Cumrun Vafa: Puzzles to Unravel the Universe (2020)

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Brian Keating

Science, Physics, Natural Sciences

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 October 2024

⏱️ 68 minutes

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Summary

Is string theory actually science? Many argue that string theory cannot be proven and should therefore be abandoned. For them, string theory is not science at all. But are they right? I had the pleasure of discussing this with none other than Cumrun Vafa! Cumrun is a Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the Department of Physics at Harvard University, where he has been researching and teaching theoretical physics since 1985. His primary area of research is string theory. In our interview, we discussed whether we should trust string theory, fine-tuning, and the message he'd put into a billion-year time capsule. We also talked about his book Puzzles to Unravel the Universe. Tune in to learn about string theory! Key Takeaways: 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:20 Judging a book by its cover 00:03:35 What is a puzzle versus a mystery? 00:06:06 Black hole entropy 00:08:12 Godel's Theorem: Are some puzzles not solvable? 00:12:04 Is string theory actually science? 00:17:15 Dimensional analysis 00:21:15 Singularities 00:28:31 ADS and 5 dimensions 00:30:48 String theory 00:34:49 Supersymmetry 00:40:22 On religion 00:52:45 A scorecard for physics 00:55:21 What would your "ethical will" be? 01:02:50 What have you accomplished that once seemed impossible? 01:06:30 Outro Additional resources: ➡️ Learn more about Cumrun Vafa: 📚 Puzzles to Unravel the Universe: https://a.co/d/iWnNDup 💻 Cumrun’s website: https://www.cumrunvafa.org/ ➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms: ✖️ Twitter: https://x.com/DrBrianKeating 🔔 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 📝 Join my mailing list: https://briankeating.com/list ✍️ Check out my blog: https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/ 🎙️ Follow my podcast: https://briankeating.com/podcast ✨ Member's only playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=UUMOmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known. Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	There's one thing to have a constructive criticism of a theory, but to say, oh no, this is bad, this is bad, and so forth without any given alternative.
0:06.8	I think it's just disservice to science.
0:09.4	And to be frankly, frankly, it's just get publicity for the sake of publicity to try to say something and to me controversial statement just to attract attention I think is unfortunate. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
0:27.0	Open the pod bay doors.
0:33.0	Welcome everybody to this edition of the Into the Impossible Podcast.
0:37.0	I am your fearful host, Brian Keating, and today it is a great pleasure, a treat, in fact treat for me to welcome none other than
0:44.8	come run Vafa of Harvard University how are you come run? Thank you very much
0:49.7	Brian for having me your program it's's a great pleasure. I'm fine and looking forward to our
0:55.4	discussions. Yes, I've been just devouring your book, which we're going to talk a lot about
1:00.7	today, Puzzle to Unravel unravel the universe and I've been fascinated with
1:05.7	puzzles my whole life and mostly my inability to solve them but you are noted
1:11.0	for having made tremendous contributions to the world of theoretical physics.
1:15.6	And this is your first popular science book as I understand it.
1:19.4	And I always like to say there's a piece of advice that you never should judge a book by its cover.
1:25.5	But on this book, not only do you have a very mysterious and puzzling imagery, but you also have endorsements in Komea
1:34.9	from none other than Edward Witton,
1:37.3	who I've tried to get on the show unsuccessfully,
1:39.5	but I'll talk to you about that later.
1:41.8	And also Brian Green another Brian, actually my kid's favorite Brian
1:46.5	in astrophysics.
1:48.0	But I want to ask you, how did you come up
1:49.8	with the name of the book, Puzzle to Unravel the Universe, and how did you come up with the
	...

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