Search a title or topic

Over 20 million podcasts, powered by 

Player FM logo
Artwork

Content provided by Brian Keating and Big Bang Productions Inc.. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Brian Keating and Big Bang Productions Inc. or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.
Player FM - Podcast App
Go offline with the Player FM app!

Thomas Hertog: What Came Before The Big Bang?

54:23
 
Share
 

Manage episode 504837728 series 1294742
Content provided by Brian Keating and Big Bang Productions Inc.. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Brian Keating and Big Bang Productions Inc. or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥

In a sweeping conversation drawn from his collaboration with Stephen Hawking, Thomas Hertog explores the radical “no-boundary” theory—a vision of the cosmos with no singular beginning, evolving laws of physics, and a past that isn’t fixed until observed. Rejecting the untestable multiverse, Hertog and Hawking built a fully quantum cosmology that embeds the observer within the equations, predicting inflation and replacing anthropic guesswork with a falsifiable framework.

Hertog explains how time could emerge from something deeper than the Big Bang, why constants of nature may be dynamic, and how holography hints the laws of physics themselves might fade away at the origin. He then turns to the experiments—from next-generation CMB polarization to gravitational wave backgrounds—that could confirm or refute this bold vision, challenging us to see the universe as a living, evolving system whose history we help to shape.

—

Key Takeaways:

00:00 Intro

01:03 Thomas’s first reaction to Hawking’s theory

03:38 Hawking’s model of the Big Bang

07:20 The no-boundary proposal

22:18 The role of conscious observers in cosmology

24:34 The wick rotation and its implications

29:29 The future of physics and experimental tests

37:57 The experimental minimum

40:04 The holographic principle

43:57 Work Thomas would like to share with Hawking

49:11 Outro

—

Additional resources:

📚 On the Origin of Time by Thomas Hertog: https://a.co/d/ftze4JC

—

➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms:

✖️ Twitter:⁠ ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating⁠

🔔 YouTube:⁠ https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1⁠

📝 Join my mailing list:⁠ ⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/list⁠

✍️ Check out my blog:⁠ ⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/⁠

🎙️ Follow my podcast:⁠ ⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/podcast⁠

—

Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.

Make sure to follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  continue reading

569 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 504837728 series 1294742
Content provided by Brian Keating and Big Bang Productions Inc.. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Brian Keating and Big Bang Productions Inc. or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥

In a sweeping conversation drawn from his collaboration with Stephen Hawking, Thomas Hertog explores the radical “no-boundary” theory—a vision of the cosmos with no singular beginning, evolving laws of physics, and a past that isn’t fixed until observed. Rejecting the untestable multiverse, Hertog and Hawking built a fully quantum cosmology that embeds the observer within the equations, predicting inflation and replacing anthropic guesswork with a falsifiable framework.

Hertog explains how time could emerge from something deeper than the Big Bang, why constants of nature may be dynamic, and how holography hints the laws of physics themselves might fade away at the origin. He then turns to the experiments—from next-generation CMB polarization to gravitational wave backgrounds—that could confirm or refute this bold vision, challenging us to see the universe as a living, evolving system whose history we help to shape.

—

Key Takeaways:

00:00 Intro

01:03 Thomas’s first reaction to Hawking’s theory

03:38 Hawking’s model of the Big Bang

07:20 The no-boundary proposal

22:18 The role of conscious observers in cosmology

24:34 The wick rotation and its implications

29:29 The future of physics and experimental tests

37:57 The experimental minimum

40:04 The holographic principle

43:57 Work Thomas would like to share with Hawking

49:11 Outro

—

Additional resources:

📚 On the Origin of Time by Thomas Hertog: https://a.co/d/ftze4JC

—

➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms:

✖️ Twitter:⁠ ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating⁠

🔔 YouTube:⁠ https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1⁠

📝 Join my mailing list:⁠ ⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/list⁠

✍️ Check out my blog:⁠ ⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/⁠

🎙️ Follow my podcast:⁠ ⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/podcast⁠

—

Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.

Make sure to follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  continue reading

569 episodes

כל הפרקים

×
 
Loading …

Welcome to Player FM!

Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices.

 

Copyright 2025 | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | | Copyright
Listen to this show while you explore
Play