#472 – Terence Tao: Hardest Problems in Mathematics, Physics & the Future of AI

Terence Tao is widely considered to be one of the greatest mathematicians in history. He won the Fields Medal and the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics, and has contributed to a wide range of fields from fluid dynamics with Navier-Stokes equations to mathematical physics & quantum mechanics, prime numbers & analytics number theory, harmonic analysis, compressed sensing, random matrix theory, combinatorics, and progress on many of the hardest problems in the history of mathematics.

Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep472-sc

See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.



Transcript:

https://lexfridman.com/terence-tao-transcript



CONTACT LEX:

Feedback - give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey

AMA - submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama

Hiring - join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring

Other - other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact



EPISODE LINKS:

Terence's Blog: https://terrytao.wordpress.com/

Terence's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TerenceTao27

Terence's Books: https://amzn.to/43H9Aiq



SPONSORS:

To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts:

Notion: Note-taking and team collaboration.

Go to https://notion.com/lex

Shopify: Sell stuff online.

Go to https://shopify.com/lex

NetSuite: Business management software.

Go to http://netsuite.com/lex

LMNT: Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix.

Go to https://drinkLMNT.com/lex

AG1: All-in-one daily nutrition drink.

Go to https://drinkag1.com/lex



OUTLINE:

(00:00) - Introduction

(00:36) - Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections

(09:49) - First hard problem

(15:16) - Navier–Stokes singularity

(35:25) - Game of life

(42:00) - Infinity

(47:07) - Math vs Physics

(53:26) - Nature of reality

(1:16:08) - Theory of everything

(1:22:09) - General relativity

(1:25:37) - Solving difficult problems

(1:29:00) - AI-assisted theorem proving

(1:41:50) - Lean programming language

(1:51:50) - DeepMind's AlphaProof

(1:56:45) - Human mathematicians vs AI

(2:06:37) - AI winning the Fields Medal

(2:13:47) - Grigori Perelman

(2:26:29) - Twin Prime Conjecture

(2:43:04) - Collatz conjecture

(2:49:50) - P = NP

(2:52:43) - Fields Medal

(3:00:18) - Andrew Wiles and Fermat's Last Theorem

(3:04:15) - Productivity

(3:06:54) - Advice for young people

(3:15:17) - The greatest mathematician of all time



PODCAST LINKS:

- Podcast Website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast

- Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr

- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8

- RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/

- Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4

- Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/lexclips