The world we live in is believed to be divided into two fundamental families of particles--Fermions and Bosons. Today, we're sitting in Dr. Kaden Hazzard's beautiful office at Rice University in Houston, who along with his student, proposed a robust third class of particles called paraparticles. An astonishingly simple operation of swapping any two particles, is what it takes to reveal their nature. We know that Bosons obey BE statistics and Fermions obey Fermi-Dirac statistics. But what about paraparticles? What statistics do they obey? Where do they show up? And what could their existence mean for physics? If you're curious about the foundations of quantum mechanics or just need a reason to chase a wild idea — you're going to love this episode. So, let's go.

Hello everyone, welcome to season 2 of the Knowmads podcast. Since Season 2 was long overdue, we had to start with someone who’s not just had a remarkable academic journey in physics, but also someone who’s been a great mentor to all his students and really, to everyone who walks into his office. So in this episode, we’re sitting in the office of Professor René Bellwied — a leading experimental physicist and a core member of the ALICE collaboration — which stands for A Large Ion Collider Experiment — one of the major experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider or the LHC.
A few days ago, along with his colleges, he recieved the 2025 breakthrough prize in fundamental physics, which is one of the most prestigious award in science. We talk about the early universe, the beauty and chaos of large-scale collaborations, and what the future of physics might hold. Whether you're someone who thinks deeply about the universe or someone who just loves hearing how big science gets done, there's something for everyone. 

Hi Everyone, 
This is Episode 7 of The Knowmads Podcast. 
Every rational human has once in their life thought about the implications of porn on oneself and the society. Gail Dines, an anti-porn sociologist and professor at Wheelock college claims in her work that due to the adverse implications of pornography, it has become a public health issue and perhaps a solution is to enforce a complete ban on the porn industry. Our guest today Andrew Baldassarre is a philosopher and his current work is in response to this idea. He believes that it is important to acknowledge the pedagogical power of porn and to harness this aspect for the betterment of our society. 

xoxo 
The Knowmads

Andy Baldassarre - a Houston-based philosopher and beekeeper is a recent graduate of Northeastern University in Boston, MA. In the Spring of 2022, he received his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, with a double major in Philosophy. 

You can find Andrew at: https://www.instagram.com/really_me_andrewb
Website: https://www.andrewbaldassarre.com

You can find The Knowmads
Prachi Garella: 
Website: https://www.prachigarella.com
Lintree: https://linktr.ee/prachigarella
Bhavay: 
Website: https://www.bhavaytyagi.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhavaystyagi/

To reach us you can email us at: theknowmadsofficial@gmail.com

Hi Everyone, 
This is Episode 6 of The Knowmads Podcast. 
The path to self-exploration is very unique for everyone. Our passion, ambition and relationships play an instrumental role in shaping our lives. Our guest today found his true expression and self in literature. His humility and empathy allowed him to overcome all the challenges that life threw at him. With exploring literature, friendships, love, life and lots of laughter, this was one of the most heartfelt conversation in a very long time. 

P.S. This was an online podcast so the listener may experience some glitching once in a while but the heart of the conversation is preserved. 

xoxo 
The Knowmads

Deepak is a marketeer & content creator. He started his professional journey as a content creator through his Instagram page “Empty House of Literature”. Now he markets books at an e-commerce company. He was a math major in  undergrad and has masters in Statistics. 

You can find Deepak at: https://www.instagram.com/emptyhouseofliterature/

You can find The Knowmads
Prachi Garella: 
Website: https://www.prachigarella.com
Lintree: https://linktr.ee/prachigarella
Bhavay: 
Website: https://www.bhavaytyagi.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhavaystyagi/

To reach us you can email us at: theknowmadsofficial@gmail.com

Hi Everyone, 
This is Episode 5 of The Knowmads Podcast. 
A lot of students all around the world
leave their home country and move to another
county to prsue higher education. We often
talk about their learnings and success but in
reality what goes behind all that enlightenment is mostly never talked about. Our guest today has a PhD in physics who left his country, his family
in Nepal, to pursue his career in the states.
Even though this journey was not ideal, his
sanguine nature lead him to where he is now. 
Hope you enjoy the episode.  

