*Description*Dr. Chitraang Murdia is a theoretical physicist at UPenn Philadelphia, and his works comprise areas like CFTs, holography, and entanglement. He is quite well known for being the All India Rank 1 holder in the JEE engineering exam in 2014. The list of his works can be found below.*Some links*1) Dr. Murdia's works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/19385402) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/*Contact Info*My website: hassaansaleem.comFollow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1XFollow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHYEmail Queries: [email protected]*Time stamps*(0:00) Coming Up(0:30) Intro of the guest(0:45) His current projects(2:40) His journey from JEE to Physics(13:06) CFTs and why to study them(15:27) TTbar deformation(24:12) Interfaces in CFT(29:16) Islands(36:35) Generalized symmetries(44:38) Minimal strings and matrix models(56:46) Using string field theory(1:02:38) FZZT and ZZ branes(1:05:28) 2D and 10D string theories(1:07:40) Building collaborations(1:09:43) Problem solving and writing papers (undergrad vs. grad)(1:23:19) (People's question) JEE to Ph.D(1:25:09) (People's question) Current state of string theory(1:26:41) (People's question) Avoid distractions(1:28:30) (People's question) Choosing Ph.D. position(1:31:01) (People's question) Lack of motivation(1:32:14) (People's question) Switching to industry(1:35:05) (People's question) Advice for grad students(1:38:00) (People's question) Ups and downs(1:39:18) (People's question) Most difficult textbook(1:40:38) (People's question) Core courses(1:43:30) (People's question) Social media addiction(1:47:11) (People's question) Internation Physics Olympiad(1:49:04) (People's question) Pressure for engineering(1:52:03) (People's question) Approaching researchers(1:53:22) (People's question) No of papers vs. reference letters

*Description*Dr. John Baez is a theoretical physicist and mathematician, previously at UC Riverside and now at the University of Edinburgh, who works on Quantum Gravity, Network Theory, and higher categories. The list of his works is linked below.*Some links*1) Dr. Baez's works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/10176892) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/*Contact Info*My website: hassaansaleem.comFollow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1XFollow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHYEmail Queries: [email protected]*Time stamps*(0:00) Coming up(1:23) Intro of the guest(1:42) His current projects(6:25) Octonions(15:44) Octonions and quantum logic(21:49) Knot theory(28:53) Other Knot invriants(31:04) His categorification program(45:51) Categories and Russell's program(53:45) Future directions for the program(1:01:56) Generalized symmetries(1:06:23) Topos theory(1:12:54) Network theory(1:19:32) OPen networks and compositionality(1:29:07) This Week's findings in Mathematical Physics(1:33:41) The crackpot index(1:42:00) New entry in the crackpot index(1:43:15) AI and future of physics(1:50:01) Advent of Computers vs advent of AI(1:56:02) Sphere packing and practical applications(1:58:14) Unsolved problems in physics(2:05:16) Mathematical rigor of QFT(2:11:28) Dealing with failure in research(2:18:10) (People's question) Beauty as a guide(2:20:25) (People's question) Undergrad math(2:22:23) (People's question) Retaining knowledge(2:25:23) (People's question) "Foolish" idea that was good(2:27:18) (People's question) Moving sofa problem(2:29:31) (People's question) Unsolved problems in maths

DescriptionDr. Manki Kim is a theoretical physicist, working on String Perturbation, String Compactifications, and String Field Theory. The list of his publications can be found below.Some links1) Dr. Kim's works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/14230212) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/Contact InfoMy website: hassaansaleem.comFollow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1XFollow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHYEmail Queries: [email protected] stamps(0:00) Coming Up(1:33) Intro of the guest(1:51) His current projects(3:33) Changing cosmological constant(7:51) His interest in physics(15:53) His work on small cosmological constants(37:15) The second step of KKLT(40:58) Scale separation(44:29) Why string field theory isn't used a lot?(50:03) What is string field theory (SFT)?(55:24) Calabi Yau metric and Machine Learning(1:01:07) Non-perturbation definition of string theory(1:06:34) Collaborations in Ph.D.(1:10:53) Choosing a problem to work on(1:13:10) CV of failure(1:18:24) (People's question) Feeling stuck(1:20:16) (People's question) Dark matter candidates(1:22:13) (People's question) Advisor or university?(1:25:49) (People's question) SFT and String perturbation(1:27:14) (People's question) KKLT and Vafa's criticism(1:38:17) (People's question) Doing string theory in 2025

DescriptionDr. Daniel Grimmer is a philosopher of Physics at the University of Bonn, working on the intersection of Physics & Philosophy, and the metaphysics of space and time. A list of his works can be found below.Some links1) Dr. Grimmer's works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/1896269?ui-citation-summary=true2) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/Contact InfoMy website: hassaansaleem.comFollow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1XFollow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHYEmail Queries: [email protected] stamps(0:00) Coming Up(0:54) Intro of the guest(1:07) His current projects(2:11) His Physics Ph.D. work(5:01) Local measurements and machine learning(7:50) Spacetime as a lattice(15:02) Deflaing spacetime (Dynamics vs. Geometry)(22:02) Topological redescription(24:58) Studying spacetime dualities(27:46) ISE method(36:44) Sine Gordon/Thirring example(41:30) Non-geometric backgrounds(46:22) Neo-Kantian spacetime(51:00) Spacetime fundamental?(54:54) Nature of time(57:50) Mach's principle(59:30) David Lewis and laws of nature(1:10:44) Causation(1:15:00) Physics to philosophy transition(1:24:40) (People's question) Universe and maths(1:26:51) (People's question) Why is there something?(1:29:06) (People's question) Spacetime & entanglement

