Sunday, October 26, 2025

Do Aliens Speak Physics with Daniel Whiteson

I will be unable to provide more detailed links for a few days: Whiteson, Daniel, Do Aliens Speak Phyiscs?. Norton (2025).[Amazon] Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Unvierse I was having some problems with Audacity, and I don't think they showed up here, but if you're listening and you hear me cussing out the computer, please let me know with a time stamp.

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Quantum Random Access Memory with Koustubh Phalak

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Recorded: 2025/01/08 Released: 2025/09/30

Jim talks with Koustubh Phalak about quantum random access memory (QRAM), a proposed technology that would allow the storage of quantum states in qunatum computation. Koustubh discusses quantum computing, the need for QRAM, proposed implementations of QRAM, and some of the difficulties in its implementation. ------------------------------------------- Notes: 1. The articles that we discussed for this program:
  • Phalak, K., A. Chatterjee, S. Ghosh, "Quantum Random Access Memory for Dummies." Sensors 23(17), 7462 (2023) [arXiv]

2. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
3. Please visit and comment on our subreddit, YouTube Channel, or Twitter account. These are also places to look for announcements of new episodes and the like. And if you could help us keep this going by contributing to our Patreon, we'd be grateful.
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Sunday, February 9, 2025

Pixelated Space Time with Philip Tee

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Recorded: 2024/12/19 Released: 2025/02/09

Jim talks with Philip Tee about the effects of having a pixelated space time. Phil uses doubly special relativity and quantum feild theory to explore models for spacetimes that are fundmentally discrete. Here he looks for tangible results in light bending and the Casimir effect.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. The articles that we discussed for this program:
2. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
3. Books mentioned in this podcast: 5. Please visit and comment on our subreddit, YouTube Channel, or Twitter account. These are also places to look for announcements of new episodes and the like. And if you could help us keep this going by contributing to our Patreon, we'd be grateful.
← Previous ( Quantum Machine Learning ) ( Decoherent Histories & Many Worlds ) Next →

Sunday, December 29, 2024

Emergent Decoherent Histories with Philipp Strasberg

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Recorded: 2024/03/19 Released: 2024/12/29

Jim talks with Philipp Strasberg
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. The articles that we discussed for this program:
2. Other papers and articles mentioned in the podcast:
  • Everett III, H., The Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. Princeton University (1956) [ Free ]
3. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
4. Related Episodes of Quantum Paradoxes:
5. Books mentioned in this podcast:
  • Bell, J., The Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics.
  • Subsbury, Quantum Mechanics and the Particles of Nature.
5. Please visit and comment on our subreddit, YouTube Channel, or Twitter account. These are also places to look for announcements of new episodes and the like. And if you could help us keep this going by contributing to our Patreon, we'd be grateful.
← Previous ( Quantum Machine Learning ) ( Decoherent Histories & Many Worlds ) Next →

Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Primordial Black Holes with Elba Alonso-Monsalve and David Kaiser

← Previous ( Quantum Machine Learning ) ( Decoherent Histories & Many Worlds ) Next →


Recorded: 2024/07/03 Released: 2024/09/03

Jim talks with Elba Alonso-Monsalve and David Kaiser about the prospects of a class of primordial black holes as a candidate for dark matter. These tiny black holes form just after the inflationary epoch when it is possible for them to form from inhomogeneities wihtout a prior history as a star. Black holes forming during this time time-frame would not have to be color neutral as baryons and mesons are.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. The articles that we discussed for this program:
2. Other papers and articles mentioned in the podcast: 3.Dave's webpage at MIT. 4. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
5. Please visit and comment on our subreddit, YouTube Channel, or Twitter account. These are also places to look for announcements of new episodes and the like. And if you could help us keep this going by contributing to our Patreon, we'd be grateful.
← Previous ( Quantum Machine Learning ) ( Decoherent Histories & Many Worlds ) Next →

Friday, May 31, 2024

Quantum Machine Learning with Bruna Shinohara

← Previous ( Maxwellian Ratchets ) ( Decoherent Histories & Many Worlds ) Next →

Recorded: 2024/02/16 Released: 2024/05/31

Jim talks with Bruna Shinohara about quantum machine learning.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. The article that we discussed in this program:
2. Other papers and articles mentioned in the podcast:
  • Aaronson, Scott, "Read the Fine Print." Nature Physics 11 211 (2015). [ Free
  • I'll ask Bruna to send me a link to the large QML article she talked about in the podcast.
/ 3. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
4. Please visit and comment on our subreddit, YouTube Channel, or Twitter account. These are also places to look for announcements of new episodes and the like. And if you could help us keep this going by contributing to our Patreon, we'd be grateful.
← Previous ( Maxwellian Ratchets ) ( Decoherent Histories & Many Worlds ) Next →

