Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast

Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences
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The Isaac Newton Institute is the world's foremost mathematical research centre. Living Proof aims to highlight the diverse people and interconnected topics linked to its many activities. Interviewees range from visiting academics and lecturers to mathematicians, other scientists, musicians, artists, students, and prominent figures within the University of Cambridge and beyond. The podcast typically involves mathematical themes, but is specifically aimed at a general audience. The focus is on the subjects being interviewed and the social stories they have to tell, not just on the significance and details of the research they may be undertaking. We hope there is interest and inspiration here for everyone.- The Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (UK) is an international research centre based in Cambridge, UK. A part of the University of Cambridge, it has been hosting research programmes on mathematical themes since July 1992. Visit > www.newton.ac.uk/news/ini-podcast

  1. APR 24

    Revealing the secrets of Sanskrit mathematics with Prof Clemency Montelle - Episode #74

    Send us Fan Mail We talk with Professor Clemency Montelle all about her work decoding the mathematics of ancient manuscripts. In a wide-ranging discussion, we cover some of the concepts that first arose in India, hear about a mentor who hosted meals based on ancient recipes, and learn how important cultural and historical context is for the questions that mathematicians ask. While she was at the INI, Professor Montelle delivered the Kirk Lecture for the Modern History of Mathematics Programme, which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa2kN-li984  --- This episode was supported by the quantitative research firm G-Research, which has launched a new series of mathematical puzzles called G-Riddles. It's free to try and could win you a cash prize: https://www.gresearch.com/griddles/ Living Proof is the podcast of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge.  The Isaac Newton Institute is a national and international visitor research institute. It runs research programmes on selected themes in mathematics and the mathematical sciences with applications over a wide range of science and technology. It attracts leading mathematical scientists from the UK and overseas to interact in research over an extended period. Produced by Jon Farrow. Edited by Keerthi Raj. Music: 'Origami' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au ---- **Correction** At 5:26, the date of the earliest numerical tables is the beginning of the second millenium before the Common Era.

    37 min
  2. #73 Building digital hearts

    2025-11-24

    #73 Building digital hearts

    Send us Fan Mail Imagine if your doctor had a digital model of your heart, personalised to you and updated with your latest medical information. This isn't science fiction – this revolutionary healthcare is being tested now. In this podcast we speak to Steven Niederer, who leads the CVDNet project developing and testing these ideas, and his colleague Richard Wilkinson, from the University of Nottingham. Richard is one of the organisers of the long research programme, Representing, calibrating & leveraging prediction uncertainty from statistics to machine learning (RCL), held earlier this year at the Isaac Newton Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (INI). We first spoke to Steven back in 2019 when he helped organise the Fickle Heart programme at the INI. In this podcast, Richard and Steven tell us about digital twins, digital hearts, and how the RCL programme and CVDNet build on the work started back in 2019 with the Fickle Heart programme. You can find out more about some of the ideas discussed in this podcast in these short introductions: Maths in a Minute: Mathematical modelsMaths in a Minute: Differential equationsMaths in Minute: Machine learning

    25 min
  3. #72 Céline Broeckaert and Frank Verstraete

    2025-11-12

    #72 Céline Broeckaert and Frank Verstraete

    Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Living Proof, we speak with Céline and Frank about their book: Why nobody understands quantum physics - and everyone needs to know something about it. They share insights into their writing journey and how each of their backgrounds contributed to the final project. We met Céline and Frank at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge, where Frank is co-organising the research programme Quantum field theory with boundaries, impurities, and defects. "I have learnt that even if you are not a master in mathematics and science you are still able to grasp the essence." This is Céline Broeckaert talking, believe it or not, about the famously difficult theory of quantum mechanics. Céline knows what she's talking about. She's not a physicist, in fact she's a Romance languages scholar, author and playwright. Yet she's written a book about quantum mechanics together with her physicist husband Frank Verstraete, Leigh Trapnell Professor of Quantum Physics at the University of Cambridge. The book is called Why nobody understands quantum physics - and everyone needs to know something about it. And it's good timing: quantum mechanics celebrates its 100th birthday this year. See here for an article Plus Magazine published previously about Frank's work. For a brief introduction to quantum mechanics see A ridiculously short introduction to some very basic quantum mechanics. To find out more about the overlap of maths and art, see here.

    27 min
  4. #71 Moustapha Fall

    2025-10-22

    #71 Moustapha Fall

    Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Living Proof podcast we're delighted to meet Moustapha Fall. Moustapha is the Center President of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Senegal and winner of a prestigious Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians from Developing Countries. He also plays an important role on the international stage as Member-at-Large of the Executive Committee of the International Mathematical Union. Moustapha talks to us about about the amazing institution that is AIMS, about his outreach activities and advice for budding mathematicians, and about the challenges that face mathematicians in sub-Saharan Africa. You can find the IMU-ICIAM report on fraudulent publishing, which Moustapha mentions in the podcast, here. The same team of authors has also drawn up recommendations on how to fight fraudulent publishing. We met Moustapha when he visited the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge.

