173 - Ken Olum: What Are Cosmic Strings?

Ken Olum is Research Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Tufts University, where he works on exotic physics and topics in cosmology like cosmic strings, gravitational waves, anthropic reasoning, and inflation. In this episode, Robinson and Ken talk all about cosmic strings, which are spindly, hypothesized astronomical objects of intense mass and energy that may have been created in the earliest periods of the universe. OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:27 Introduction 03:00  Exotic Astrophysics and NANOGrav 16:19  What Are Cosmic Strings? 37:14 String Theory and the Multiverse 42:34 Details About Cosmic Strings 48:46 How Can We Detect Cosmic Strings? 01:00:03 Travel Within the Multiverse Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.