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Maxwellian Ratchets with Alex Jurgens

← Previous ( Undecidability & TOES ) (Qunatum Machine Learning ) Next →

Recorded: 2023/12/18 Released: 2024/03/31

Jim talks with Alex Jurgens of INRIA about Maxwellian Ratchets. These are abstract machines that react to outside stimuli, These are highly specified theoretical realizations of Maxwell's Demon, who flaunts the second law of thermodynamics. Jurgens discusses these in terms of entropy, information processessing, and the second law.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. The article that we discussed in this program:
2. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
3. Books mentioned:

Sunday, January 28, 2024

Undecidability and Theories of Everything with Claus Kiefer

← Previous ( Measurement Problem ) ( Maxwellian Ratchets ) Next →

Recorded: 2023/08/07 Released: 2024/01/28

Jim talks with Claus Kiefer about his recent essay on the relationship between the Gödel's incompleteness theoerems and the possibility of developing a theory of everything. Incompleteness was originally developed to show that every axiomatic system that is sufficiently robust admits well-formed statements that have a liar's paradox-like structure - if you assume the statement is true, you can prove it's false, and vice-versa. This statement is then said to be undecidable. Undecidability also famously comes up in the halting problem of computer science and the continuum hypothesis. Professor Kiefer speculates here that theories of everything are similarly undecidable.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. The article that we discussed in this program:
  • Kiefer, Claus, "Gödel's undecidability theorems and the search for a theory of everything" (2023) [arXiv]
2. Other papers referred to in this podcast:
  • Cubitt, T.,D. Perez-Garcia and H.M. Wolf, "Undecidability of the Spectral Gap." Nature 528 207 (2015) [arXiv]
  • Goedel,, K., "On Formally Undecidable Propositions of Principia Mathematica and Related Systems." Monatshefte für Mathematik und Physik 38 173 (1931) [Free]
    • The Undecidable [Amazon], M. Davis, ed. Reprints Goedel's paper and other work from the 1930's. Dover book.
3. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
4. Books mentioned:
5. Please visit and comment on our subreddit, YouTube Channel, or Twitter account. These are also places to look for announcements of new episodes and the like. And if you could help us keep this going by contributing to our Patreon, we'd be grateful.
← Previous ( Measurement Problem ) ( Maxwellian Ratchets ) Next →

Sunday, August 20, 2023

The Measurement Problem with Nick Ormrod and V. Vilasini

← Previous ( Stochastic Thermodynamics ) ( Uncertainty & TOEs ) Next →

Recorded: 2023/07/17 Released: 2023/08/20

Jim talks with Nick Ormrod and V. Vilasini about their use of categorical probability theory to study the measurement problem of quantum mechanics. They use the CPT to analyze a no-go theorem to see where there are weaknesses in the underlying structure of quantum mechanics without referring to particular mathematical formualtions of the subject, allowing them to show that the measurement problem comes from difficulties in our understanding of the evolution of quantum states or the way we interpret measurements.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. The article that we discussed in this program:
  • Ormrod, N., V. Vilasini, and J. Barrett, "Which Theories Have a Measurement Problem?" (2023) [arXiv]
2. Other papers referred to in this podcast:
  • N. Ormrod and J. Barrett, "A No-Go Theorem for Absolute Observed Events Without Inequalities or Modal Logic." [arXiv]
  • V. Vilasini and M. P. Woods, "A General Framework for Consistent Logical Reasoning in Wigner's Friend Scenarios: Subjective Perspectives of Agents Within a Single Quantum Circuit." [arXiv]
  • Maudlin, T., "Three Measurement Problems." Topoi 14 7 (1995).
3. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
4. Please visit and comment on our subreddit, YouTube Channel, or Twitter account. These are also places to look for announcements of new episodes and the like. And if you could help us keep this going by contributing to our Patreon, we'd be grateful.
← Previous ( Stochastic Thermodynamics ) ( Uncertainty & TOEs ) Next →