xoxo 
The Knowmads 

Hi Everyone, 
This is Episode 4 of The Knowmads Podcast. 
We all know PhD one complete adventure like none other. There exist factors that we don't know anything when we begin our PhD. You can never expect how drastically the research project, advisor and the overall situation can change. Our guest today faced all such challenges and it only made him more strong, mature and confident. 
From having material science as his primary interest he now works in the Quantum Gravity Group.  
Hope you enjoy the episode.  

xoxo 
The Knowmads 

Hi Everyone, 
This is EP3 of The Knowmads Podcast. 
In Life one finds it difficult to find what truly makes them happy. 
Our guest today is someone who did not have such a problem. He is a physics graduate student, but that's not how his journey began.  Caleb Broodo left his basketball career, his dream to play in the NBA and his engineering pursuit to pursue his other dream of becoming a physicist.
Hope you enjoy the episode.  

xoxo 
The Knowmads 

Hi Everyone, 
This is EP2 of The Knowmads Podcast. 
 Have you ever found yourself in a situation when you you're passionate about something, you love something and you've learn to appreciate it from a very very young age but then life happened. 
Our guest today did his undergrad in mechanical engineering and physics but had to make a circumstantial switch to the finance industry. He then spent more than six year and found his was back to physics. This is a fun, fascinating and a very exciting episode. We hope to inspire people in similar situations and we want to let them know that they're not alone and all hope is not lost. 
Hope you enjoy the episode. 

xoxo 
The Knowmads 

Hi Everyone, 
This is EP1 of The Knowmads Podcast. 
 You've already seen our Vlogs and enjoyed our nomadic side. 
We have been planning to do this Podcast for a very long and finally we found the time to make it happen. We finally justify the 'Know' of Knowmads and we kickstart this podcast by addressing a common question that we always get: 
"How do you manage your relationship being in the same profession? How do you manage your personal and professional life? and much more.." 
We come out completely honest about what bothers us and how we actually make it work. 
We would love to inspire those in a similar situation and we hope that others can also take something from this. 
We hope to have ya'll along this journey of exploring not just ourselves but also the world around us. We also look forward to expand our knowledge along with you. We will try to bring unique stories and research that will definitely help people in graduate school. 

xoxo 
The Knowmads 

Hi Everyone, 
This is Episode 15 of The Knowmads Podcast.
The mother’s Mental health during the time of pregnancy is extremely crucial. Studies suggest that prenatal stress and trauma have the capacity to propagate through generations. Our guest today is a UH graduate student at the Laboratory of early experiences and development studying cognitive and behavioral neuroscience. 

Livia Merrill’s  research studies the impact of prenatal stress on the cognitive development of the new born. She has strong opinions about policies surrounding such tangible research and the dissemination of scientific findings. You’re all in for an extremely illuminating conversation.

So let's go.
xoxo 
The Knowmads

You can find Livia on Instagram @the_liv_life

You can find The Knowmads
Prachi Garella: 
Website: https://www.prachigarella.com
Lintree: https://linktr.ee/prachigarella
Bhavay: 
Website: https://www.bhavaytyagi.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhavaystyagi/

To reach us you can email us at: theknowmadsofficial@gmail.com

Hi Everyone, 
This is Episode 14 of The Knowmads Podcast.
Whether you're a parent searching for that delicate equilibrium between responsibilities and aspirations, or someone looking for a force of motivation to go back to school, start a different journey, or simply someone seeking a tale of inspiration, you're in for a treat.

From her humble beginnings, serving tirelessly for a non-profit organization in the vibrant heart of Latin America, to the classrooms where she ignited young minds as an educator, and now juggling between being a grad student and a mother. Kristen's journey has been a tapestry of inspiration.

This is a beautiful conversation where we talk about her challenges, and the invaluable lessons she's gathered along the way. 

So let's go.
xoxo 
The Knowmads

You can find The Knowmads
Prachi Garella: 
Website: https://www.prachigarella.com
Lintree: https://linktr.ee/prachigarella
Bhavay: 
Website: https://www.bhavaytyagi.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhavaystyagi/

To reach us you can email us at: theknowmadsofficial@gmail.com

Hi Everyone, 
This is Episode 13 of The Knowmads Podcast.
Most of us who grew up in bilingual or a multilingual homes
often wonder if the new babies in the family will be able to understand
these different language(s). In this episode we dive deep into the fascinating
world of early language development in children. Our guest today
Christina Diaz Griep is a psychologist from University of Houston where her research involves understanding how children growing up in bilingual and monolingual households navigate the intricate journey of language acquisition. 

