Awarded the 8th Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences, physicist Viatcheslav Mukhanov explains in this interview how gravitational waves will open a new window onto the universe, providing direct information about the earliest moments of the cosmos. Mukhanov describes how his theoretical contributions to the inflationary model have been fundamental to understanding the formation of cosmic structures and the traces these processes left in spacetime. Throughout the conversation, he reflects on the role of quantum physics in the origin of the universe, the relevance of recent observations, and the potential of future detections to resolve essential questions in modern cosmology.
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences goes to physicists Stephen Hawking and Viatcheslav Mukhanov for discovering that galaxies were formed from quantum fluctuations in the Universe’s earliest days.
00:00 Introduction
00:05 To what extent can we state today, as suggested by the title of your lecture, that the universe emerged “from nothing”?
01:12 To what extent has the origin of the matter we observe in the universe through quantum fluctuations been experimentally verified, and which aspects of this theory remain to be demonstrated?
02:45 What is your opinion on the first detection of gravitational waves? Do you believe it opens an interesting path for exploring these questions about the origin of the universe?
04:28 Stephen Hawking, with whom you shared the Frontiers of Knowledge Award, has argued that a physical explanation of the origin of the universe makes the idea of a creator God unnecessary. What is your view on this issue?
05:46 Do you therefore believe that Hawking was mistaken in claiming that a scientific explanation of the origin of the universe renders the existence of God “unnecessary”?
06:48 How did your fascination with these questions arise? What sparked your interest in beginning to ask these fundamental questions about the origins of the universe?
07:42 Some people argue that it is a waste to invest millions in fields like yours that do not always have immediate practical applications. What is your opinion?
08:14 What is your view on the latest discoveries of exoplanets in the habitable zones of their stars and the possibility that life may exist elsewhere in the universe?
09:02 Looking to the future of astrophysics, what do you think could be the next major discovery?
