Physics Frontiers
Episodes
Episode 83: Do Aliens Speak Physics with Daniel Whiteson
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Daniel Whiteson of the University of California at Irvine about his new book _Do Aliens Speak Physics,_ In this discussion we look at...
Episode 82: Quantum Random Access Memory with Koustubh Phalak
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Koustubh Phalak about quantum random access memory (QRAM), a proposed technology that would allow the storage of quantum states in quna...
Episode 81: Pixelated Space Time with Philip Tee
09 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Philip Tee about the effects of a fundamental length scale. Phil uses doubly special relativity to try to find observable effects of ...
Episode 80: Emergent Decoherent Histories with Philipp Strasberg
29 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Philipp Strasberg about his simulations of branching and recombining processes in the evolution of quantum states, and their meaning fo...
Episode 79: Primordial Black Holes with QCD Color Charge with Elba Alonso-Monsalve and David Kaiser
04 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Elba Alonso-Monsalve and David Kaiser about the prospects to describe dark matter as tiny black holes that were created at the end of...
Episode 78: Quantum Machine Learning with Bruna Shinohara
31 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Bruna Shinohara of CMC Microsystems. Quantum computing and machine learning are both currently making huge strides. So it is not stra...
Episode 77: Maxwellian Ratchets with Alex Jurgens
31 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Alex Jurgens about Maxwellian ratchets, automata that are similar to Maxwell's Demon. They talk about their implications for informat...
Episode 76: Undeciability and Theories of Everything with Claus Kiefer
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Claus Kiefer about the implications of Goedel's incompleteness theorems on the search for the theory.Show Notes: http://frontiers.physi...
Episode 75: Categorical Probability and the Measurement Problem
20 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Nick Ormrod and V. Vilasini about their use of categorical probability theory to analyze the measurement problem. We discuss categori...
Episode 74: Stochastic Thermodynamics with David Wolpert
09 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with David Wolpert about the non-equilibrium behavior of computation, what it means for entropy, and how it relates to traditional thermodyn...
Episode 73: Quantum Money with Jiahui Liu
18 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jim discusses quantum money with Jiahui Liu. Quantum money is a linchpin of quantum cryptography. The ability to create secure banknotes using qua...
Episode 72: Born Rule and Gravity with Antony Valentini
23 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Antony Valentini about the difficulties of interpretation of quantum mechanics in light of quantum gravity. In particular, Antony dis...
Episode 71: Primordial Graviton Background
19 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Sunny Vagnozzi about using the Primoridial Graviton Background to rule out all inflation models. Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsf...
Episode 70: Path Integrals and Entanglement with Ken Wharton
18 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Ken Wharton about how to describe entangled states as sums over histories of particle paths using the path integral method. He shows ...
Episode 69: The Flavor Puzzle with Joe Davighi
20 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Joe Davighi of the University of Zurich about the flavor unification at high energies - the merging of all leptons into one kind of par...
Episode 68: Quantum Resource Theories with Gilad Gour
26 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Gilad Gour of the University of Toronto about quantum resource theories. These are theories of largish systems that describe the rela...
Episode 67: Optical Gravity with Matthew R. Edwards
14 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Matthew R. Edwards about his theory of Optical Gravity. This is a Le Sage model of gravity based on graviton filiments.Show Notes: ht...
Episode 66: The Limit of General Relativity with James Owen Weatherall
26 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with James Owen Weatherall about his work on viewing general relativity as an effective field theory and where it should give way to another...
Episode 65: Causality, Time and the Experiment Paradox with Michal Eckstein
22 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Michal Eckstein of the Copernicus Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies about how two different kinds of ordering, chronological and ...
Episode 64: Born's Rule with Blake Stacey
24 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Blake Stacey about recent attempts to replace Born's rule. Born's rule is the principle used in quantum mechanics that associates qua...
Episode 63: Gleason's Theorem with Blake Stacey
20 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks with Blake Stacey about Gleason's Theorem, a foundational topic in the foundations of quantum mechanics. Gleason's theorem gives us a set ...
Episode 62: Deformed Special Relativity
13 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy talk about how special relativity might be amended to incorporate a minimum length scale. Such scales are common in quantum gravity th...
Episode 61: Dark Stars
31 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy talk about alternatives to black holes without event horizons or singularities.Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/61
Episode 60: Warp Bubbles
12 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Randy tells Jim about developments of metrics describing isolated spacetime bubbles that could, possibly, move faster than light.Show Notes: http://fr...
Episode 59: The Hubble Crisis
05 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Randy and Jim discuss the current tension between measurements of the Hubble constant by different methods, and some attempts to resolve the issue.Sho...
