Claudia de Rham: The Theory of Gravity That Shouldn't Exist

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Curt Jaimungal

Physics, Philosophy, Society & Culture, Science

4.6 • 606 Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2025

⏱️ 124 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Claudia de Rham argues that gravity has mass, challenging core assumptions of general relativity. The conversation also explores implications for cosmology, quantum gravity, and the foundations of physics.- 00:00 - Introduction- 01:20 - Claudia's Approach- 09:11 - Claudia's Motivation- 14:45 - Dark Energy- 23:35 - Causality- 27:19 - Other Approaches- 45:10 - New Physics- 50:47 - Dark Energy (cont)- 57:36 - Quantum Gravity / String Theory- 01:14:10 - Gravitons & Photons- 01:21:44 - Symmetry- 01:30:25 - Double Slit Experiment- 01:50:15 - Cosmology- 01:54:45 - Massive Graviton- 02:00:10 - ConclusionSPONSORS:- ver.so: Use code TOE for 15% off - https://ver.so- I personally subscribe to The Economist. TOE listeners get 35% off the annual subscription. No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE- Patreon: Support TOE - https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal- Substack: Curt Jaimungal personal writings - https://curtjaimungal.substack.com- Spotify: Listen on Spotify - https://tinyurl.com/SpotifyTOE- YouTube Membership: Early access videos - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt- Discord: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqsRESOURCES:- The Beauty of Falling (Claudia's book): https://amzn.to/4i4Z9cx- Claudia's published papers: https://profiles.imperial.ac.uk/c.de-rham/publications- Claudia's first appearance on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve_Mpd6dGv8&t=83s&ab_channel=CurtJaimungal- Carlo Rovelli on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF4SAketEHY- Curt's Substack article on energy: https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/p/what-is-energy-actually- Neil Turok on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUp9x44N3uE- Tim Palmer on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlklA6jsS8A- DESI article on The Economist: https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2024/06/19/the-dominant-model-of-the-universe-is-creaking- String Theory Iceberg on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4PdPnQuwjY- Leonard Susskind on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p_Hlm6aCok- Chiara Marletto and Vlatko Vedral on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uey_mUy1vN0- TOE's telling of "The Dark History of Anti-Gravity": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBA3RUxkZdc- Positive Signs in Massive Gravity (paper): https://arxiv.org/pdf/1601.04068 Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	When I was doing my PhD, I had just bought into all of these theorems.
0:03.9	They were written by very famous people, but we realized that we were able to violate these
0:10.0	NERGO theorems.
0:11.2	General relativity can't be the final answer.
0:16.0	What if gravity itself has mass?
0:19.1	This seemingly simple question challenges decades of foundational
0:23.5	physics. In this second conversation with Professor Claudia Duram of Imperial College London,
0:29.2	we venture even deeper into her revolutionary theory. Derham didn't set out to overturn any
0:34.7	established physics. She was searching for an explanation for the cosmos's accelerating expansion.
0:40.3	However, in doing so, she discovered that the impossible may indeed be possible.
0:46.3	Gravity itself may have mass.
0:49.3	This is known as massive gravity.
0:51.3	This potentially solves the so-called cosmological constant problem that has puzzled
0:56.0	physicists for nearly a century. As we explore the implications of this massive gravity, we talk about,
1:01.7	well, what does that even mean? We'll also discover how symmetries emerge from chaos,
1:06.9	why energy may be a concept that we need to abandon in dynamically curved space-time,
1:11.6	and what recent cosmic observations tell us about the fate of our universe.
1:16.6	Tell me about a time where there was some established physics theorem, and you found a way around it.
1:23.6	What was that theorem or folklore or concept and how?
1:26.6	How did you find a way to circumvent it?
1:29.1	So one thing I've done is related to a no-go theorem related to massive gravity.
1:36.3	So maybe I need to unfold this a little bit what massive gravity is and what the no-go theorem is.
	...

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