Big Bang, Black holes and Gravitational waves
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This episode is with Abhay Ashtekar. He is Evan Pugh Professor of Physics at Penn State, where he also holds the Eberly Chair. In 1993, he founded the Institute of Gravitation and the Cosmos. Ashtekar’s scientific work focuses on theoretical aspects of general relativity, cosmology and quantum gravity. Here we talk about what is gravity?, loop quantum gravity, The big bang, The big bounce, Singularities, Black holes and gravitational waves.
About the guest
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:52 What is gravity?
00:10:50 Einstein's equivalence principle
00:15:34 Importance of geometry in physics
00:19:04 Introduction to quantum field theory
00:23:50 Einstein's work on quantum mechanics
00:25:04 Quantum field theory to explain reality
00:33:10 Scale of theory of relativity and quantum field theory
00:37:50 Introduction to loop quantum gravity
00:52:44 Gravity is a weak force
00:54:45 'Loops' in loop quantum gravity
01:05:20 Difference between strings and quantum threads
01:07:04 Status of Gravitons
01:10:58 Importance of gravitons
01:15:12 Gravitational waves
01:17:34 What is a black hole?
01:21:16 Black holes and loop quantum gravity
01:27:12 The Big Bounce
01:38:00 Loop quantum cosmology
01:39:07 Big bounce and the universe
01:41:31 Validating loop quantum gravity
01:45:25 Recommended reading
01:49:51 Thank you!