DescriptionDr. Pedro Vieira is a theoretical physicist, working on integrability, holography and matrix models (worked on bootstrap techniques in the past). A list of his works can be found below.Some links1) Dr. Vieira's works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/1027784?ui-citation-summary=true2) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/Contact InfoMy website: hassaansaleem.comFollow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1XFollow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHYEmail Queries: [email protected] stamps(0:00) Coming up(1:09) Intro of the guest(1:24) His current projects(12:58) His interest in Physics(14:54) Classical Integrability(23:37) Quantum Integrability(29:40) Finding charges(31:17) Integrability in holography(41:48) Bethe ansatz(47:48) Story of the plot in his 2009 work(53:08) Quantum spectral curve(58:57) Matrix models(1:11:42) Matrix models and hydrodynamics(1:18:50) Bootstrap and its aims(1:23:00) Coordinates on the space of QFTs(1:26:50) Metric on the space of CFTs(1:31:46) Space of QFTs connected?(1:34:00) Metric on QFT space is unique?(1:36:48) Taking a Ph.D. student(1:39:13) (People's question) Bootstrap(1:43:28) (People's question) Research atmosphere(1:46:08) (People's question) Non-integer colors(1:53:00) (People's question) Planar diagram(1:56:50) (People's question) Building collaborations

DescriptionDr. Miguel Montero is a theoretical physicist at IFT Madrid, working on string compactifications and the swampland program. The list of his works can be found below.Some links1) Dr. Montero's list of works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/1272182?ui-citation-summary=true2) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/Contact InfoYouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@phymathsMy website: hassaansaleem.comJoin the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1XFollow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHYEmail Queries: [email protected] stamps(0:00) Coming Up(1:10) Intro of the guest(1:22) His current projects(4:28) What is the Swampland program?(11:24) Swampland conjectures vs string constructions(12:45) DGKT vs Weak Gravity Conjecture (WGC)(23:20) Discovering R7 branes(30:02) Relationships between swampland conjectures(33:30) Emergent string conjecture(34:35) Distance conjecture and EFT breakdown(37:39) Metric used for distance conjecture(39:11) Swampland prediction for N=4 SU(N) SYM(42:46) Tom Banks' paper on string parameters(46:15) What is the dark dimension?(51:02) Similarity with Nima et al's idea?(55:03) Why achieving SUSY scale separation is hard?(59:22) Non SUSY scale separation(1:03:52) Scale separated CFTs(1:08:15) His interest in Physics(1:10:44) The book that got him interested(1:11:24) Importance of hardwork(1:20:05) How to choose problems to work on?(1:29:09) Good PhD advisor(1:31:00) Which PhD students to take?(1:35:22) Setting deadlines(1:38:02) (People's question) Surprising swampland conjecture?(1:40:40) (People's question) Favorite restaurant in Madrid

DescriptionDr. Ivano Basile is a theoretical physicist at the Max Planck institute for Physics at Garching, working on Non-supersymmetric string theories, supersymmetry breaking and recently, breaking of global symmetries. The list of his works can be found below.Some links1) Dr. Basile's list of works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/1677616?ui-citation-summary=true2) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/Contact InfoMy website: hassaansaleem.comFollow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1XFollow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHYEmail Queries: [email protected] stamps(00:00) Coming up(00:24) Intro of the guest(00:42) His current projects(02:49) His interest and journey in Physics(10:51) What is String Theory?(18:05) Recent Tom Banks paper(21:24) Important questions in string phenomenology(26:37) Scale separation in string theory(33:16) Non-supersymmetric strings(45:04) Intrinsically quantum vacuua(48:35) Dualities for non SUSY strings(53:42) D-Branes in non SUSY string theories(1:01:46) deSitter spacetime and higher corrections(1:07:07) Using functional RG flows(1:10:54) Quintessence in non SUSY strings(1:14:20) Brane world scenario for non SUSY strings(1:28:28) String Field Theories for non SUSY strings(1:30:06) Dealing with research metrics(1:39:30) No. of papers (some interesting examples)(1:40:49) Dealing with research metrics (continued)(1:42:50) Qualities of a good research advisor(1:48:16) Birds vs Frogs (Freeman Dyson)(1:50:36) Transitioning froma student to a researcher(1:56:54) (People's questions) Back up plan(1:59:14) (People's questions) More non SUSY strings?(2:00:29) (People's questions) Asymptotic safety(2:04:20) Vafa Strominger scenario for non SUSY strings(2:05:40) (People's questions) -1 form symmetries#physics #theoreticalphysics #stringtheory #symmetryreflection #scicomm #podcast