Episode 58: Phantom Matter
06 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy talk about the Higgs portal to dark matter and the nightmare scenario for particle physicists: what if the LHC never saw any traces of s...
Episode 57: Quantum Effects in Gravitational Waves
02 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Randy and Jim talk about two proposals to use gravitational wave interferometry to show that gravitons exist through noise measurements.Show Notes: ht...
Episode 56: Anomalous Magnetic Moment of the Muon
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy discuss the measurements of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon and some of the ways in which the discrepancy between theory and e...
Episode 55: Multiversality
07 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy discuss the rationales for multiverses based on quantum mechanics, string theory, and the anthropic principle.Show Notes: http://frontie...
Episode 54: The ANITA Experiment
18 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Randy and Jim talk about the strange results of the ANITA experiment: tau neutrinos that seem to come up out of the Earth.Notes: http://frontiers.phys...
Electromagnetic Gravitational Repulsion
17 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Randy tells Jim about ways in which electromagnetism reduces the gravitational attraction caused by a body.
Sterile Neutrinos
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy discuss the hypothesis of sterile neutrinos, neutrinos that are even more ghostly than neutrinos that are dark matter candidates.
Gravitational Wave Astronomy
10 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy talk about gravitational waves.
X17
03 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy discuss a possible "fifth force," the hypothetical X17 particle that has been seen in several experiments. Erratum: The g-2 of the muon...
The Unruh Effect
04 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy discuss the apparent creation of quanta seen by comparing the viewpoints of relatively accelerating observers -- the Unruh Effect. (Ther...
The Gertsenshtein Effect
19 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Randy introduces Jim to the Gertsenshtein effect, the conversion of gravitational waves to electromagnetic waves through resonances.Show Notes: http:/...
Bimetric Gravity
24 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Randy introduces Jim to Sabine Hossenfelder's bimetric theory of gravity. In this gravitational theory, there are two types of matter whose only inte...
Wigner's Friend
22 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Randy and Jim discuss experiments that purport to show that there is no such thing as objective reality.Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/46
Loop Quantum Gravity
16 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy discuss loop quantum gravity, and integration of quantum mechanics and gravity that quantizes space-time itself through the use of uncer...
Spooky Action at a Distance
16 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy discuss experiments that put a minimum superluminal speed of communication between parts of a wavefunction.Show Notes: http://frontiers....
The Positive Energy Theorem
06 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Randy introduces Jim to a refutation of the positive energy theorem in a universe with a cosmological constant.Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm....
Entropic Gravity
04 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy discuss Eric Verlinde's theory thermodynamic theory of gravity. This theory purports to explain gravitational attraction and inertia th...
The Chameleon Field
24 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Randy and Jim discuss the chameleon field -- a way to model dark energy with a scalar boson of varying strength.Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm...
The Octonions
23 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Randy tells Jim about a way to use an extension of an extension of the complex numbers to reveal the nature of elementary particles.Show Notes: http:/...
Negative Effective Mass
09 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Randy tells Jim about experiments with Neutrons and Photons in materials that exhibit negative effective mass. Not only do these effects show that th...
The Dimensionality of Space-Time
25 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Jim discusses why the world we observe is 4-dimensional with Randy. We discuss anthropic and fundamental reasons why we need 3 dimensions and no more...
The Einstein-Cartan Torsion Field Theory
30 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Randy explains to Jim theories on how to incorporate a native angular momentum into general relativity.Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/37
The Metamaterial Stress Tensor
15 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Randy tells Jim about recent results in the description of the electromagnetic stress tensor in metamaterials. In particular, we discuss the efforts ...
The String Theory Landscape
22 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy explore the landscape of string theory in the anthropic manner put forward by Leonard Susskind.Show Notes:http:frontiers.physicsfm.com/3...
CPT Symmetry and Gravitation
10 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
CPT Symmetry is a fundamental symmetry in the standard model. Jim and Randy discuss what happens when it is applied to general relativity.Show Notes:...
Retrocausality
25 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy look at how quantum mechanics is affected by time. Most importantly, what happens when temporal boundary conditions are used to create ...
Tunneling Time
07 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks to Randy about the amount of time it takes for an electron to tunnel through a forbidden region of space. Astoundingly, how quickly this hap...
Post-Newtonian Gravitation
08 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Jim discusses the Parameterized Post-Newtonian formalism with Randy. The PPN framework is a general, linearized metric theory of gravity that can sim...
The Consistent Histories Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
24 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy discuss the consistent histories interpretation of quantum mechanics. The brainchild of Robert Griffiths and with a surprisingly strong ...
