Philip Mannheim: The Story of Conformal Gravity

Philip Mannheim: The Story of Conformal Gravity

From Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal by Theories of Everything

July 6, 2026 · 2h 36m

About this episode

Professor Philip Mannheim discusses his theory of conformal gravity and its implications for dark matter and gravity.

SPONSORS: - Don’t sleep on [@ultrapouches]. New customers get 15% Off with code TOE at http://takeultra.com! #UltraPouches #ad - Shopify: Accelerate your efficiency. Free trial at http://shopify.com/theories - I personally subscribe to The Economist. TOE listeners get 35% off the annual subscription. No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE This podcast is about dark matter — and Professor Philip Mannheim thinks it isn't missing at all, just hiding in plain sight as the rest of the visible universe. In his first-ever podcast, on ideas he's pursued since 1972, Mannheim lays out conformal gravity: a theory built on Weyl symmetry rather than Einstein's equations, which explains galaxy rotation curves without dark matter, tames the cosmological constant, and fits the accelerating universe without fine-tuning. With longtime collaborator Carl Bender, he also resolves gravity's infamous "ghost" problem using PT symmetry instead of Hermiticity — suggesting the graviton may not even exist as a particle. I hope you enjoy. FOLLOW: - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e - Substack: https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/subscribe - Twitter…

People in this episode

Host: Curt Jaimungal

Guest: Philip Mannheim

Sponsors

Ultra Pouches, Shopify, The Economist

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Products: Ultra Pouches

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