Description Dr. Rajesh Gopakumar is a theoretical physicist, who has majorly worked on holographic duality in his career. He got his Ph.D. from Princeton University under the supervision of David Gross and right now, he is the director of ICTS Bangalore in India. The list of his works is available below. Some links 1) Dr. Gopakumar's list of works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/1007959 2) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/ Contact Info My website: hassaansaleem.com Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/ Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1X Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHY Email Queries: [email protected] Time stamps (0:00) Coming Up (0:31) Intro of the guest (0:48) His recent projects (8:53) Multiple open string descriptions (11:21) His interest in Physics (15:10) Pressure to go to engineering (16:12) IIT Kanpur (20:11) His skepticism for string theory (25:08) What is string theory? (31:01) Is spacetime fundamental? (34:28) Overview of holography (36:38) Maldacena's example (37:26) Using holography for QCD (43:10) His work on holography (50:51) Higher spins and Weinberg Witten theorem (57:40) His work on Chern Simons theory (1:01:35) Being the director of ICTS (1:10:30) Choosing a Ph.D. student (1:13:14) Publishing trends (1:15:40) (People's question) Physics and AI (1:19:45) (People's question) Phenomenology (1:21:26) (People's question) deSitter spaces (1:22:43) (People's question) Masters in ICTS (1:25:12) (People's question) Ashoke Sen (1:27:12) (People's question) Research Transition (1:29:42) (People's question) Comparisons (1:32:02) (People's question) Failure

Description Dr. Daniel Whiteson is an experimental high-energy physicist at UC Irvine and works in the ATLAS collaboration. He is also a science communicator, who made the Daytime Emmy nominated series Elinor Wonders Why, and he also hosts a podcast named Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe. The link of this podcast and his works are given below. Some links 1) His podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daniel-and-kellys-extraordinary-universe/id1436616330 2) His works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/1020448 3) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/ Contact Info My website: hassaansaleem.com Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/ Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1X Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHY Email Queries: [email protected] Time stamps (0:00) Coming Up (0:33) Intro of guest (0:58) His interest in Physics (5:24) His active projects (7:46) Single event discoveries (12:04) Hiding the data from other collaborations (14:26) Credit sharing in big collaborations (20:34) Being an independent researcher (27:26) Media coverage of LHC and Higgs discovery (32:46) The 5σ benchmark for discovery (41:23) Machine Learning for Particle Physics (45:58) Working with Phenomenologists (47:44) Theorists/Experimentalists' relation (53:27) Phenomenological models (56:14) His preference for phenomenology research (58:37) The politics of getting funding (1:05:44) Challenges of making a children's TV series (1:16:29) Science communication through podcasts (1:18:36) Effects of having a podcast on me (1:21:37) PhD comics (1:22:02) His most favourite guests (1:25:33) If he could invite Issac Asimov (1:27:56) Using humor in science communication (1:30:30) How to engage science skeptics (1:34:45) The APS story and crackpots (1:38:40) Balancing time (research & scicomm) (1:42:11) Selecting a Ph.D student (1:43:47) Dealing with failure & rejection (1:49:01) (People's question) LHC upgrades (1:50:30) (People's question) Collider on the Moon (1:52:38) (People's question) "We have no idea" title (1:53:53) (People's question) Investing in research

Description Dr. Nabil Iqbal is a theoretical physicist at Durham University. He works on holography, generalized symmetries, and condensed matter physics among other things. A list of his works can be found in the link below. Some links 1) Dr. Iqbal's works: https://inspirehep.net/authors/1051240 2) Link to the high energy physics resources page on my website: https://hassaansaleem.com/graduate-level-theoretical-physics-resources-in-progress/ Contact Info My website: hassaansaleem.com Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hassaan.3142/ Join the Whatsapp channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9DkjmAzNbs7IlGuv1X Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hassaan_PHY Email Queries: [email protected] Time stamps (0:00) Coming Up (0:37) Guest's intro (0:59) Inspiration for Physics (5:00) Holography overview (9:02) Maldacena's example of holography (15:13) Using holography for QCD (20:15) Truncating AdS spacetime (23:38) Chiral symmetry breaking (25:00) Non-Fermi liquids (30:54) Strange metals (33:16) Holography and Non-Fermi liquids (35:43) Holography and higher spin gravity (40:00) Evading Weinberg-Witten theorem (42:58) Generalized symmetries (Overview) (49:28) Applications of generalized symmetries (52:56) Kramers-Wannier duality (57:44) Symmetries as topological operators (1:00:47) Machine learning rediscovers duality (1:07:11) Sine Gordon/ Thirring duality (1:11:24) Which architecture to use? (1:16:21) How to see AI physics discoveries? (1:20:38) Tackling physics misinformation (1:26:40) The "Lying for Grants" lie (1:31:25) How to take Ph.D. students? (1:33:21) Lack of motivation (1:35:00) Getting back from failed projects (1:38:07) (People's question) Strings & 3D Ising model (1:40:58) People's questions (Rapid fire) (1:47:32) US vs UK Ph.D. system (1:49:11) Advice for undergrad, master & Ph.D students (1:51:23) Dealing with Imposter syndrome