So let's go.
xoxo 
The Knowmads

You can find Christina:
@Christygriep on Instagram

You can find The Knowmads
Prachi Garella: 
Website: https://www.prachigarella.com
Lintree: https://linktr.ee/prachigarella
Bhavay: 
Website: https://www.bhavaytyagi.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhavaystyagi/

To reach us you can email us at: theknowmadsofficial@gmail.com

Hi Everyone,
This is Episode 12 of The Knowmads Podcast.
Long after abolishment of Slavery in the US, in the late 1800s the effects are still seen in different forms. The unbalanced dynamics of power between prison authorities and prisoners illustrates hints of slavery even today and remains ignored. Our guest today is a historian from Rice University and in her research she particularly highlights the oppressive experiences of incarcerated black women in the late 20th century in jails in Texas. She talks about various forms of abuse that is witnessed even today in Texas Jails. It’s a very illuminating and thought provoking podcast, I’m sure you’ll like it.

xoxo
The Knowmads

You can find Nina:
@Nina.nevill on Instagram

You can find The Knowmads
Prachi Garella: 
Website: https://www.prachigarella.com
Lintree: https://linktr.ee/prachigarella
Bhavay: 
Website: https://www.bhavaytyagi.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhavaystyagi/

To reach us you can email us at: theknowmadsofficial@gmail.com

Hi Everyone,
This is Episode 11 of The Knowmads Podcast.
Have you ever wondered why do we dream, are we conscious while
we are sleeping?
How is our brain able to generate a 3 dimensional visual image every night while our eyes are closed? Our guest today Adriana Alcaraz Sánchez is a philosopher, from University of Glasgow. In new recent work. She talks about objectless sleep awareness
and compares the ideologies of western philosophy regarding consciousness while one
sleeps with various different philosophical traditions from other parts of the world.
This is an extremely intriguing conversation where Adrian explains some of the interesting concepts in philosophy. Since we recorded this online the quality of audio may not be the best but I assure you that, the quality of the conversation is immaculate.
So let's go

xoxo
The Knowmads

You can find Adriana:
@Hawally_ on X (twitter)
Website: http://www.adriana-alcarazsanchez.xyz/

You can find The Knowmads
Prachi Garella: 
Website: https://www.prachigarella.com
Lintree: https://linktr.ee/prachigarella
Bhavay: 
Website: https://www.bhavaytyagi.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhavaystyagi/

To reach us you can email us at: theknowmadsofficial@gmail.com

Hi Everyone, 
This is Episode 10 of The Knowmads Podcast.
Political discussions and associated ideologies almost always resolve in thinking about national leaders and the large scale effects of policies that finally lead to geo politics. The conversations often lack the microscopic details and the penetrative effects of policies at the lowest local level, where ‘in principle’ it actually matters. 
Studies suggest that such discussions ,amongst young students, who are these future leaders, are completely missing in recent times. The drive and necessity of social acceptance and the high sensitivity surrounding these topics renders the young mind extremely hesitant and sometimes completely helpless. 
In todays episode we aim to break this notion apart. 
Our guest today is a 3rd year physics graduate student at the University of Houston. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and astronomy from Emory University. His research is in experimental particle physics he specializes in designing and building equipment and systems for highly sensitive particle detectors. Daniel shares with us his true opinions about recent American Educational Policies and how that affects lives of graduate students and since it’s not possible to not talk about physics on The Knowmads Podcast, we talk about the current state of Dark Matter detection in the community.

xoxo 
The Knowmads

You can find Daniel at: https://www.instagram.com/here_comes_duff
Email: dhuff@uh.edu

You can find The Knowmads
Prachi Garella: 
Website: https://www.prachigarella.com
Lintree: https://linktr.ee/prachigarella
Bhavay: 
Website: https://www.bhavaytyagi.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhavaystyagi/

To reach us you can email us at: theknowmadsofficial@gmail.com

Hi Everyone, 
This is Episode 9 of The Knowmads Podcast. 
Right before getting into the double digits of episodes we decided to do an ask us anything episode. Although we weren't able to answer all the questions that you guys had asked we answered ones that were most interesting and kind of captured many details in the questions that we missed. We would like to thank you all for the wonderful questions and support and we're truly grateful. We'll keep doing the ask us anything episodes since it is a great way to get feedback from our audience and for us to gauge what is it that you all like. We hope you enjoy this episode it's one of the longer ones. 
xoxo 
The Knowmads