Sunday, July 9, 2023

Stochastic Thermodynamics with David Wolpert

← Previous ( Quantum Money ) ( Meaurement Problem ) Next →

Recorded: 2023/05/10 Released: 2023/07/09

Jim talks with David Wolpert about the stochastic thermodynamics of compuation. The discussion focuses on recent developments in the relationship between non-equilibrium processes and information processing, having deep implications on how we view the world and how we apply statistical physics to biological, computational, and other systems.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. The articles that we discussed in this program:
2. Other papers referred to in this podcast:

Sunday, June 18, 2023

Quantum Money with Jiahui Liu

← Previous ( Born Rule and Gravity ) ( Stochastic Thermodynamics ) Next →

Recorded: 2023/03/28 Released: 2023/06/18

Jim talks with Jiahui Liu about quantum money. Quantum Money is a key milestone in quantum crytography -- not for the breaking of codes (e.g., Shor's algothrithm), but instead for using quantum computing to improve cryptography beyond what is possible in classical cryptography. The difficulty is, however, a fully satisfactory way to implement quantum money is not currently known. Jiahui discusses both how to show that a possible implementation doesn't work, and how she developed another scheme to implemet quantum money. She also discusses the history of quantum money and some of the things quantum crytographers can do once they have a reliable quantum money scheme.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. The articles that we discussed in this program:
2. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
3. Please visit and comment on our subreddit, YouTube Channel, or Twitter account. These are also places to look for announcements of new episodes and the like. And if you could help us keep this going by contributing to our Patreon, we'd be grateful.
← Previous ( Born Rule and Gravity ) ( Stochastic Thermodynamics ) Next →

Sunday, April 23, 2023

The Born Rule and Gravity with Antony Valentini

← Previous ( Graviton Background ) ( Quantum Money ) Next →

Recorded: 2023/03/03 Released: 2023/04/23

Jim talks with Antony Valentini about the status of the Born Rule in quantum gravity. In particular, it doesn't work. Since the wavefunction cannot be normalized in quantum gravity, there is no way to interpret Ψ as the knowledge of the observer about the quantum system. Instead, some realist interpretation of the wavefunction is required. In this regard, Jim and Anotony also discuss the de Broglie-Bohm interpretation in light of quantum gravity.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. The articles that we discussed in this program:
2. Some other articles mentioned in the podcast: 3. Books mentioned in the podcast:
  • Holland, P. R., The Quantum Theory of Motion: an Account of the de Broglie-Bohm Causal Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. Cambridge, 1993. [Amazon]
  • Anderson, E., The Problem of Time: Quantum Mechanics Versus General Relativity. Springer, 2017. [Amazon]
4. Antony's lectures mentioned in the discussion:
5. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
6. Please visit and comment on our subreddit, YouTube Channel, or Twitter account. These are also places to look for announcements of new episodes and the like. And if you could help us keep this going by contributing to our Patreon, we'd be grateful.
← Previous ( Graviton Background ) ( Quantum Money ) Next →

Sunday, February 19, 2023

The Primordial Graviton Background with Sunny Vagnozzi

← Previous ( Path Integrals ) ( Born Gravity ) Next →

Recorded: 2022/12/01 Released: 2023/2/19

Jim talks with Sunny Vagnozzi of the University of Trento about a way to disprove inflationary theories of cosmology. All of them. If we were able to see a Primordial Graviton Background, which is the graviational equivalent to the cosmic microwave background, then we would know that there was no inflation. The event that would create the graviton background would have to occur before cosmic inflation started, and inflation would smooth it out. And the background would disappear.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. The article that we discussed in this program:
2. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
3. Please visit and comment on our subreddit, YouTube Channel, or Twitter account. These are also places to look for announcements of new episodes and the like. And if you could help us keep this going by contributing to our Patreon, we'd be grateful.
← Previous ( Path Integrals ) ( Born Gravity ) Next →

