Dror Bar-Natan: What Knots Reveal About Quantum Field Theory

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Curt Jaimungal

Philosophy, Science, Physics, Society & Culture

4.6 • 607 Ratings

🗓️ 8 September 2021

⏱️ 169 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I personally subscribe to The Economist. TOE listeners get 35% off the annual subscription. No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE Dror Bar‑Natan on the deep connections between knot theory and quantum field theory, insights from Ed Witten and Eric Weinstein, and reflections on mathematical research, teaching, and creativity.0:00 Introduction3:29 Quantum Field Theory and Knot Theory10:19 Another QFT / Knot Theory connection20:46 Knot Theory and Gravity + Bar‑Natan's PhD on Chern‑Simons24:08 Homology and Cohomology32:54 Dror's average day / routines / laziness35:23 What is "work" for a Professor?36:50 All the research is to support teaching41:34 Motivated examples missing in math teaching47:35 More creative when younger or older?48:43 Being "systematic" with learning and research50:37 Rant against theorems and proofs54:51 What understanding a mathematical concept looks like1:03:35 On laziness, strengths, weaknesses in math1:07:47 Advice for the struggling mathematician1:09:30 What Dror learned from Ed Witten1:12:12 On Eric Weinstein1:19:32 Knot Theory and Physics (again)1:20:10 Why can't 2/3D physics extend to 4 easily?1:34:21 Hard Problem of Consciousness1:35:54 Problems Dror thinks about daily1:37:49 Direction for mathematics research1:40:26 Philosophy of math (ultra‑finitism)1:44:45 Pure math in service to applied math1:47:14 How to learn a new field of math1:47:15 Unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics1:48:28 On IQ1:51:06 Biology / psychology / philosophy1:54:03 What led him into math? Can anyone learn advanced math?2:03:52 New research institutions outside academia?2:06:04 Bias in academia2:10:15 Who's a mathematician and who's not?2:14:31 Knot theory and protein folding?2:19:49 Is math a human construct?2:22:50 Does he believe in god?5:19:49 Ramanujan and his Goddess2:23:47 Story about Curt and the Prisoner's Dilemma2:30:27 Bible Code and applying advanced math2:37:26 Why does it take 360 pages to "prove" 1+1=2?SPONSORS:RESOURCES:- YouTube link: https://youtu.be/rJz_Badd43c- Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal- Crypto: https://nowpayments.io/donation/TOE- PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/paypalTOE- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt- Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802- Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e- Subreddit r/TheoriesOfEverything: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverything- PDF link of notes: https://tinyurl.com/4u4ru2yh- Better Left Unsaid documentary: http://betterleftunsaidfilm.com 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. FOLLOW: Substack | Spotify | YouTube | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought you by Shopify. With Shopify, 2026 is the year you make it happen. It gives you the tools to build your dream store, online and in person. Plus with marketing built in, it'll help you reach exactly who you need to. Join the millions who've already made the leap, like Jim Shark and all birds, and ring in the new year with Shopify.
0:23.4	Sign up for your £1 per month trial at shopify.com.uk.
0:27.7	combe.
0:30.1	Dror Barnatin is a professor of pure mathematics at the University of Toronto, previously
0:35.3	specializing in knot theory, and more recently specializing
0:38.5	in finite type invariance and Kavanaugh homology. We touch on quantum field theory's
0:43.1	connection to not theory, how to learn mathematics in general. We also touch on Ed Witten as
0:48.5	Drawer Barnettin's advisor for his PhD was Ed Witten, and Jor gives some anecdotes about Eric Weinstein, as while Eric
0:55.8	was pursuing his PhD, Dror served as an informal advisor to Eric at Harvard. Professor Barnatton
1:01.9	taught a course in linear algebra that I took while I was at the University of Toronto,
1:06.1	although I was a terrible student and I regret that I skipped the majority of his classes
1:10.8	because he had an
1:11.7	exceedingly intuitive approach. For example, there are vector space axioms, can I adieu,
1:17.0	and they seem extremely disconnected from any reason or motivation. So what the professor would do
1:21.4	would be before introducing a particular abstraction, he would say, imagine seven times a vector
1:26.2	instead of imagine a times a vector,
1:28.2	and then generalize it, which gave the abstraction some concreteness. For those new to this channel,
1:33.1	my name is Kurt Jymungle. I'm a filmmaker with a background in math and physics, dedicated to
1:38.4	explicating what are called theories of everything, from a mathematical physics perspective,
1:42.9	but also the possible connections consciousness has to the fundamental laws of nature, from a mathematical physics perspective, but also the possible connections
1:44.6	consciousness has to the fundamental laws of nature, provided these laws exist at all and are
1:49.5	knowable to us. This particular podcast isn't one to be listened to, or at least you can, but
	...

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