Vladimir Narovlansky, Member in the School of Natural Sciences (2024–25), explores the profound challenges of reconciling quantum mechanics with gravity. He discusses how the expanding universe and chaotic effects reveal new questions at the intersection of these fields, and how breakthroughs at IAS may lead to entirely new physical laws.
Institute Instances is a collection of 1–2 minute video snapshots of scholars, administrators, and visitors to the Institute for Advanced Study answering a question (or two) about their work at IAS. Viewed individually, these clips allow audiences to get to know the people who are, in the words of founding IAS Director Abraham Flexner, "pushing beyond the present limits of human knowledge" through advancements in science and the humanities. Taken together, these "instances" of Institute life are designed to show how everyone can play a role in actualizing discovery, and to celebrate a community devoted to excellence in scholarship.