Chetan begins by reviewing the eikonal approximation, and factorization theorems for amplitudes. Amartya then discusses this in context of quantum gravity, causality constraints and regge behaviour. This brings us to Vasiliev gravity the origin

8.5 Part 2

Jan 22nd, 2022 1h 31m

Santhosh begins this episode with a discussion about transverse field Ising chains and dualities, anyon algebras, and systems with known spectra but unknown states. Amartya then talks about the relation between the emergence proposal in EFTs an

8.5 Part 1: Impromptu over chai

Jan 16th, 2022 1h 26m

We reunite in person after nearly 2 years. Chetan begins this episode with a discussion about Witten's recent work on the deep connection between gauge-gravity amplitudes and geometry in twistor space, and how this suggests a more fundamental l

Positivity bounds and gravity

May 14th, 2021 46m 47s

In this episode, we begin by reviewing the weak gravity conjecture. We then discuss such "swampland conjectures" from the EFT perspective- in the form of positivity bounds, and discuss in detail the UV completion of dimension 6 operators. We th

CPT and the neutrino story

May 6th, 2021 1h 4m

In this episode, we discuss aspects of hermiticity and unitarity, in the context of PT-symmetric Hamiltonians. Then, we take a detour towards discussing the fascinating story of neutrinos in the standard model, the big problem of neutrino masse

Thoughts on Academia

May 1st, 2021 50m 51s

In this episode, we discuss what has our experience doing physics been so far-how it's different from what we thought it'd be, what lies ahead. We express (some very strongly) our thoughts about the general nature of the academic institution, w

2D magnetism with Rohan Maniar

Apr 25th, 2021 37m 50s

In this episode, our friend and today's guest on the podcast, Rohan Maniar, talks about his area of research- 2D magnetic systems. We discuss long-range order in 2D systems and the Mermin-Wagner theorem. We then ramble about stochastic thermody

"Chai pe charcha"

Apr 19th, 2021 33m 15s

We start by briefly discussing axions and inflation. Amartya then rambles about the structure of vacua in compactified theories. Chetan discusses an interesting relationship between moduli stabilization and compactification. We then finally mov

Integrability

Apr 9th, 2021 48m 29s

In this episode, we discuss ideas of integrability in physics, ranging from classical mechanics to classical and quantum field theories. Amartya discusses some ideas about positivity bounds and the swampland, and with a brief existential discus

From Parafermions to the Swampland

Apr 2nd, 2021 36m 22s

In this episode, Santhosh describes some features of 1D interacting systems, exploring Bethe ansatz, parafermions, dualities, etc. and Amartya rambles about unitarity bounds, 'ghosts', etc; distinguishing 'healthy' field theories from those in

Cosmological collider physics

Oct 11th, 2020 31m 39s

In this episode, Amartya rambles about an interesting idea of studying inflationary correlators, and we discuss the unreasonable effectiveness of physics in math.

An operator for time?

Sep 4th, 2020 36m 34s

In this episode, we discuss the consequences of having a "time" operator in physical theories and ramble about related ideas.

Bose-Einstein condensates with Gautam Hegde

Aug 15th, 2020 56m 36s

In this episode, we have our first guest, our good friend Gautam, who rambles about cool stuff from granular gases to superfluids.

Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

Jul 29th, 2020 49m 49s

In this episode, we talk about an idea central to both condensed matter and particle physics-spontaneous symmetry breaking. Starting from the instructive example of a ferromagnet, we move to the famous Higgs mechanism in the context of gauge th

But, what is Time?

Jul 21st, 2020 40m 32s

In this episode, we discuss the idea of time in physics, inspired by the concept in the movie, Arrival. We ramble about general covariance in relativity, choosing space-like hypersurfaces in cosmology, the metric signature and how despite its s

From Compactifications to Topological Insulators

Jul 13th, 2020 51m 16s

In this episode, we discuss the interesting ideas of spontaneous compactification of higher dimensions in theories like string theory, the Kaluza-Klein picture, etc. We then ramble about aspects of bulk-boundary correspondence and topological i

Starts with a bang: story of the Universe

Jul 9th, 2020 52m 43s

In this episode, we discuss the million dollar question- how did the universe begin? Why does it expand? How does large scale structure form? Listen to us ramble about the big bang, inflationary cosmology, dark matter, and other fascinating ide

Hot stuff: From Temperature to Black holes

Jun 29th, 2020 29m 39s

In this episode, we discuss various ideas to understand what "temperature" is. Usually a statistical parameter describing equilibrium systems, we try to look for a more general description, which leads to a discussion of black holes and quantum

RG flows and all that

Jun 20th, 2020 32m 32s

In this episode, we (Chetan, Amartya, and Santhosh) discuss some random ideas about quantum field theories, which range from hidden structures/symmetries, RG flows, anomalies to ideas about condensed matter physics.

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