Sunil Mukhi is an Indian theoretical physicist at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune, Maharashtra. Mukhi has led a distinguished career in theoretical particle physics. He received his PhD from Stony Brook University before joining the prestigious Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, where he worked for 27 years. In 2012, he joined IISER Pune as chair of the physics department, where he is now an honorary emeritus professor and the Raja Ramanna Chair. Throughout the years, Mukhi has held sabbatical positions at CERN in Geneva, the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, and Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. He is a fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy, and the World Academy of Sciences. In 1999, he received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of India’s highest science awards, for his contributions to theoretical physics. In this InterDialogue, we begin by speaking about Mukhi’s advisory work on academic ethics, the structural incentives for academic misconduct, his concerns about AI use in academia and the difficulties of curtailing it, and India’s international scientific standing. We then speak about Mukhi’s research and contributions to theoretical physics, especially in the field of string theory. Mukhi also discusses his personal background, his career trajectory, and his reasons for returning to India after studying in the United States. We conclude by addressing the importance of science outreach, inclusivity in science, responsible behavior in scientific and public discourse, and the importance of extracurricular interests to maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Timestamps 00:00 – Introduction 2:27 – Importance of academic ethics 5:59 – Consequences of academic misconduct 8:24 – Structural incentives for academic misconduct 11:23 – Legal challenges in academic ethics 13:14 – AI and academic ethics 16:46 – Addressing AI use...

Investment in science is a pillar for any dynamic, equitable modern society, and promoting scientific literacy across all levels of society can help foster innovation, dialogue, and consensus that crosses disciplinary and cultural boundaries. Science also helps to uncover answers to foundational questions that have captivated, confounded, and divided our species for millennia. But what is “science,” and what kind of “evidence” ensures that an approach is scientific? If we take “science” to broadly mean, in its purest sense, a “dynamic search for the truth,” or more explicitly, “the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence,” as the Science Council aptly defines it, then science extends beyond the established, highly specialized disciplines of reductionist natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, geoscience, and space science) that have been so successful in fostering our understanding of our planet and the cosmos. Under this definition, science also includes the rigorous data-driven (qualitative and quantitative) social sciences, the inherently non-reductionist “holistic” sciences such as ecological and Earth system sciences, and the budding interdisciplinary field of complex systems science, as well as robust traditional knowledge systems based on multi-generational experiences, observations, and reasoning. As with science, “evidence” can mean a lot of things as well, including primary research, pre-existing data, past and planned experiments, and the referencing of peer-reviewed publications and primary sources. It can also include local and traditional knowledge, thought experiments, theoretical proofs, contemplation, verifiable personal experience, and empirical observation. Broadening and weaving together these forms of scientific evidence holds the potential to address complex, interconnected global challenges and explain deep mysteries that could help unify our polarized societies around foundational understandings. Foundational Questions Foundational questions can transcend the divides of generations and cultures: Cosmology, physics, and evolutionary biology have shed...

Editor’s Note: This semi-technical review article is republished with exclusive permission from The Royal Society Press. It was originally published to the peer-reviewed journal Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society A. This article has a target audience of researchers and experts in diverse disciplines, though to make the content more understandable and engaging for a wider audience, we have broken apart the pdf version of the article into five parts and interspersed audio clips from Constantino Tsallis on relevant topics being discussed in the article. Explore our full InterDialogue with Professor Tsallis to learn more about the development and interdisciplinary applications of his innovative generalized theory of non-additive “Tsallis” entropy and q-statistics. Listen to Tsallis explain about his diverse cultural background and the early development of non-additive entropy. Explore the full InterDialogue with Constantino Tsallis Listen to Tsallis speak about the early presentations, recognitions and interdisciplinary applications of non-additive entropy, the beginning of his collaboration with Murray Gell-Mann, his entrance into the burgeoning field of complex systems and his founding of the National Institute of Science and Technology for Complex Systems (INCT-SC) in Brazil. Explore the full InterDialogue with Constantino Tsallis Listen to Tsallis explain about some of the very broad interdisciplinary applications and collaborations that have been fostered by non-additive entropy and q-statistics, and why he thinks this is possible, from neuroscience and childhood development, to economics to foundational questions of biogenesis and cosmology, all existing “at the edge of chaos.” Explore the full InterDialogue with Constantino Tsallis Listen to Tsallis explain about how non-additive entropy and q-statistics have been observed in medical imaging and the applications for human health, from neuroimaging in children to electrocardiograms in adults. Explore the full InterDialogue with Constantino Tsallis Banner image: Mandelbrot set. The edge of the Mandelbrot set represents the line between...

