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

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

Robinson's Podcast vor 2 Jahren

0:00

1:40:14

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.