You can find The Knowmads
Prachi Garella: 
Website: https://www.prachigarella.com
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/prachigarella
Bhavay: 
Website: https://www.bhavaytyagi.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhavaystyagi/

To reach us you can email us at: theknowmadsofficial@gmail.com

Hi Everyone, 
This is Episode 8 of The Knowmads Podcast. 
During the academic stages of our lives we spend most of our time developing tools and skills that aid our research and problem solving ability and this is true for all fields of study. Now most students think that this is it! This is how you can essentially get your dream position. 
Well what is often missed are the soft skills that are absolutely crucial to provide us that edge over others when applying for jobs. Our guest today is almost at the end of his PhD and has effectively picked up on some of these skills throughout his journey and we understood the essence of sharing it with the world. In this conversation we talk about the effect of time management, having a platform to showcase yourself, networking, a functional relationship with your advisor and much more. It was truly an honest and candid conversation with a lot of perspectives hope you enjoy it.
xoxo 
The Knowmads

You can find Aymen at: https://www.instagram.com/thelifeandtimesofaymen
Website: https://www.aymenshamoon.com

You can find The Knowmads
Prachi Garella: 
Website: https://www.prachigarella.com
Lintree: https://linktr.ee/prachigarella
Bhavay: 
Website: https://www.bhavaytyagi.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhavaystyagi/

To reach us you can email us at: theknowmadsofficial@gmail.com

Science and philosophy have always been woven together. Some of history’s greatest minds—Aristotle, Galileo, Aryabhata and even Einstein—were as much philosophers as they were scientists.

This has also been true for ancient Indian civilization, where science and philosophy were explored with extraordinary depth, not as separate pursuits, but as complementary paths to knowledge. 

These insights were preserved in Sanskrit, a language whose precision allowed complex ideas to be recorded with remarkable clarity. But centuries
of invasions and nearly a thousand years of foreign rule made this knowledge less accessible, and its nuance steadily eroded. 

Much of it was collapsed into the broad label of “spirituality”—a word that has itself lost the rigor and depth it once carried. The central dogma of these ancient Indian texts was an uncompromising commitment to curiosity
and questioning. 

Our guest today, Dr. Ramakrishnan Hosur, apart from being a renowned figure in science, has embarked on the journey of demystifying these texts with that same uncompromising commitment. He believes in building upon that curiosity and using it as an anchor for scientific progress. In his book, Where Science Meets Spirituality, he explores precisely this intersection. 

Dr. Hosur is a distinguished biophysicist and his remarkable career spans pioneering developments in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, structural biology, and protein folding. His work earned him India’s fourth-highest
civilian honour, the Padma Shri, in 2014. He has spent decades at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, where he also headed the National Facility for High-Field NMR. And now, he has been inspiring a whole new way of looking at knowledge by demystifying ancient Indian texts and showing how curiosity can bridge science and spirituality. 

So if you’re someone who finds inspiration at the crossroads of science, philosophy and spirituality, or simply someone who’s just curious, you’re in for a treat. So let's go.

His wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramakrishna_V._Hosur

Imagine walking deep into a dense forest without a map or GPS. Initially, you kind of know where you started. But as you wander further, eventually, it's impossible to tell where you came from — every direction looks the same. That's thermalization.

 The initial state's details get scrambled across all degrees of freedom and as a result local observables settle into a stable, time-independent state called the equilibrium state. The fact that macroscopic objects equilibrate with their environments is such a ubiquitous experience that understanding it doesn't seem very interesting. Although it's absolutely non-trivial. At Equilibrium these local observables are represented by their thermal expectation values.

 So if one had access to a map or perhaps a GPS which just means keeping track of those initial details such as any non-local correlations or even the entire state, locally thermalization would still occur, but one could easily backtrack to the initial state. In physics it is quite surprising how systems behave collectively, when compared to the behavior of its components. This is known as emergent behavior.

 We've been taught that evolution of any system should entirely depend on initial conditions but we see that a lack of initial state dependence is what actually gives a consistent behavior macroscopically.

 For an isolated quantum many-body system, this becomes even more fascinating because even though the full evolution, is unitary and reversible--which means backtracking is guaranteed-- locally, memory seems to be lost.