    25 min
  5. #70 Codina Cotar and some amazing mathematical art

    2025-10-15

    #70 Codina Cotar and some amazing mathematical art

    Send us Fan Mail Earlier this year the the anomalous mathematical patterns sci-art competition attracted some jaw-dropping entries. The competition was held in connection to the Stochastic systems for anomalous diffusion research programme which took place at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI) in Cambridge last year.  In this episode of Living Proof, we talk to Codina Cotar, who co-organised the INI programme and helped put on the competition. Codina explains the maths which served as inspiration and discusses some of the winning entries. From coffee to quantum mechanics and from dance to diffusion, find out how mathematics, nature and art are inextricably linked. Note that the in-person exhibition at the INI is now scheduled for March 2026. The entries discusses in this podcast are shown below. To find out more about some of the mathematical topics mentioned in this podcast see: The Sci-art competition - This article explores some of the mathematics behind the competition, including randomness, diffusion, and many particle systems.The Fields Medals 2022: Maryna Viazovska - This article looks at the mathematics of sphere packings, which won a Fields Medal for the mathematician Maryna Viazovska.Maths in a Minute: Fluid dynamics - A very bried introduction to the mathematics of liquids and gases.A ridiculously short introduction to some very basic quantum mechanics - This article does what the title suggests.A brief history of quantum field theory - A deeper look at the theory that arose from quantum mechanics.

    23 min
  6. #69 Ekaterina Eremenko on Olga Ladyzhenskaya’s Life in Math

    2025-07-09

    #69 Ekaterina Eremenko on Olga Ladyzhenskaya’s Life in Math

    Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Living Proof, we speak with renowned filmmaker Ekaterina Eremenko about her film "Portrait of Olga Ladyzhenskaya", which tells the story of the legendary Russian mathematician celebrated for her groundbreaking work in partial differential equations and fluid dynamics. Ekaterina shares what inspired her to bring Ladyzhenskaya’s life to the screen, explores the creative process behind the film, and reflects on the powerful intersection of art and science. The film was screened at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences to celebrate International Women in Mathematics Day 2025.

    17 min
  7. #68 Hunting through higher dimensions with Zhouli Xu

    2025-07-02

    #68 Hunting through higher dimensions with Zhouli Xu

    Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the latest episode of Living Proof, our podcast produced in collaboration with Plus.maths.org– you can find all the content from the collaboration here. On May 30th 2024 seminar goers at Princeton University witnessed a thrilling moment. The mathematician Zhouli Xu of the University of California, LA, announced that, together with colleagues he had sorted out the 126th dimension. Not in general, but in regards to a problem that has taunted mathematicians since the 1960s. The problem involves strange shapes and is called the Kervaire invariant problem, after the mathematician Michel Kervaire. In this episode, Zhouli takes us on a trip into higher dimensions, giving us a gist of what this long-standing problem is all about and retracing some of the long, and sometimes arduous, journey towards a proof. We met Zhouli when he visited the Isaac Newton institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI) in Cambridge to take part in a research programme called Equivariant homotopy theory in Context. To find out more abut the topics discussed in this podcast see: Maths in a minute: TopologyThe hypersphere in four dimensionsTelescope topology

    34 min
  8. #67 The meaning is in the arrows with Adina Goldberg

    2025-06-11

    #67 The meaning is in the arrows with Adina Goldberg

    Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the latest episode of Living Proof, our podcast produced in collaboration with Plus.maths.org In this podcast we hope to give you some interesting information.  This information is encoded in terms of 0s and 1s – the classical bits in your computer or phone.  But what if instead we were using a quantum computer?  Then we'd be dealing with quantum bits, or qubits, opening up exciting new possibilities. And quantum information theory is the area of mathematics that explores how we can do that.  Adina Goldberg was one of the participants at a recent research programme in this area at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences. In this episode we speak to Adina about her work and how her intriguing motto – "the meaning is in the arrows" – applies to her research, her career path, and the way she looks at life. You can find out more about quantum information in this short introduction and delve into the details of information theory in this collection of content.   Make sure you visit

    22 min
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The Isaac Newton Institute is the world's foremost mathematical research centre. Living Proof aims to highlight the diverse people and interconnected topics linked to its many activities. Interviewees range from visiting academics and lecturers to mathematicians, other scientists, musicians, artists, students, and prominent figures within the University of Cambridge and beyond. The podcast typically involves mathematical themes, but is specifically aimed at a general audience. The focus is on the subjects being interviewed and the social stories they have to tell, not just on the significance and details of the research they may be undertaking. We hope there is interest and inspiration here for everyone.- The Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (UK) is an international research centre based in Cambridge, UK. A part of the University of Cambridge, it has been hosting research programmes on mathematical themes since July 1992. Visit > www.newton.ac.uk/news/ini-podcast

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