Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of Living Proof, we speak with Céline and Frank about their book: Why nobody understands quantum physics - and everyone needs to know something about it. They share insights into their writing journey and how each of their backgrounds contributed to the final project.

We met Céline and Frank at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge, where Frank is co-organising the research programme Quantum field theory with boundaries, impurities, and defects.

"I have learnt that even if you are not a master in mathematics and science you are still able to grasp the essence."

This is Céline Broeckaert talking, believe it or not, about the famously difficult theory of quantum mechanics. Céline knows what she's talking about. She's not a physicist, in fact she's a Romance languages scholar, author and playwright. Yet she's written a book about quantum mechanics together with her physicist husband Frank Verstraete, Leigh Trapnell Professor of Quantum Physics at the University of Cambridge. The book is called Why nobody understands quantum physics - and everyone needs to know something about it. And it's good timing: quantum mechanics celebrates its 100th birthday this year.

See here for an article Plus Magazine published previously about Frank's work.

For a brief introduction to quantum mechanics see A ridiculously short introduction to some very basic quantum mechanics. To find out more about the overlap of maths and art, see here.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of the Living Proof podcast we're delighted to meet Moustapha Fall. Moustapha is the Center President of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Senegal and winner of a prestigious Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians from Developing Countries. He also plays an important role on the international stage as Member-at-Large of the Executive Committee of the International Mathematical Union.

Moustapha talks to us about about the amazing institution that is AIMS, about his outreach activities and advice for budding mathematicians, and about the challenges that face mathematicians in sub-Saharan Africa.

You can find the IMU-ICIAM report on fraudulent publishing, which Moustapha mentions in the podcast, here. The same team of authors has also drawn up recommendations on how to fight fraudulent publishing.

We met Moustapha when he visited the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge.

Send us Fan Mail

In the latest episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel speaks to Professors Lionel Mason (Oxford) and Maciej Dunajski (Cambridge) of the Twistor Theory programme (https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/twt). Over the 30 minutes, they share their experiences of the scale and challenges of this far-reaching topic that - amongst other things - aims to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics.

00:00 - Introduction

00:42 - Welcome

01:48 - “I have been excited about this programme for 40 years”, introducing the topic

05:18 - Successes of the programme, the attendance of Roger Penrose

06:30 - Connecting Twistor Theory with the Kennedy assassination, a short history of the field

10:28 - The many languages of mathematics

13:45 - Periods of acceleration within the field, “… the 70s must have been truly exciting”, the collaboration between Penrose and Michael Atiyah

17:50 - “Roger makes no secret of the fact that he disapproved of String Theory”

19:48 - What applications can one expect from Twistor Theory?

27:14 - Personal highlights of the month-long programme, celebrating 30 years of collaboration

Send us Fan Mail

In the latest episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel speaks to Professors Mark Blyth and Sasha Korobkin, organisers of the INI Satellite Programme “The mathematics of multiphase flows with applications” (https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/mfa/). In the conversation, Mark and Sasha explain the programme’s research themes and share their insights into the challenges and rewards of organising an INI programme at your home institution - in their case the University of East Anglia in Norwich.

00:00 - Introduction

00:49 - Welcome, overview of the programme, UEA and Norwich as a venue

07:22 -  Social aspect of INI programmes

09:20 - Structure of the programme, starting with a summer school

13:02 - Central workshop of the programme: “New directions in multiphase flows” (https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/mfaw02/), connections with industry

16:30 - The challenges of running a satellite programme, without the infrastructure provided in Cambridge

20:50 - Discussing the two-year lead time from proposal to preparation to hosting the month-long programme, the importance of planning far in advance 

22:45 - Success of the science during a month-long programme

26:38 - Personal highlights: “I was amazed we made it through the month without any catastrophes”, lecture on beer tapping

29:25 - Final thoughts, looking to the future

Send us Fan Mail

In the latest episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel speaks to Professor Kevin Buzzard of Imperial College London. Inspired by a lecture given by Thomas Hales at INI’s Big Proof (https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/bpr/) programme in 2017, Kevin has spent the past seven years working alongside fellow enthusiasts on the “Maths Library” project. In this conversation he explains the project in detail, touching on why the programming language of Lean was chosen, and how it interacts with his recent five-year grant to check the proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem.