 Then how does this classical behaviour emerge from Quantum mechanics?

 A key idea is the Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis (ETH): each non-degenerate energy eigenstate itself can be considered “thermal”.

Their expectation values fluctuate little between nearby eigenstates, provided the local operator acts on few degrees of freedom.  

Intuitively, a small subsystem of an isolated quantum system acts as if it's in contact with a thermal bath—the rest of the system. So in large, non-integrable systems, thermal behavior emerges without needing a microcanonical average—a single eigenstate often suffices. 

If ETH is true then if the initial state dependent coefficients are concentrated around some single energy then our TEV will give the desired microcanonical and canonical averages. 

Our guest today is Pavan Hosur, a theoretical physicist in the Department of Physics and the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston. His research focuses on understanding topological phases of matter, exotic broken symmetry phases, and how to detect them experimentally. He also explores quantum ergodicity, quantum chaos, and more broadly, how concepts from classical statistical mechanics extend into the quantum realm. We’re recording this episode in his lovely office, discussing how our complex yet elegant macroscopic world emerges from the quantum laws that govern the microscopic one. So let’s get started.

His website is here: https://sites.google.com/nsm.uh.edu/qmb/home

Modern physics rests on two foundational frameworks that describe our universe at different scales. The first is General Relativity, Einstein’s theory of gravity, which describes gravity not as a force but as the curvature of spacetime itself. Massive objects bend the geometry of spacetime, and this curvature dictates how all massive objects move,  from planets to black holes.
   At the microscopic scale, we have quantum mechanics which describes the probabilistic nature of particles like electrons and photons. Quantum mechanics also laid the foundation for Quantum Field Theory where particles are no longer seen as standalone objects but as excitations of quantum fields that permeate spacetime. This is the formalism behind the Standard Model of particle physics, our best theory to date for describing the electromagnetic, weak, and strong nuclear forces.
 
Individually, both theories aren’t just theoretically robust but also experimentally validated. However, combining them isn’t as easy as it sounds. The mathematical frameworks of General Relativity and Quantum Field Theory are fundamentally incompatible. When we try to apply quantum principles to spacetime itself, like at the singularity of a black hole or during the earliest moments of the universe, the equations break down.
 
One of the most ambitious and mathematically rich attempts to reconcile these two frameworks is String Theory. In string theory, the point-like particles
of the Standard Model are replaced by tiny vibrating strings, and different vibrational modes correspond to different particles. Even though string theory comes with its own challenges, like the need to compactify extra dimensions, it remains one of the most compelling candidates for a unified theory of nature. One of its greatest successes lies in the discovery of dualities which connects seemingly unrelated theories. Among the most powerful of these is the AdS/CFT correspondence, or gauge/gravity duality, which proposes an equivalence between a theory of gravity in higher-dimensional spacetime and a quantum field theory without gravity on its lower-dimensional boundary.
 
Our guest today is Professor Andreas Karch, a theoretical physicist at the University of Texas at Austin, who has played a key role in shaping our understanding of gauge/gravity duality and has made significant contributions to string theory. If you’re someone curious about why we need to quantize gravity, eager to unpack the ideas behind string theory, or simply excited to explore the frontiers of fundamental physics — you’re in for a treat. Before we start the episode there’s something I'd like to mention. We went all the way from Houston to Austin to record this episode in his office, but because tech can be sneaky sometimes, we ended up losing our video footage — mine and Bhavay’s. Thankfully, Andreas’s camera kept rolling It was incredibly heartbreaking but we didn’t want to lose this episode so we got creative. If you're watching this on YouTube, the visuals you’ll see for the hosts are AI-generated avatars. The audio is 100 percent real. We have worked hard to create a compelling visual experience for you, we hope you like it. And like all our episodes, this conversation is raw, unedited, and without any cuts.

Andreas Karch is a professor of Physics at UT Austin, where he moved after being on the faculty for close to 20 years at the University of Washington in Seattle. He works on string theory and formal quantum field theory with an eye towards applications in other areas of physics. He did is undergraduate studies at the University of Wuerzburg in Germany, received an MA from UT Austin, his PhD from Humboldt University in Berlin, and did postdocs at MIT and Harvard. He is a fellow of the APS and a PI on the Simons Collaboration on Ultra Quantum Matter.

Check out his work here: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jO39jLYAAAAJ&hl=en