The Cartesian Cafe

The Cartesian Cafe is the podcast where an expert guest and Timothy Nguyen map out scientific and mathematical subjects in detail. This collaborative journey with other experts will have us writing down formulas, drawing pictures, and reasoning about them together on a whiteboard. If you’ve been longing for a deeper dive into the intricacies of scientific subjects, then this is the podcast for you. Topics covered include mathematics, physics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and computer science. Content also viewable on YouTube: www.youtube.com/timothynguyen and Spotify. Timothy Nguyen is a mathematician and AI researcher working in industry. Homepage: www.timothynguyen.com, Twitter: @IAmTimNguyen Patreon: www.patreon.com/timothynguyen

https://cartesiancafe.podbean.com

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episode 15: Tim Maudlin | Bell’s Theorem and Beyond: Nobody Understands Quantum Mechanics

Tim Maudlin is a philosopher of science specializing in the foundations of physics, metaphysics, and logic. He is a professor at New York University, a member of the Foundational Questions Institute, and the founder and director of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics.

Patreon (bonus materials + video chat):
https://www.patreon.com/timothynguyen

In this very in-depth discussion, Tim and I probe the foundations of science through the avenues of locality and determinism as arising from the Einstein-Poldosky-Rosen (EPR) paradox and Bell's Theorem. These issues are so intricate that even the Nobel Prize commitee incorrectly described the significance of Bell's work in their press release for 2022 prize in physics. Viewers motivated enough to think deeply about these ideas will be rewarded with a conceptually proper understanding of the nonlocal nature of physics and its manifestation in quantum theory.

I. Introduction 00:00 :

00:25: Biography
05:26: Interdisciplinary work
11:54 : Physicists working on the wrong things
16:47 : Bell's Theorem soft overview
24:14: Common misunderstanding of "God does not play dice."
25:59: Technical outline

II. EPR Paradox / Argument

29:14 : EPR is not a paradox
34:57 : Criterion of reality
43:57 : Mathematical formulation
46:32 : Locality: No spooky action at a distance
49:54 : Bertlmann's socks
53:17 : EPR syllogism summarized
54:52 : Determinism is inferred not assumed
1:02:18 : Clarifying analogy: Coin flips
1:06:39 : Einstein's objection to determinism revisited

III. Bohm Segue

1:11:05 : Introduction
1:13:38: Bell and von Neumann's error
1:20:14: Bell's motivation: Can I remove Bohm's nonlocality?

IV. Bell's Theorem and Related Examples

1:25:13 : Setup
1:27:59 : Decoding Bell's words: Locality is the key!
1:34:16 : Bell's inequality (overview)
1:36:46 : Bell's inequality (math)
1:39:15 : Concrete example of violation of Bell's inequality
1:49:42: GHZ Example

V. Miscellany

2:06:23 : Statistical independence assumption
2:13:18: The 2022 Nobel Prize
2:17:43: Misconceptions and hidden variables
2:22:28: The assumption of local realism? Repeat: Determinism is a conclusion not an assumption.

VI. Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics

2:28:44: Interpretation is a misnomer
2:29:48: Three requirements. You can only pick two.
2:34:52: Copenhagen interpretation?