Mindscape 277 | Cumrun Vafa on the Universe According to String Theory

[@jonathansaraco]

Very excited to listen to this! My favourite Mindscape episodes are about physics beyond the standard model and string theory.

[@AllanAngusADA]

And here I thought that string theory was out in never never land…. Then here come Dr Vafa dropping dark energy and dark matter on the table in the most beautiful way possible. Just wow

[@philiprice6961]

And clearly Sean Carroll was slightly surprised by this too!

[@rajeevgangal542]

The next AMA likely to be full of what did Cumrun mean😅

[@davegrundgeiger9063]

Another home run from Mindscape!

[@RokyBanana]

I was going to go to sleep… about 2.2 hours ago. Great episode 👍🏻

[@cieracorca1124]

i am so much looking forward how SEAN CARROLL will steer his construct of this novelties. dark matter and dark energy problem and it is so lovely to listen to his podcast. it has been such a productive period for many scholars and i am grateful for him to take the time to explain physics, rather than making us calculate, and so amazed by his means of integrating his philosophical ethics too. I assume this interview will be a lamppost for some new approaches. and yes, DONALD HOFFMAN... i am so amazed recently by these academicians. even would love to involve iain mcgilchrist to see a multidisciplinary perspective. i amalso wondering how the EUCLID will bring more clues... let's watch and see... btw, i wish another round table session with some scholars again. it was wonderful to be able to watch late Dan Dennett before he passed away. i wish you get some budget to organise a new session and good food and wine again

[@commonwombat-h6r]

so, if I understand correctly what he's saying, string theory: -- can't produce a stable Universe with positive cosmological constant. Like the Universe we live in -- has trouble producing quantum gravity (there this whole swampland where quantum gravity doesn't work. One must look for "jewels" where it does) -- helps some constants feel more natural. Is it even physics?

[@florianbuerzle2703]

Having a PhD in theoretical physics, I usually have at least a basic idea of what's going on when it comes to a topic in physics. But here I had no idea what Cumrun was even talking about 😂

[@crehenge2386]

You should get a refund for your education then, because he's barely touching the basics

[@joeyL12345]

Yea if you’re not trolling then you’re actually pretty dumb

[@MrM970]

8 years at University two degrees and I'm feeling stupid 😂

[@user-yv6xw7ns3o]

Whew, glad I'm not the only one! 🤯💫

[@MrM970]

12:27 😊😅 12:27 😅😅😅😅😅 12:27 12:27

[@MrM970]

😊

[@MrM970]

😊 12:27 😊😅😊😊😅

[@MrM970]

😊😊😊😅😅😊😅😅😅😅 12:27 😅😊😊😊😊😊

[@JAYMOAP]

Much enjoyed. glad Cumrun mentioned the circles and torus as its intertwined with topology

[@tomanderson8169]

I wonder if Sean‘s interest in the possibility of one extra macro spatial dimension is related to Geoffrey west‘s work on scaling in complex systems and power laws that have exponents as fractions divided by 4

[@joseHernandez-hw8wt]

i was doing uber eats around pasadena, sucks. so i had to pay this dude a visit.

[@jjzr2man1]

You actually met Dr stringfellow

[@darwinlaluna3677]

Thank you

[@dannyhuelva4897]

Can he write an accessible book about his Swampland Program?

[@GoatOfTheWoods]

We know it is not "correct" in the exact meaning of correct, but I believe that the actual description of reality is almost similar to what M theory predicts. Like a cat is similar to a cyber-bear shooting lasers, sure, but it's someting!

[@nunomaroco583]

Amazing talk all the best.

[@stephenarmiger8343]

Enjoying! Thank you!

[@darwinlaluna3677]

Yes im listening

[@nunomaroco583]

Ludovico lami, proposed an experiment that is very promising to quantize gravity, also some claims that pulsar arrays around the world detect primordial gravitational waves......

[@nunomaroco583]

Just brilliant two great minds that I really appreciate.....

[@oszb]

What's with the random noises? Like at 46:02.

