Conversations at the Perimeter

Neil Turok is a professor at the University of Edinburgh where he holds the Higgs Chair of Theoretical Physics. He acted as the director of Perimeter Institute from 2008 to 2019 and now holds the Carlo Fidani Roger Penrose Distinguished Visiting Research Chair in Theoretical Physics at PI. In this episode of Conversations at the Perimeter, he talks about his recent work that describes the Big Bang, how his research has been influenced by Stephen Hawking, and why he chooses to work on theories that have the potential to be proven wrong. He also talks about his time as director of Perimeter Institute and describes the strategies he used to create a culture and community capable of fostering breakthroughs. It's a fascinating conversation, and Neil is uniquely gifted in describing both the biggest questions in theoretical physics and the best strategies for answering them. View the episode transcript here. Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers. The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter Institute acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Shep Doeleman is a senior research fellow at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and one of the world’s leading experts on black holes. He heads the globe-spanning Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, which in recent years unveiled humanity’s first-ever images of black holes – including the supermassive behemoth at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy. Doeleman takes Lauren and Colin behind the scenes of the EHT’s discoveries, which earned the collaboration the prestigious Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2020. He also looks ahead to the next big milestones in black hole science, such as the Next-Generation EHT (ngEHT) and the Event Horizon Explorer, which will bring these mysterious phenomena into even sharper focus. View the episode transcript here. Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers. The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter Institute acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Pedro Vieira is a faculty member at Perimeter Institute, where he holds the Clay Riddell Paul Dirac Chair in Theoretical Physics. In this episode, he tells Lauren and Colin about his work on a kind of uber-theory that encompasses all quantum field theories, as well as what separates the easy and hard problems in this field. It’s a complicated topic to be sure, but Vieira is a master of explaining complex topics with relatable examples and anecdotes – something Lauren discovered as a student when she took a course he taught. “Pedro takes some of those same concepts from graduate courses, but he paints some amazing non-technical pictures for us,” says Lauren. “No mathematical background required!” He explains why the universe might be a hologram and why, from a theoretical physics perspective, a messy bedroom can be a good thing. View the episode transcript here. We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey. Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers. The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter Institute acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Nicole Yunger Halpern reenvisions 19th-century thermodynamics for the 21st century, using the mathematical toolkit of quantum information theory. She is a fellow of the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science (QuICS), a theoretical physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland. She is also the author of Quantum Steampunk: The Physics of Yesterday’s Tomorrow, a book that blends the topic of quantum thermodynamics with the steampunk genre of art and literature, juxtaposing a Victorian aesthetic with futuristic technologies. She tells co-hosts Lauren and Colin about the inspirations behind her work – scientific and artistic – and explains how fundamental ideas in quantum information theory are reshaping science and technology. View the episode transcript here. We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey. Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers. The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter Institute acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Savas Dimopoulos is an influential particle physicist based at Stanford University, who also holds the Coril Holdings Archimedes Visiting Chair in Theoretical Physics at Perimeter Institute. He worked at CERN during the 1990s, and was featured in Particle Fever, a 2013 documentary about the hunt for the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider. In this episode, he talks with Lauren and Colin about how he approaches the grand, open questions that keep him up at night – including two particularly fundamental questions about the universe that he feels still need explaining. Dimopoulos also discusses how particle physics and collider experiments have evolved throughout his career, what motivated him to become a physicist, and why he has never looked back. View the episode transcript here. We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey. Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers. The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter Institute acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

The universe is expanding faster and faster all the time, and Jessie Muir wants to understand why. Muir is a postdoctoral researcher at Perimeter Institute and a member of the international Dark Energy Survey (DES) collaboration. She co-leads the DES analysis team that seeks to understand the mysterious dark energy driving the universe's accelerating expansion by analyzing galaxy clustering and weak lensing. In this episode, she chats with Lauren and Colin about her work at the intersection of theory and experiment – and how drawing science-themed cartoons helps her grasp and share complex topics in captivating, accessible ways. View the episode transcript here. We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey. Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers. The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter Institute acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Hilding Neilson is an astrophysicist who works at the intersection of science, astronomy, and Indigenous knowledge. He joins co-hosts Colin and Lauren for a fascinating conversation about the ways humans make sense of the vast night sky, via telescopes, mathematics, and traditional knowledge passed through generations. Neilson – who recently started a new role as an Assistant Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland – probes the physics of stars, from the nuclear-burning cores out to the circumstellar medium where stellar winds interact with the interstellar medium. As a Mi’kmaw person, he strives to embrace and integrate Indigenous knowledges and methodologies to better understand the stars, the universe, and our place in it. View the episode transcript here. We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey. Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers. The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