If you have been inspired by Kevin’s story, make sure to visit the October 2024 INI research programme Big Specification (https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/bsp/), much of which will be available to watch via live stream on newton.ac.uk

00:00 - Introduction

00:48 - Welcome, explaining the concept behind the “Maths Library”, digitising mathematics

04:20 - “It’s like asking if a submarine can swim”

07:55 - Harnessing the involvement of undergraduates

09:45 - Discussing the motivation, end goals and challenges of the project

17:28 - “The other question is: how far is it going to go? This is an ongoing topic of debate”

20:21 - A minimal, pessimistic prediction of expected progress in 10 years’ time

29:30 - A five-year grant to prove Fermat’s Last Theorem

36:55 - “I’d like to think I’m making the proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem more beautiful”

38:48 - “The goal is to make tools that, together with AI techniques, will turn mathematics on its head”

40:10 - Discussing “Lean” as a functional programming language

44:50 - “The INI Big Proof programme (2017) changed my life completely” (https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/bpr/)

52:50 - “If you hadn’t streamed it, I never would have seen it”, a transformation from a “second-rate number theorist” to business class flights, four-star hotels and chauffeur-driven cars on an international lecture tour

54:48 - “I still wake up every morning thinking ‘I want to prove Fermat’s Last Theorem’”

Send us Fan Mail

Established in 2021, the INI Postdoctoral Fellowships in Mathematics scheme enables “exceptional early career researchers in the mathematical sciences” to gain “experience, independence and new connections on their way to a successful academic career”.

In this episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel speaks to Dr Luke Davis to learn about his journey through mathematics so far, and to find out what being awarded this Fellowship – which involves spending six months on the INI research programme “Stochastic systems for anomalous diffusion” – means to him personally.

00:00 - Introduction

00:38 - Welcome

01:55 - Taking part in “Stochastic systems for anomalous diffusion” (https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/ssd/)

05:54 - What does an early career researcher bring to an INI research programme? And what can they gain?

10:50 - Why transition from physics to mathematics?

13:40 - The experience of working at INI, “a place engineered for people to think, to talk”

15:04 - The future, the University of Edinburgh

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel is joined by three guests: Daniel Gardham (Surrey), Katherine Benjamin (Oxford), and Francisco de Melo Virissimo (LSE), all of whom won medals as podium finishers at the 2024 STEM for Britain awards at the UK parliament in March. The conversation covers their success in the highly competitive poster exhibition, how it felt to present their mathematical research to politicians and the public, and what the future holds for each of them from this point onwards.

> https://stemforbritain.org.uk/
> https://www.newton.ac.uk/news/ini-news/stem-for-britain-winners-2024/

00:00 - Introduction
02:20 - How does it feel to have won medals at STEM for Britain?
04:40 - What attracted you to the event?
08:10 - What’s it like presenting mathematical research to MPs and politicians?
12:10 - Learning to communicate key information quickly and more efficiently, and comparisons with academic settings
16:40 - Could all academics benefit from this kind of experience?
19:00 - How would pure maths fare at en event such as STEM for Britain?
20:50 - A strong field of finalist posters, but little time to enjoy them
23:30 - The experience of visiting Parliament and the atmosphere of the event
27:27 - What does the future hold for each of you?

Send us Fan Mail

Now in its third year, the INI Postdoctoral Fellowships in Mathematics scheme enables “exceptional early career researchers in the mathematical sciences” to gain “experience, independence and new connections on their way to a successful academic career”. 

In this episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel speak to Dr Swapnil Jaideo (SJ) Kole to learn about her journey through mathematics so far, and to find out what being awarded this Fellowship – which involves spending three months on the INI research programme "New statistical physics in living matter: non equilibrium states under adaptive control"  and nine months working with Professor Michael Cates at Cambridge University’s Department for Applied Maths and Theoretical Physics  – means to her personally.

Send us Fan Mail

From 8-12 January 2024, the "Equivariant methods in geometry" took place in INI's main seminar room in Cambridge, UK. So far, so routine procedure. However, this workshop had the unique twist of being run in parallel with a team at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Linked by audio-visual streaming connections, the two events were remotely connected and operated as one throughout the week.

Following successful interactions across continents (on top of the usual collaborations taking place at the Cambridge base), Dan Aspel caught up with organisers and participants: Victoria Hoskins, Praise Adeyemo, Joshua Jackson and Dominic Bunnett to find out how the partnership came about, and how others could do the same with their own research meetings.

Send us Fan Mail

In this short episode, Dan Aspel speaks to Professor Ben Allanach (Cambridge, CERN) about his talk "The Force Awakens: Quantum Collisions" which he'll be delivering in INI's main seminar room for this year's Cambridge Festival.

Taking place on Saturday 23 March at 11:00, the talk is in fact now sold out. However, if you'd like to join the waiting list for any cancelled tickets you can do so here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-force-awakens-quantum-collisions-tickets-810293639087

... and remember that even if you aren't able to attend in person, the talk will be streamed live on our site and made available to view after the event. So make sure to bookmark the following two links.

Live stream: newton.ac.uk/news/watch-live
Recording: newton.ac.uk/outreach/ongoing-initiatives/cambridge-festival