Sunday, December 18, 2022

Path Integrals and Entanglement with Kenneth Wharton

← Previous ( Flavor Puzzle ) ( Inflation Falsification ) Next →



Recorded: 2022/11/08 Released: 2022/12/18

Jim talks with Ken Wharton of San Jose State University about how to apply path integrals to situations to entangled particles. Being an equivalent way to compute amplitudes for different experiments, when applied to various experiments, Bell-type correlations, entanglement swapping, delayed choice experiments, and the triangle network, the mathematics gives the same correlations. But, the interpretation of a path integral - a Lorentz covariant description based on local paths - is very different than that of a traditional wave function - a non-local description of the effects of measurements. This leads to a tension in how to interpret entanglement in the first place.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. The article that we discussed in this program:
2. Related papers that I read or Ken referred to in the podcast: 3. Books referred to in the program:
  • Feynman, R. QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter. [Amazon] A great, non-technical introduction to quantum electrodynamics, and therefore path integrals. As an undergraduate I found it an inspiring text, and when I ran a book club at Xavier for the physics students, we always had a good time when it came around.
  • Griffiths, R., Consistent Quantum Theory. [Amazon]. I have to confess that, although I bought a copy of this book after Randy and I did the episode on Consistent Histories, I have yet to read it.
  • Mattuck, R., A Guide to Feynman Diagrams in the Many-Body Problem. [Amazon] This has the pinball-game description the sum-over-histories approach - before getting into the deepest, darkest forest of constructing Green's functions for probability amplitudes. Since it's a Dover book, the first couple of chapters alone are worth the price. Like I said, the transition from the pinball game to the quantum pinball game was a little too much for me as an undergraduate, but after the recording podcast I've been working through it, and it's really not so difficult -- as long as you're up on your basic non-relativistic quantum mechanics. The reason why the it was called "Feynman Diagrams for Idiots" by graduate students and, looking at the preface to the second addition, much worse by reviewers (especially Russian reviewers) is that it has lots of cartoons scattered throughout the book. These are actually jewels, and are a third reason to pick up this book, either at the physics library or the bookstore, not a reason to avoid it.
  • Aharanov, A. and D. Rohrlich, Quantum Paradoxes: Quantum Theory for the Perplexed. [Amazon] Randy and I started our first podcast with this book. Partially because of that, I've read it three times, cover-to-cover. The Perimeter Institute gave a conference on the topic in 2016, "Concepts and Paradoxes in a Quantum Universe," which you can view either all contributions or just Aharonov's. I have all the talks on mp3 to play in the car (back when PIRSA allowed you to download the mp3's directly - I'm not bitter about the change [Yes I am]).
4. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
5. If you'd like to know more about Ken Wharton, I have some additional questions not about path integrals on YouTube. 5. Please visit and comment on our subreddit, YouTube Channel, or Twitter account. These are also places to look for announcements of new episodes and the like. And if you could help us keep this going by contributing to our Patreon, we'd be grateful.
← Previous ( Flavor Puzzle ) ( Inflation Falsification ) Next →

Sunday, November 20, 2022

Flavor Unification with Joe Davighi

← Previous ( Resource Theories ) ( Path Intgrals ) Next →



Recorded: 2022/08/23 Released: 2022/11/20

Jim talks with Joe Davighi about gauge flavor unification. Joe's work is on a set of gauge theories that unify the various generations of leptons at high energies. We discuss gauge symmetries, symmetry breaking, and so on, as well as some implications of his work including leptoquarks and proton stability.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. The article that we discussed in this program:
2. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
3. The book I mention, Georgi's Lie Algebras in Particle Physics [Amazon]. 4. If you'd like to know more about Joe Davighi, I have some additional questions not about flavor unification on YouTube. 5. Please visit and comment on our subreddit, YouTube Channel, or Twitter account. These are also places to look for announcements of new episodes and the like. And if you could help us keep this going by contributing to our Patreon, we'd be grateful.
← Previous ( Resource Theories ) ( Path Intgrals ) Next →

Sunday, September 25, 2022

Quantum Resource Theories with Gilad Gour

← Previous ( Optical Gravity ) ( Flavor Problem ) Next →



Recorded: 2022/08/04 Released: 2022/09/25

Jim talks to Gilad Gour about Qunatum Resource Theories and partially ordered dynamics.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. The article that we discussed in this program:
2. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
3. If you'd like to know more about Gilad Gour, I have some additional questions not about quantum resource theories on YouTube. You can also visit his faculty bio at The University of Calgary. It says he's looking for graduate students. 4. Please visit and comment on our subreddit, YouTube Channel, or Twitter account. These are also places to look for announcements of new episodes and the like. And if you could help us keep this going by contributing to our Patreon, we'd be grateful.
← Previous ( Optical Gravity ) ( Flavor Problem ) Next →