François David is a mathematical physicist and a passionate educator with an infectious zest for decoding the mysteries of the universe. As a scientist based at the Institut de Physique Théorique (IPhT), he uses mathematical techniques and tools to tackle open questions in areas ranging from quantum gravity to statistical mechanics. He is also a popular lecturer among graduate physics students in his native France and at Perimeter Institute, where he has led classes in the Perimeter Scholars International (PSI) graduate program for over a decade. In this conversation, David discusses what it means to study simple complex models, ghosts that appear in quantum field theory, and how teaching young students from all over the world has energized his own passion for science. View the episode transcript here. We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey. Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers. The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Lucien Hardy is a theoretical physicist working at the intersection of the two pillars of modern physics – general relativity and quantum mechanics – in the quest for a single unifying theory: quantum gravity. Hardy joins co-hosts Lauren and Colin for a conversation about the puzzles that have driven him throughout his career, including the past 20 as a Perimeter faculty member. Hardy recalls the radio program that first sparked his childhood curiosity about the universe, describes his operational approach to big quantum puzzles, and explains the paradox that bears his name (as well as a second, somewhat-tongue-in-cheek paradox devised by his wife). View the episode transcript here. We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey. Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers. The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

They often debate the workings of black holes and the big bang at Perimeter Institute’s blackboards -- and sometimes at the breakfast table too. Ghazal Geshnizjani and Niayesh Afshordi split their time between investigating the mysteries of the cosmos and raising their young family. Both are researchers at Perimeter Institute and the University of Waterloo, exploring concepts like the beginning of the universe, the extreme gravity of black hole singularities, the mysteries of dark energy, and other big open questions in astrophysics. Both are also passionate about sparking a love of science in others (including their kids), which led Ghazal to write the illustrated children’s book Bella the Black Hole. In this conversation with Lauren and Colin, they explain the big challenges that drive them, and how their differing individual approaches to research complement one another. View the episode transcript here. We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey. Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers. The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Katie Mack was recently appointed as Perimeter’s inaugural Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication. An adept science communicator, she is best known as @Astrokatie to her 400,000+ Twitter followers. She published her first book in 2020, The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking), in which she explains the various ways our universe could come to its end. During this conversation, she tells us about her early interactions with Stephen Hawking, how she became fascinated with the universe’s ultimate fate, and why she is so passionate about sharing her love of science with the world. View the episode transcript here. We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey. Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers. The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Get to know some of the brilliant minds trying to solve nature’s deepest mysteries. Conversations at the Perimeter will introduce you to researchers working at the forefront of science, tackling challenges from dark matter and black holes to quantum computing and particle physics. The series is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers. The first season of Conversations at the Perimeter will feature Carlo Rovelli, Katie Mack, Raymond Laflamme, and other fascinating explorers working at the edge of knowledge. The first episode will be released on Thursday, April 14. Guest speakers in this episode, in order of appearance: Katie Mack, Lucien Hardy, Meenu Kumari, Hilding Neilson, Carlo Rovelli, Timothy Hsieh, Ghazal Geshnizjani, Niayesh Afshordi. Conversations at the Perimeter is produced by Perimeter Institute, the world’s largest independent research hub devoted to theoretical physics research, training, and educational outreach. Perimeter is a not-for-profit, charitable organization, and Conversations at the Perimeter is made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate. Follow Perimeter on social media and subscribe to Conversations at the Perimeter wherever you get your podcasts. twitter.com/perimeteryoutube.com/PIOutreachinstagram.com/perimeterinstitutefacebook.com/pioutreachperimeterinstitute.ca