[@radfordmcawesome7947]

it sounds like compression artifacts or the ghosts of small children 😬

[@ovidiulupu5575]

I ask if we can calculate a maximum volume of a univers, Base of planck constant and other universal constants?

[@povilaskimutis1409]

sounds good but almost impossible to follow

[@nodevit9950]

Sean, can you please address Terrance Howard's claim's like Sabine Hofstadter did! You are the best teacher and would love yoy analyse this.

[@BorealGhost13]

Mother fucking ghost girl randomly scared me

[@IamPoob]

Photon

[@hopperpeace]

was cool

[@virkotto8651]

😊

[@JB-fz1rv]

Dear Prof Thank you for.all the lessons i believe to understand and achieved🙈 W=k(S) does this make sense? Best Cleaning Lady Berlin, Germany

[@Kokally]

It's not that String Theory lives in 10 dimensions, it's that we've had to mathematically give it 10 dimensions in order to shoehorn it into our observations. Sean was absolutely correct in pointing out that the answers Cumrun was giving were abstract, because it's too complicated to have any specific detail. It's the theoretical physicist's version of a religion, complete with the revelations-style Armaggedon prophecy of a metastable universe.

[@CurtOntheRadio]

thanks!

[@thomasarendt7469]

No clue what is going on in this one

[@SandipChitale]

Now I am starting to understand what Eric Weinsten complains about.

[@iridium1911]

Actually Weinstein never mentions these aspects of string theory! I had no idea about what a duality actually was, and that strings are simply one description of a grander theory, and that there are many other ways to describe the theory that has no strings at all! I think this is a critical feature of the theory which underpins why so many physicists think it is so ripe for research. It seems that it's not just a "theory of objects that look like strings/loops"

[@darwinlaluna3677]

Im tired

[@tonynewton5713]

The guy asking questions lives in reality. The other lives in math.

[@Sethseidell]

Take a day off!😂

[@thomasmcqueen8399]

String theory has some major issues like the fact that there is no consensus on how many extra dimensions there are. Pretty weak, no doubt the math is super fun if you’re into math.

[@phnxen3rg666]

If the goal of string theorists was to create the most confusing idea know to man then they have certainly succeeded. Anything beyond that I'm not sure.

[@markdavich5829]

It was already complicated - Like any other theory, string theory is just another attempt to explain it.

[@phnxen3rg666]

@@markdavich5829 If you're attempting to explain "it" in the most confusing and convoluted way possible then sure. Also what is the "it" you are referring to exactly. When if comes to many if not most of the predictions of string theories it's bold of you to assume that they exist in the first place.

[@Daniel-ih4zh]

The basics of string theory can be laid out in an introduction if you know undergrad physics

[@Mentaculus42]

@@Daniel-ih4zh You mean the really, really, really basics‽ Kinda like an intro to QM, “this is an atom”, but not really. Not criticizing, but the learning curve is quite steep once pass the “Brian Greene Intro”. Even Lenny’s class at Stanford quickly escalates.

[@TheCosmicGuy0111]

Eh string theory isn’t really any good.

[@Daniel-ih4zh]

What would you say is better

[@charlieb8735]

It’s bad at physics

[@TJ_PowPow]

​@@Daniel-ih4zhLiterally anything. Make something up..

[@isitme1234]

@@TJ_PowPow schlongtheory? Everything is made out of schlongs and schlonghi

[@crehenge2386]

Masters of youtube university

[@user-di7tg7qf6u]

Cumrun lol

[@test-wo6gr]

String theory is a waste of time and nonsense

[@twonumber22]

Do you have any better ideas?

[@Mentaculus42]

Maybe String Theory is just another “abstraction” type of mathematical tool that captures some indirect aspects of reality. AND there are a lot of different ways to approach the TOE conundrum.

[@jonathansaraco]

Most of the people who say this are not working theoretical physicists.

[@test-wo6gr]

@@jonathansaraco doesnt change the veracity of my statement

[@TJ_PowPow]

​​@@jonathansaracoThe tide is starting to turn in the scientific community. The resources that have been poured into the field are not producing the expected results. It's quickly approaching academic masturbation at this point..