156 - Fay Dowker: Wormholes, Quantum Gravity, and Causal Set Theory

156 - Fay Dowker: Wormholes, Quantum Gravity, and Causal Set Theory

Fay Dowker is Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London, where she works broadly on quantum gravity, and more particularly on an approach called causal set theory that takes the most basic pieces of the universe to be atoms of spacetime. In this episode, Robinson and Fay begin by discussing her studies with Stephen Hawking and their work on wormholes before turning to quantum gravity and causal set theory. Fay is also a faculty member at the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics—which you absolutely should be—then please check out the JBI, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life.


The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org


OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:50 Introduction

04:49 How Do Physicists Think of Wormholes?

15:56 Stephen Hawking, Philosophy, and Quantum Gravity

26:00 Causal Set Theory and The Problem of Quantum Gravity

43:45 What is the Path Integral?

54:43 Is Spacetime Discrete?

57:40 Causal Set Theory and Black Holes

01:14:27 Lorentz Symmetry, Non-Locality, and Phenomenology in Causal Set Theory


Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com


Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.

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249 - Chris Hedges: Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the Rise of American Fascism

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248 - Richard Wolff: Trump, Hitler, and the End of the American Empire

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247 - Garry Nolan: Aliens | The Case They’re Already Here

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246 - Tim Maudlin: A Masterclass on General Relativity

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245 - Leonard Susskind: String Theory and the Black Hole War

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244 - Norman Finkelstein: Donald J. Trump, Mossad Conspiracies in Israel, and the Dying Left

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243 - Richard Wolff: Donald J. Trump and the Decline of the United States

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