The geometry of chaos can explain our uncertain world, from weather and pandemics to quantum physics and free will.

This talk was recorded at the Ri on 21 April 2023.

Join Tim Palmer as he explores how it provides the means to predict the world around us, and provides new insights into some of the most astonishing aspects of our universe and ourselves.

Watch the Q&A here:    • Q&A: Chaos theory and geometry: can t...  
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00:00 Introduction
00:55 Illustrating Chaos Theory with pendulums (demo)
02:44 Fractal geometry: A bridge from Newton to 20th Century mathematics
08:43 The three great theorems of 20th Century mathematics
11:24 The concept of State Space
14:43 Lorenz State Space
19:24 Cantor's Set and the prototype fractal
22:52 Hilbert's Decision Problem
24:04 The link between 20th Century mathematics and fractal geometry
27:21 The predictability of chaotic systems
32:26 Predicting hurricanes with Chaos Theory
43:44 The Bell experiment: proving the universe is not real?
51:45 Counterfactuals in Bell's theorem
56:29 Applying fractals to Bell's theorem
01:03:57 The end of spatial reductionism

Buy Tim's book 'The Primacy of Doubt' here: https://geni.us/5bgfg

Tim Palmer is a Royal Society Research Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford. Following a PhD in general relativity theory, he spent much of his career working on the predictability and dynamics of weather and climate, developing probabilistic ensemble prediction systems across a range of weather and climate timescales. He also researches the foundations of quantum physics, in addition to applications of quantum and imprecise computing. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and an International Member of the US National Academy of Sciences. Amongst other awards, he has won the Institute of Physics Dirac Gold Medal, and the top medals of the American and European Meteorological Societies.

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