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PODCAST

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast

Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences

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

science mathematics

All Episodes

25:30

The mathematics underpinning AI with Gitta Kutyniok -...

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2026/10/02

Send us Fan Mail AI is fundamentally mathematical, and AI systems are changing what is possible in mathematics. This is a turbulent time for the field. We spoke with Professor Gitta Kutyniok, who visited the INI in August as part of the Operator methods for dynamical systems programme. An expert in the mathematics underpinning AI, she had a fascinating take on the impact of AI on research, education, and society more widely. Professor Kutyniok holds the Chair for Mathematical Foundations of A...

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17:35

Can maths predict your energy use? with Dr Ellen...

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2026/09/02

Send us Fan Mail Human behaviour is messy. People aren't always perfectly rational and don't always have the right information to make perfect decisions. But can mathematics help us model the way people will act in a given situation so that we can better prepare our energy grids and health systems? We spoke with Dr Ellen Zapata-Webborn, a Senior Research Fellow in Data Science and End Use Energy Demand at the UCL Energy Institute, where she works on the Smart Energy Research Lab (SERL) projec...

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22:02

ArXiv in the age of AI with Professor Ramin Zabih -...

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2026/08/06

Send us Fan Mail How have pre-prints and ArXiv changed the landscape of mathematical publishing? And how is AI changing ArXiv? Plus Magazine editors Rachel Thomas and Marianne Freiberger sat down with Professor Ramin Zabih, one of the leaders of ArXiv, when he came to visit the INI for our AI for Maths and Open Science in April. Watch the talk he gave here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyT0Z94kvGU --- Living Proof is the podcast of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sc...

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40:19

Quantum chaos and simple equations with Prof Jens...

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2026/07/08

Send us Fan Mail A chaotic system is one where the outcome is sensitively dependent on initial conditions. Small disturbances can take the system in new, unpredictable directions. Professor Jens Marklof has built a successful career understanding the mathematics that underpin the chaos of quantum systems. His career, or indeed any academic career, is a kind of chaotic system. You never know which meeting or conversation will send you off in a new direction. In a fascinating conversation...

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27:05

A family of group theorists - Episode #75

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2026/05/13

Send us Fan Mail A father, two of his children, and a family friend — all mathematicians — made progress on a long-standing problem in group theory by coming together at the Isaac Newton Institute. Listen as Plus Magazine editors Rachel Thomas and Marianne Freiberger interview Roman Sauer, and Uri, Saar, and Shaked Bader to find out more about their research and paths to mathematics. The Operators, Groups, and Graphs programme was in residence at the INI from July to December 2025: https://ww...

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36:50

Revealing the secrets of Sanskrit mathematics with...

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2026/04/24

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...

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25:06

#73 Building digital hearts

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2025/11/24

Send us a text 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 &...

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26:32

#72 Living Proof: Céline Broeckaert and Frank Verstraete

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2025/11/12

Send us a text 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, a...

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24:32

#71 Moustapha Fall

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2025/10/22

Send us a text 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 institu...

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23:14

#70 Codina Cotar and some amazing mathematical art

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2025/10/15

Send us a text 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 ma...

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17:10

#69 Ekaterina Eremenko on Olga Ladyzhenskaya’s Life...

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2025/07/09

Send us a text 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 f...

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34:10

#68 Hunting through higher dimensions with Zhouli Xu

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2025/07/02

Send us a text 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 19...

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22:26

#67 The meaning is in the arrows with Adina Goldberg

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2025/06/11

Send us a text 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 rece...

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24:39

#66 A conversation with Sarah Hart

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2025/04/23

Send us a text Welcome to the latest episode of Living Proof, our podcast produced in collaboration with Plus.maths.org In this episode we spoke to Sarah Hart, a mathematician interested in not just the maths itself, but also its connections to other areas of literature and art. She's done an amazing number of things throughout her career — from research in pure mathematics and heading up a maths department, to being the first woman Gresham Professor of Geometry and President of the British S...

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28:40

#64 Communicating mathematics with the INI and Hannah...

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2025/04/09

Send us a text Welcome to the latest episode of Living Proof, our podcast produced in collaboration with Plus.maths.org In this episode, we dive into the importance of communicating mathematics to a broader audience, a growing priority within the maths community. Sara Khan, Communications Manager at the Isaac Newton Institute, shares how the INI is championing mathematics communication. Then, Rachel Thomas and Marianne Freiberger, editors of Plus.maths.org, revisit their conversation with Han...

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29:02

#65 Diving into maths with Emmy Noether

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2025/04/08

Send us a text Welcome to the latest episode of Living Proof, our podcast produced in collaboration with Plus.maths.org In this episode, we talked to famous Maths historian, David E. Rowe, who provided scientific advice for the play Diving into math with Emmy Noether, which was staged as part of the Modern History of Mathematics research programme and the Inclusivity in the Mathematical Sciences workshop at the INI. We dive deep into the life and work of Emmy Noether, and about what it'...

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28:46

#63 Exploring anomalous diffusion: an interview with...

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2024/10/07

In the latest episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel speaks to Aleks Mijatovic (Warwick, Alan Turing Institute) and Codina Cotar (UCL) about the Stochastic systems for anomalous diffusion programme. They’ll be speaking about the theme and challenges of their highly interdisciplinary six-month research project, but the conversation starts with comments on some truly remarkable headwear…Stochastic systems for anomalous diffusion programme: https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/ssd/Submit a proposal for an...

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30:05

#62 Exploring Twistor Theory - an interview with...

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2024/10/03

In the latest episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel speaks to Professors Lionel Mason (Oxford) and Maciej Dunajski (Cambridge) of the Twistor Theory programme (https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/twt). Over the 30 minutes, they share their experiences of the scale and challenges of this far-reaching topic that - amongst other things - aims to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics.00:00 - Introduction00:42 - Welcome01:48 - “I have been excited about this programme for 40 years”, introducing t...

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33:19

#61 Organising an INI Satellite Programme: an...

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2024/09/25

In the latest episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel speaks to Professors Mark Blyth and Sasha Korobkin, organisers of the INI Satellite Programme “The mathematics of multiphase flows with applications” (https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/mfa/). In the conversation, Mark and Sasha explain the programme’s research themes and share their insights into the challenges and rewards of organising an INI programme at your home institution - in their case the University of East Anglia in Norwich.00:00 - Intro...

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55:35

#60 Exploring 'Mathlib' and the digitisation of...

Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast ·

2024/09/25

In the latest episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel speaks to Professor Kevin Buzzard of Imperial College London. Inspired by a lecture given by Thomas Hales at INI’s Big Proof (https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/bpr/) programme in 2017, Kevin has spent the past seven years working alongside fellow enthusiasts on the “Maths Library” project. In this conversation he explains the project in detail, touching on why the programming language of Lean was chosen, and how it interacts with his recent five-y...

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