Dirac Medallist Dam Thanh Son, professor at the University of Chicago, is interviewed by Atish Dabholkar, ICTP Director, and by Marcello Dalmonte, a research scientist in the ICTP’s Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics section.
In this conversation, they touch upon the deep connections between apparently different research areas in physics, and discuss Son’s theoretical work as well as his experience as a Vietnamese physicist training in Russia and working in the Unites States. They also talk about ICTP’s role in fostering advanced science in the developing world.
Son was awarded the Dirac medal in 2018, alongside Subir Sachdev (Harvard University) and Xiao-Gang Wen (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) “for their independent contributions towards understanding novel phases in strongly interacting many-body systems, introducing original transdisciplinary techniques”.
The interview took place in August 2022, when Son was at ICTP to lecture at the school on “Quantum Dynamics: From Electrons to Qbits”.
00:00 Introduction
01:50 Winning the Dirac Medal
02:40 Gauge-gravity duality techniques for strongly interacting quantum field theory at finite temperatures
04:00 Bound on the ratio of shear viscosity to entropy
05:47 Applying advanced theoretical concepts and techniques to experimentally relevant problems
07:58 Unity of ideas in theoretical physics
11:35 Career spanning theory and concepts from very different fields
15:12 Transport phenomena in quark-gluon-plasma
15:47 Comparing American and Russian scientific cultures
18:42 Working under Professor Valery Rubakov
19:30 Developing the scientific community in Vietnam
22:13 Ngô Bao Châu developing mathematics in Vietnam
24:22 How can ICTP can contribute to the scientific development of Vietnam
26:54 First time visiting ICTP
28:02 Vietnamese scientists helping ICTP during the COVID-19 pandemic.