Urs Schreiber: How the Super Point Emerges from Pure Nothing

Urs Schreiber explains how higher category theory generates physical structures from the empty set to supergravity. The discussion weaves philosophy, topology, and gauge theory to show how “something” can emerge from “nothing.” 0:00 Introduction1:27 The Creation of nLab4:36 Philosophy Meets Physics7:55 The Role of Mathematical Language9:32 Emergence from Nothing16:25 Towards a Theory of Everything22:21 The Problem with Modern Physics25:31 Diving into Category Theory35:30 Understanding Adjunctions41:46 The Significance of Duality52:54 Exploring Toposes1:14:20 The UNEDA Lemma and Generalized Spaces1:16:37 Charts in Physics1:20:55 Introduction to Infinitesimal Disks1:23:56 The Emergence of Supergeometry1:27:33 Transitioning to Gauge Theories1:28:11 Exploring Singularities in Physics1:32:50 The Role of Superformal Spaces1:36:44 Functors and Their Implications1:40:51 From Nothing to Emergent Structures1:43:04 Hegel's Influence on Modern Physics1:54:07 Discovering Higher-Dimensional Structures1:56:30 The Path to 11-Dimensional Supergravity1:57:21 Universal Central Extensions2:03:21 The Journey to M-Theory2:11:19 Globalizing the Structure of Supergravity2:15:36 Understanding Global Charges in Physics2:23:31 Dirac's Insights into Gauge Potentials2:30:21 The Quest for Non-Perturbative Physics2:39:04 ConclusionSPONSORS:- I personally subscribe to The Economist. TOE listeners get 35% off the annual subscription. No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE- Curt Jaimungal Substack: Personal writings – https://curtjaimungal.substack.com- Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/SpotifyTOE- YouTube Membership: Early Access Videos – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join- Patreon: Support TOE – https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal - Crypto: https://nowpayments.io/donation/TOEEvery episode days early, ad-free, plus my essays: https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/subscribeRESOURCES:- Link to technical details are here from Urs Schreiber: https://ncatlab.org/schreiber/show/Peri+Pantheorias- nLab website: https://ncatlab.org/nlab/show/HomePage- Paper on category theory: https://people.math.osu.edu/cogdell.1/6112-Eilenberg&MacLane-www.pdf- "Higher Topos Theory for Physics" (Urs's talk): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD20W6vxMI4- "Higher Topos Theory for Physics" (Urs's paper): https://arxiv.org/pdf/2311.11026- Stephen Wolfram on TOE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YRlQQw0d-4- Feynman's thesis: https://faculty.washington.edu/seattle/physics541/2012-path-integrals/thesis.pdf- Differential cohomology in a cohesive ∞-topos (Urs's paper): https://arxiv.org/pdf/1310.7930- M-Theory from the Superpoint (paper): https://arxiv.org/pdf/1702.01774- Character Map in Non-Abelian Cohomology, The: Twisted, Differential, and Generalized (textbook): https://amzn.to/4bFuz7H- TOE's String Theory Iceberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4PdPnQuwjY 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