Chaos theory and geometry: can they predict our world? – with Tim Palmer

The geometry of chaos can explain our uncertain world, from weather and pandemics to quantum physics and free will. This talk was recorded at the Ri on 21 April 2023. Join Tim Palmer as he explores how it provides the means to predict the world around us, and provides new insights into some of the most astonishing aspects of our universe and ourselves. Watch the Q&A here: https://youtu.be/VZQnFQAJ6Io Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe 00:00 Introduction 00:55 Illustrating Chaos Theory with pendulums (demo) 02:44 Fractal geometry: A bridge from Newton to 20th Century mathematics 08:43 The three great theorems of 20th Century mathematics 11:24 The concept of State Space 14:43 Lorenz State Space 19:24 Cantor's Set and the prototype fractal 22:52 Hilbert's Decision Problem 24:04 The link between 20th Century mathematics and fractal geometry 27:21 The predictability of chaotic systems 32:26 Predicting hurricanes with Chaos Theory 43:44 The Bell experiment: proving the universe is not real? 51:45 Counterfactuals in Bell's theorem 56:29 Applying fractals to Bell's theorem 01:03:57 The end of spatial reductionism Buy Tim's book 'The Primacy of Doubt' here: https://geni.us/5bgfg Tim Palmer is a Royal Society Research Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford. Following a PhD in general relativity theory, he spent much of his career working on the predictability and dynamics of weather and climate, developing probabilistic ensemble prediction systems across a range of weather and climate timescales. He also researches the foundations of quantum physics, in addition to applications of quantum and imprecise computing. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and an International Member of the US National Academy of Sciences. Amongst other awards, he has won the Institute of Physics Dirac Gold Medal, and the top medals of the American and European Meteorological Societies. -- A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially: modsiw, Anton Ragin, Edward Unthank, Robert L Winer, Andy Carpenter, William Hudson Don McLaughlin, efkinel lo, Martin Paull, Ben Wynne-Simmons, Ivo Danihelka, Kevin Winoto, Jonathan Killin, Stephan Giersche, William Billy Robillard, Jeffrey Schweitzer, Frances Dunne, jonas.app, Tim Karr, Alan Latteri, David Crowner, Matt Townsend, THOMAS N TAMADA, Andrew McGhee, Paul Brown, David Schick, Dave Ostler, Osian Gwyn Williams, David Lindo, Roger Baker, Rebecca Pan -- The Ri is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution and Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://anchor.fm/ri-science-podcast Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.