Sunday, August 14, 2022

Optical Gravity with Matthew R. Edwards

← Previous ( Limits of GR ) ( Quantum Resource Theoires ) Next →



Recorded: 2022/07/20 Released: 2022/08/14

Jim talks to Matthew R. Edwards about optical gravity. Matthew's theory of gravity is a Le Sage model, one that envisions space-time as a dispersive medium made of graviton filaments.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. The article that we discussed in this program:
2. Other articles mentioned in this program:
3. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
4. Books mentioned on the program:
  • Pushing Gravity: New perspectives on Le Sage's theory of gravitation, Matthew R. Edwards (ed.), Amazon
  • The Expanding Earth: Some Consequences of Dirac's Gravitation Hypothesis, Pasqual Jordan. Amazon
5. If you'd like to know more about Matthew Edwards, I have some additional questions not about optical gravity on YouTube. I ask him about his background, how he decides to research something, and his experiences in publishing. 6. Please visit and comment on our subreddit, YouTube Channel, or Twitter account. These are also places to look for announcements of new episodes and the like. And if you could help us keep this going by contributing to our Patreon, we'd be grateful.
← Previous ( Limits of GR ) ( Quantum Resource Theoires ) Next →

Sunday, June 26, 2022

Limit of General Relativity with James Owen Weatherall

← Previous ( Causality and Time ) ( Unknown ) Next →



Recorded: 2022/05/19 Released: 2022/06/26

Jim talks to James Owen Weatherall of the University of California, Irvine about the conditions in which general relativity is likely to break down and a new theory is likely to be required.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. The article that we discussed in this program:
  • Weatherall, J.O., "Where Does General Relativity Break Down?" (2022) [arXiv]
2. Other articles mentioned in this program:
3. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
4. An excerpt from this interview in which I talk with Jim about how philosophers of physics interact with physicists is on YouTube. 5. Please visit and comment on our subreddit, YouTube Channel, or Twitter account. These are also places to look for announcements of new episodes and the like. And if you could help us keep this going by contributing to our Patreon, we'd be grateful.
← Previous ( Causality and Time ) ( Unknown ) Next →


Sunday, May 22, 2022

Causality, Time and the Experiment Paradox

← Previous ( Born's Rule ) ( GR's Breakdown ) Next →



Recorded: 2022/03/21 Released: 2022/05/22

Jim talks to Michal Eckstein of the Coperincus Center for Interdisciplinary Studies on how two different ways to order events, that of chronology (this comes before that) and causality (this makes that happen) come together to define time. We then go on to discuss the Experiment Paradox, which pulls together a number of measurement paradoxes in physics.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. Michal Eckstein's articles we discussed in this program:
2. Michal Eckstein's articles that we discussed in this program:
  • Ehlers, J., F.A.E. Pirani, A. Schild, “The Geometry of Free Fall and Light Propagation [2012 Republication].” General Relativity: Papers in Honour of J. L. Synge, 63. (1972).
  • Linnemann, N. and J. Read, "Constructive Axiomatics in Spacetime Physics Part I: Walkthrough to the Ehlers-Pirani-Schild Axiomatisation" (2021). [arXiv]
  • Minguzzi, E. and M. Sanchez, "The Causal Heirarchy of Space Times." Recent Developments in Pseudo-Riemannian Geometry, 299 (2008). [arXiv]
3. Related Episodes of Physics Frontiers:
4. Please visit and comment on our subreddit, YouTube Channel, or Twitter account. These are also places to look for announcements of new episodes and the like. And if you could help us keep this going by contributing to our Patreon, we'd be grateful.
← Previous ( Born's Rule ) ( GR's Breakdown ) Next →

Sunday, April 24, 2022

Born's Rule

← Previous ( Gleason's Theorem ) ( Causality and Time ) Next →



Recorded: 2022/01/18 Released: 2022/04/24

Jim discusses Gleason's Theorem with Blake C. Stacey of the University of Massachuesetts - Boston. Gleason's Theorem is a theorem in the foundations of quantum mechanics that, for a system meets some simple requirements, you can find a set of valid staes and a rule for calculating probailities, a la the Born Rule. This is the first part of the interview, the next will be on Blake's discussion of how people are trying to reformulate the Born Rule.
------------------------------------------- Notes:

1. Papers we both read for this program:
2. This series: