Quantum Matter, Super-conductors, and Black Holes | Subir Sachdev on the SYK Model

What makes high-temperature superconductors and “strange metals” some of the most perplexing systems in modern physics?

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Subir Sachdev: Harvard physicist and one of the leading architects of today’s understanding of quantum matter. Sachdev explains why strange metals refuse to behave like ordinary conductors, how quantum entanglement reshapes the landscape of many-body physics, and why the quest to understand cuprate superconductors continues to push both theory and experiment to their limits.

We explore the physics of the cuprate phase diagram, the collapse of quasiparticles, and the role of quantum criticality in creating universal, linear-in-temperature behavior. Sachdev walks us through the origins of the SYK model, its surprising connections to black-hole thermodynamics and holography, and how new lattice-based models may finally bridge the gap between solvable theory and real materials.

Whether you’re curious about superconductivity, quantum criticality, black-hole analogies, emergent gauge fields, or the deep physics behind strongly correlated electrons, this conversation offers a rare, accessible look at how frontier theoretical work is redefining our picture of quantum matter—from the lab bench to the edge of spacetime.

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Timestamps:
01:22 - Subir’s Path to Condensed Matter Physics
06:24 - Challenges in Discovering Cuprates
09:53 - History of Superconductivity
20:07 - Subir's PhD work
27:09 - Development of the SYK model
41:09 - Strange Metals
56:43 - Derivation of SYK Model
1:03:53 - Signatures of Strange Metals
1:09:58 - How Quantum Mechanics Affects Black Holes
1:17:10 - What Brought Subir to Black Holes?
1:19:43 - Black Hole Connections to SYK
1:29:28 - ADS CFT Correspondence
1:37:04 - Can Quantum Computers Help Advance the SYK Model?
1:40:17 - Is AI Useful for Theoretical Physics?
1:46:40 - How does Quantum Criticality Play into Superconductivity?
1:49:11 - Derivation Quantum Criticality
1:52:49 -  What is Holography?
1:55:07 - Holography
2:00:19 - Green’s Function
2:08:46 - Green’s equation slides
2:13:23 - Yukawa Model vs SYK
2:17:30 - Can AI Brute Force Physics Discoveries?
2:23:51 - What Would Subir Do With Unlimited Funding?
2:36:33 - Dissecting the Hype of Superconductivity
2:31:15 - Raising the Next Generation of Great Physicists

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