Mithuna on Quantum Immortality, Self-Studying Quantum Mechanics, PhD research, and Quantum Computing
Mithuna on Quantum Immortality, Self-Studying Quantum Mechanics, PhD research, and Quantum Computing  
Podcast: Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal
Published On: Thu Mar 11 2021
Description: In this episode quantum physicist Mithuna Yoganathan explores quantum immortality, self‑studying quantum mechanics, her PhD research, and quantum computing. She also shares how she runs a 200k+ subscriber YouTube channel, learning strategies, and deep theoretical debates such as the Gottesman‑Knill theorem and the source of quantum speedup.- 00:00:00 - Introduction- 00:02:26 - What's it like running a 200k+ subscriber YouTube channel?- 00:02:56 - Using "explanation to others" as a self‑learning tool- 00:05:27 - How do you learn new physics / mathematics?- 00:06:22 - On feeling like math / physics isn't within your ability to grasp- 00:08:29 - Is math necessary for understanding physics- 00:09:23 - Daily schedule / routine- 00:12:50 - Dealing with people emailing theories- 00:15:28 - Fat‑shattering dimensions- 00:17:01 - What's the Pauli group's relation to the Clifford group?- 00:19:44 - How do you prove that a quantum algorithm is efficiently simulable classically- 00:22:58 - Gottesman‑Knill theorem (and its extension, proved by Mithuna)- 00:25:41 - What's responsible for the "speedup" in Quantum Computing?- 00:29:24 - Which of her thesis results is the most significant? (on quantum complexity and clean Qubits)- 00:37:27 - Magic state distillation- 00:38:34 - Gödel's incompleteness, with quantum logic- 00:40:41 - Halting problem- 00:41:10 - Quantum Computers vs Probabilistic Turing Machines- 00:42:17 - P = NP- 00:44:41 - Richard Borcherd's comments on Quantum Computers not being "better" than classical (generically)- 00:47:05 - Quantum Contextuality- 00:52:29 - Quantum decoherence and why it doesn't solve the measurement problem- 00:56:26 - On the Many Worlds Interpretation- 00:58:45 - Quantum Immortality- 01:03:19 - Is space / time discrete and what would the implications of this be for QC?- 01:04:42 - Wolfram's "principle of computational equivalence"- 01:05:32 - Bohemian Pilot wave theory- 01:09:28 - Are the laws of physics ultimately beautiful and simple?- 01:10:31 - Audience Q: Thoughts on QBism?SPONSORS:- Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal- PayPal: https://bit.ly/2EOR0M4- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802- Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e- Google Podcasts: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Id3k7k7mfzahfx2fjqmw3vufb44- Discord Invite Code (as of Mar 04 2021): dmGgQ2dRzS- Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverythingRESOURCES:- YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2ct0zv_M-I- Looking Glass Universe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFk__1iexL3T5gvGcMpeHNA- Link to Peter Gray video mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQLkKKERWsI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices