework to research(1:04:13) Building collaborations(1:06:49) (People's question) Difficult math textbook(1:08:52) (People's question) Problems in Langlands program(1:11:01) (People's question) Learning representation theory(1:13:20) (People's question) Books on his to-read list(1:14:43) (People's question) LLMs solving math problems

DescriptionDr. Christian Ferko is a theoretical physicist at Northeastern University and IAIFI. He primarily works on sigma models and machine learning (especially on the correspondence between neural networks and QFTs). His work can be found at the link below.Some links1) His works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/18380252) 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] stamps(0:00) Intro of the guest(0:20) Neural Networks/QFT (NN/QFT) correspondence(1:54) Getting gauge theory(4:07) Adding spinors(6:45) RG scale in Neural Networks (NNs)(9:20) Activation functions(14:40) Other architectures(16:01) Adding interactions(18:05) Anomalies in NNs(23:50) T duality in NNs(30:16) Discrete θ angles in NNs(33:21) Entanglement in NNs(35:41) NNs and Holography(39:45) NNs and generalized symmetries(41:36) TTbar deformation(44:37) TTbar and supersymmetry(47:42) TTbar and Modmax theory(50:48) TTbar and holography(56:54) Outreach(1:05:50) Psychological aspects of research(1:12:00) Choosing problems(1:17:04) Building collaborations(1:24:20) Using AI for research(1:30:08) Choosing Ph.D. students(1:34:22) (People's question) Non-linearity in ML(1:37:43) (People's question) Is AI curious?(1:39:45) (People's questions) Practices for using AI

DescriptionPhil Halper is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a science communicator, well known for his YouTube channel (Skydivephil) featuring cosmology documentaries with prominent cosmologists and physicists.Dr. Niayesh Afshordi is a cosmologist at the University of Waterloo, with an associate faculty position at the Perimeter Institute. He works on black hole physics and quadratic gravity.Together, they have co-authored a book titled "Battle of the Big Bang," which compiles and discusses various cosmological theories.The link to their book and papers, and a list of Dr. Afshordi's works, is given belowSome links1) Their book: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo244963115.html2) Their Copenhagen survey: https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.157763) Their APS survey: https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.110584) Dr. Niayesh's works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/1023532?ui-citation-summary=true5) 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] stamps(0:00) Intro of the guests(0:25) Their book and Phil's series(5:56) Singularity theorems(22:11) Inflation(34:36) BGV theorem(45:41) Cosmic natural selection(1:04:34) Cyclic universe(1:17:05) Variable speed of light(1:29:47) More surveys?

DescriptionDr. Georges Obeid is a theoretical physicist at the University of Chicago who has worked on the dark dimension scenario, dark sector, and evolving dark energy models motivated by string theory. His list of works can be found below.Some links1) His works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/12466842) 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] stamps(0:00) Intro of the guest(0:16) Dark dimension scenario(05:18) Relevant data and tools(17:07) Phantom dark energy(22:29) Quintessence(25:25) deSitter conjecture(30:26) Clash between Inflation and swampland(34:02) Open problems in the dark dimension scenario(39:20) Coursework to research transition(43:40) Choosing problems to work on(45:10) Building collaborations(47:10) His interest in Physics(49:50) (People's question) Dark dimension and cosmological constant(52:41) (People's question) Talking to experimentalists(57:48) (People's question) Taking Ph.D students

DescriptionDr. Lara Anderson is a theoretical physicist at Virginia Tech and has worked on string compactifications of M theory and F theory, and model building in type II and heterotic theories. A list of her works can be found at the link below.Some links1) Her works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/1030318?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] stamps(0:00) Intro of the guest(0:15) Her work on compactifications(6:30) Algebraic Geometry(8:08) Swampland Program(11:24) Calabi-Yau manifolds(24:56) CICY manifolds(27:18) Intersecting branes(30:35) Science communication(38:31) Coursework to research transition(40:27) Difficult problems in postdocs(42:37) Getting stuck in research(44:01) Getting a PhD student(47:57) Choosing a problem to work on(51:42) Building collaborations(52:53) (People's question) F theory(54:15) (People's question) Moduli stabilization(55:11) (People's question) Career vs Job(56:40) (People's question) Homeschooling(59:40) (People's question) Interest in Physics(1:01:40) (People's question) Influential papers(1:03:33) (People's question) Virginia Tech

DescriptionDr. Tejinder Pal Singh is a theoretical physicist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Physics, working on the unification of interactions using trace dynamics and octonions. A list of his works is linked below.Some links1) His works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/988555?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/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHYEmail Queries: [email protected] stamps(0:00) Intro of the guest(0:16) His current projects(3:37) Octonions(13:57) Spacetime being classical(17:38) Structure of the Lagrangian and Connes time(22:50) Calculating path integral(33:21) Why octonions?(35:43) Role of SU(2)(39:57) Electroweak scale as QG scale?(46:17) Top quark problem(50:18) Fine structure constant(1:00:11) RG flow of Fine structure constant(1:02:45) (People's question) Advice for students(1:10:22) Anthropic reasoning(1:14:21) (People's question) AI's impact(1:17:29) (People's question) TIFR theory group(1:33:42) (People's question) Relativistic collapse models(1:38:45) (People's question) Thanu Padmanabhan(1:40:43) (People's question) John Baez's work

DescriptionDr. Aninda Sinha is a theoretical physicist at the Indian Institute of Science, working on S matrix bootstrap, string amplitudes, and conformal field theories, among other things. A list of his works is linked below.Some links1) His works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/1019630?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] stamps(0:00) Coming Up(0:21) Introduction of the guests(0:37) His current projects(3:13) His interest in Physics(4:28) c-theorem and a-theorem(11:54) g-theorem(12:54) Conformal bootstrap(17:46) Conformal bootstrap and holography(24:20) String amplitudes and π(33:12) Circuit complexity(41:52) Building collaborations(44:56) Choosing a research problem(46:24) Coursework to research transition(50:04) Taking a PhD student(51:24) (People's question) Thoughts on LLMs(54:25) (People's question) Bootstrap for extended operators(54:57) (People's question) Non-Physics courses at IISc(57:15) (People's question) Academic job market(1:04:30) (People's question) N-point scattering(1:06:20) (People's question) Bootstrap and positive geometry

DescriptionEran Palti is a theoretical physicist at Ben-Gurion University, working on the low-energy behavior of string theory, string compactifications, and the swampland program. The list of his works can be found below.Some links1) His works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/10293902) 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.comJoin the WhatsApp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1XFollow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHYFollow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/Email: [email protected] stamps(0:00) Coming Up(0:11) Introduction of the guest(0:28) His current projects(6:41) Swampland Program(10:47) Distance conjecture(16:12) Metric on moduli spaces(17:52) Metric on vacuua(26:30) AdS distance conjecture(33:17) Building metrics on AdS vacuua(45:32) DGKT's holographic dual(47:24) DeSitter conjecture(51:39) Challenges of writing a review(56:00) Conceptual vs. calculation-based research(1:02:03) His other interests(1:02:58) (People's question) Textbook on swampland(1:06:16) (People's question) First postdoc expectation(1:10:36) (People's question) Purpose of swampland(1:15:39) (People's question) Giving up on a problem(1:19:38) (People's question) Passion vs Profession