Gravitational Alternatives to Dark Energy
16 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy discuss how modifications to general relativity can be used to mimic the effects of dark energy. They discuss various forms of gravitat...
The Quantum Vacuum and the Casimir Effect
25 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy review two very convincing papers that make the claim that the Casimir effect is due to materials fluctuations and not the zero point en...
The Gravitational Equivalence Principles
15 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks to Randy about the different ways in which the equivalence principle of general relativity can be formulated. More than just the equivalen...
Antimatter Production at a Potential Boundary
25 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Randy shows Jim an idea for generating antimatter using the Casimir effect that doesn't require a collider.Show Notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/...
Gravitational Field Propulsion
16 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Randy introduces Jim to several ways in which people have theorized that gravity can be used to propel an object through space. The slingshot effect ...
The Island of Stability
24 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Randy tells Jim about the island of stability: a theoretically predicted oasis of stable nuclear isotopes that researchers keep getting nearer and nea...
Dark Energy
09 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Randy helps Jim get a handle on Dark Energy. Why do we need it? What could it be? What does it have to do with you? How close are we to knowing an...
Weyl and Quasiparticles
22 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy discuss quasiparticles recently found in condensed matter systems that mirror particles theorized nearly a hundred years ago, but never ...
The Origin of Inertia
11 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Randy tells Jim about a scheme that uses Mach's Principle - the idea that there is a preferred background frame with respect to the fixed stars - to e...
Time Crystals
22 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks to Randy about structures that are periodic in time like crystals are periodic in space. Show notes: http://frontiers.physicsfm.com/20
The 2T Physics of Itzhak Bars
06 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Randy tells Jim about a theory that complements other theories of fundamental physics based upon a phase space symmetry between the 4-position and the...
The Physics of Time Travel
24 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Randy and Jim talk about traveling through through time, discussing relativity and, in particular, Kurt Goedel's solution for closed timelike curves i...
Stochastic Resonance Energy Harvesting
06 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Randy tells Jim about ways in which external vibrations can be used to do useful work in large-scale devices. These processes look at have happens wh...
Five Proven Methods of Levitation
21 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Randy shows Jim five different ways in which a body can be levitated: by magnetism, by superconductors, by Lenz' Law, by acoustics, and most recently ...
Stochastic Electrodynamics
04 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Randy explains Stochastic Electrodynamics to Jim, the theory that vacuum fluctuations are the cause of quantum mechanical behavior. Show notes: http...
Exotic Photon Trajectories in Quantum Mechanics
14 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy discuss strange trajectories observed in triple slit experiments with metallic plates. Photons seem to pass through one slit, come back...
A Gravitational Arrow of Time
20 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy discuss a cosmological theory that purports to find an explanation for the arrow of time in gravitational theory based on the shape and ...
Photonic Molecules and Optical Circuits
16 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Randy tells Jim about photonic molecules, pairs of photons that create bound states like molecules do through a force mediated through an ultracold ga...
Requirements for Alternative Gravity Theories
01 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Jim and Randy talk about how to evaluate alternative gravity theories. What sort of things do we want them to explain, what experimen...
f(R) Theories of Gravity
02 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy discuss gravitational theories that modify general relativity by changing the action using a polynomial dependence on the Ricci scalar. ...
Vacuum Fluctuations and the Casimir Effect
27 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jim and Randy discuss how vacuum fluctuations produce the van der Waals forces and the Casimir effect. Van der Waals forces are factors in atomic bon...
Virtual Gravitational Dipoles
14 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Randy discusses what the Cosmological implications of a negative gravitational mass would be with Jim. If there were a negative gravitational mass (a...
General Relativity for the Experimentalist
14 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Randy shares some of his favorite papers with Jim: papers on general relativity by engineer and science fiction author Robert L. Forward on how genera...
Pilot Wave Hydrodynamics
20 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Randy and Jim discuss a physical analogy to quantum mechanics consisting of a droplet of fluid bouncing off of the waves in a similarly composed fluid...
Phononics
05 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Randy tells Jim about the emerging field of Phononics: using quantum particles of heat in materials for information processing in advanced materials. ...
Gravitoelectromagnetism
06 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Randy talks to Jim about gravitoelectromagnetism. Based on the similarity between Newtonian gravity and electrostatics, there should be a second grav...
The de Broglie-Bohm Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
15 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jim talks to Randy about the pilot wave interpretation of quantum mechanics, which separates the particle and wave behavior of a non-relativistic quan...
G4V: Four Vector Potential Gravitation
31 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Randy talks to Jim about Carver Mead's G4V, a formulation of gravitation combining the equivalence of inertial and gravitational mass with a vector po...