That's not actually what people wanna know. People wanna know how do things get mass from a field.

Had physicists been wrong about the Higgs boson all this time? What if it's not what we think, but something far more elusive? What does the origin of mass in the universe have to do with music?

The universe is not playing music. The universe is a musical instrument. Things happen

on it. Music is happening. Is empty space truly empty? Or is it a strange sea with invisible forces shaping our existence? What if particles of matter like us are just waves moving through a cosmic ocean? Here today to discuss all these fascinating questions and more is theoretical physicist, Nat Strassler, who takes us on a journey into the unseen depths of the universe. We'll dive deep into the mysteries of quantum physics, the nature of space and time, and how waves, not just particles, are actually the building blocks of reality.

I don't think you can define any new concept without an analogy. You build on analogies in creating knowledge.

That will reveal how the Higgs boson, often oversimplified, may hold the key to understanding all of the forces and fields that impact our existence. Buckle up, take your Dramamine, and get ready for a wild voyage on a cosmic sea as we take a journey stranger than science fiction where space isn't empty and the cosmos just might be playing its own symphony. Let's go. What I wanted to do is start with a reaction. I'm gonna call this game one of the games I like to play is Deepak or Matt. And I'm going to read you 2 quotes. 1 is from Deepak Chopra, past guest, many time guest, friend of the show, and one is from you, Professor Matt Strassen. And I'm going to ask you to tell me which is which or who said what.

Okay. Here's the first one. Vibration is the inherent dynamism of the universe knowing itself that creates the creative force that we experience through the universe as a cosmic And then the other quote goes like this. Like any musical instrument, the cosmos resonates with a pattern of frequencies, one that can be translated directly into the bricks of the material world, the quietest tones. The universe rings everywhere in everything. Okay. So which is you and which is Deepak?

Well, the second one is me. And the difference the similarities are striking, but the differences are also extremely important. The, differences lie in the details and in the fact that the words that I used are based on mathematical equations. I am essentially translating the mathematical equations of physics into a language that everyone is familiar with, which is the language of music. And so I would say that, you know, the the notion that the universe has something to do with resonance and vibration and music, these are not obviously new ideas. These go back to ancient times. They are one of many, ancient ideas. But this is an ancient idea which turns out in some way to be instantiated in the equations that particle physics have, have found really work for describing the world.

And their differences are as important as the similarities. That is to say, there really are things that are similar to what Mr. Chopra would say, but then there are things that are different. And, a cosmic is not one of them, for example.

He brings up something that you make clear, the the origin of the word wave in romance languages comes from undulate, ahunde, wave. And he brings up, in Sanskrit, the word for vibration is spanda, which means the creative pulse of consciousness. So, there might be more here than meets the eye. I want to do what you're never supposed to do which is to play a game called judging books by their covers. And you know you talked a little bit about probability and experimental level. You know, so they say don't judge a book, but what the hell else are you going to go on? You know, I mean you and I are just meeting each other now and I wouldn't have read this.

The pre publisher knows that people judge a book by its cover.

They always do. In fact, if you try to sell this book which I would never do, God forbid. Let me see what it's going for on Amazon. No. This is a this is just a wonderful book. If you try to sell it and it doesn't have the cover, it's worth 10%. And I always used to say, you know, when I wrote my first like, who cares? Like, how much dust is raining down on books, like, throughout

the like, it can't be that.

And, of course, you know, dust is the villain of my my first book. But I wanna ask you, can you take us through the title, the subtitle, and the beautiful artwork on the cover, Kind of Blue? I I was thinking of the musical notes from Miles Davis when I looked up. That's Stephan's influence on that.