Ingo Allekotte is an Argentinian physicist who is currently the Project Manager of the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory, the world’s largest cosmic ray observatory at approximately 3,000 square kilometers in area. He is also an Associate Professor at the Balseiro Institute in Bariloche, within beautiful Patagonia, and a researcher at the National Atomic Energy Commision of Argentina (CNEA). In our Interdialogue, we spoke about Cosmic Rays – what they are, the fascinating decades-long history of their detections, the risks that they pose for space travel, and the intersection between cosmic ray astrophysics, particle physics and even cosmology.  We then spoke more specifically about the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory and how this interdisciplinary “Big Science” project in Argentina, which incorporates hundreds of scientists from 17 different countries, came to be. Ingo explained some of the exciting discoveries made so far of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs), and how they have conclusively demonstrated extragalactic origins. We also spoke about future exciting research objectives, parallel lines of research and Multi-Messenger astronomy. We concluded our conversation by focusing on science advocacy and the wide-ranging social value of large scientific collaborations like Pierre Auger, while also touching on the importance of maintaining balance and perspective in life by frequently connecting with nature, family and friends. Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction 00:09:19 – The intersection of cosmic ray astrophysics, particle physics and cosmology 00:19:57 – The importance of Earth’s atmosphere in shielding us from cosmic rays: subatomic particle showers, the evolution of life and the risks of space travel 00:26:24 – Observing “low energy” cosmic rays from the sun to ultra-high energy cosmic rays from extragalactic sources 00:34:18 – The Pierre Auger Observatory: history, design, collaborative structure and objectives 00:49:51 – Personal involvement with Pierre Auger and research interests in physics 00:57:09 – Beyond our...

Constantino Tsallis is a theoretical physicist in the area of statistical mechanics. He is the former Head of the Department of Theoretical Physics at the Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas (CBPF), is the founder and former Head of the National Institute of Science and Technology for Complex Systems of Brazil (INCT-Sistemas Complexos) and is an external Professor of the Santa Fe Institute, New Mexico and of the Complexity Science Hub Vienna, Austria. He is also a member of the Brazilian, Latin American and European Academies of Sciences. Tsallis is a nationalized Brazilian citizen who was born in Greece and raised in Argentina.  In our wide-ranging interdialogue we began by speaking about his diverse cultural background and influences, and how those contributed to his pioneering research on foundational questions in statistical mechanics, and complexity.  We spoke about his formulation of a nonadditive generalization of the Boltzmann-Gibbs entropy (also now frequently referred to as “Tsallis” entropy), and how this framework has fostered work on a broad range of fascinating theoretical subjects and interdisciplinary collaborations based in Q statistics. His widely cited research extends into the areas of critical phenomena, chaos, nonlinear dynamics, population evolution, cognitive psychology, high energy physics, astrophysics and cosmology, immunology and cancer, neuroimaging, economics, amongst others. We also delved into some more abstract and philosophical topics, such as beauty, the nature of time, the meaning of science and the importance of early and broad scientific education. 00:00:00 Intro 00:04:16 Cultural influences and the development of non-additive entropy 00:27:50 Broad research experiences based Q statistics 01:00:58 The importance of interdisciplinary collaborations 01:16:32 Applying complex systems and Tsallis entropy to foundational questions 01:34:35 The meaning of science, the importance of a broad early scientific education