Georges Lemaître 2025 Chair
irmp | Louvain-la-Neuve
(image credit: Jared Charney, MIT News)
Jesse Thaler is a theoretical particle physicist who fuses techniques from quantum field theory and machine learning to address outstanding questions in fundamental physics. His current research is focused on maximizing the discovery potential of the Large Hadron Collider through new theoretical frameworks and novel data analysis techniques. Prof. Thaler joined the MIT Physics Department in 2010, and he is currently a Professor in the MIT Center for Theoretical Physics – a Leinweber Institute. In 2020, he became the inaugural Director of the NSF Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions.
"Centaur Science: Particle Physics meets Machine Learning"
Modern machine learning has had an outsized impact on many scientific fields, and particle physics is no exception. What is special about particle physics, though, is the vast amount of theoretical knowledge that we already have about many problems in the field, as well as the daunting deluge of data coming from flagship experiments like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In theses lectures, I will explain how one can teach a machine to "think like a physicist" by embedding theoretical principles into advanced machine learning architectures. At the same time, I will advocate that physicists must learn how to "think like a machine" to maximize the physics reach of the LHC. These joint developments are leading to a new kind of "centaur science" that, analogously to the mythical centaur, draws half from particle physics and half from machine learning.
Inaugural lecture
Monday 24 November – 16:15-18:15 – CYCL 01
followed by a reception
Lecture series
Machine learning through the lens of physics
Tuesday 25 November – 14:00-16:00 – SUD 01
Frequent(ist)ly asked questions
Wednesday 26 November – 14:00-16:00 – SUD 01
Jets in space
Thursday 27 November – 16:15-18:15 – SUD 11
The future of AI+physics
Friday 28 November – 14:00-16:00 – SUD 01
Public lecture
Deep learning + deep thinking = deeper understanding
Tuesday 25 November – 18:30-20:30 – SUD 09