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2022-12-14: How Can Matter Be BOTH Liquid AND Gas?

  • 01:14: But high pressure helps to keep particles together so that it takes more heat energy to break bonds.
  • 04:28: The particles of a liquid are loosely bound to each other, which manifests as a surface tension and results in liquids having a distinct surface.
  • 05:02: Gas particles zip around without significantly interacting with each other.
  • 05:13: ... the container and the gas will expand, but it’ll take longer for each particle to travel between walls, so pressure drops; vice versa if you shrink the ...
  • 05:23: Increase temperature and the gas particles move faster, hit harder, again increasing the pressure.
  • 09:15: The high density of a supercritical fluid means that its particles do interact with each other, unlike an ideal gas.
  • 11:59: ... for their ability to deposit dissolved elements for growing nano-scale particles and ...
  • 17:00: Excitations in those fields are proper elementary particles, not quasiparticles.
  • 17:18: Actual magnetic monopoles, if they really exist, would be elementary particles, and we’ve done an episode on these before.
  • 01:14: But high pressure helps to keep particles together so that it takes more heat energy to break bonds.
  • 04:28: The particles of a liquid are loosely bound to each other, which manifests as a surface tension and results in liquids having a distinct surface.
  • 05:02: Gas particles zip around without significantly interacting with each other.
  • 05:23: Increase temperature and the gas particles move faster, hit harder, again increasing the pressure.
  • 09:15: The high density of a supercritical fluid means that its particles do interact with each other, unlike an ideal gas.
  • 11:59: ... for their ability to deposit dissolved elements for growing nano-scale particles and ...
  • 17:00: Excitations in those fields are proper elementary particles, not quasiparticles.
  • 17:18: Actual magnetic monopoles, if they really exist, would be elementary particles, and we’ve done an episode on these before.
  • 05:02: Gas particles zip around without significantly interacting with each other.

2022-12-08: How Are Quasiparticles Different From Particles?

  • 00:12: But the only elementary particle actually flowing in the circuit are the negatively charged electrons.
  • 00:19: And yet those flowing positive charges are there, in the form of a particle you may never have heard of.
  • 00:53: Now electrons, which are regular particles, are pushed around inside electrical circuits, but it’s only half the story.
  • 02:37: We can model it as though it’s a real particle.
  • 05:43: But this seems a bit more like a sound wave than a particle.
  • 06:16: So now we have something like a particle - a quantum of vibrational energy moving around the lattice.
  • 07:45: ... is often transferred between phonons and other particles - quasi- and real - and modeling this is needed for modeling the ...
  • 08:40: ... elementary particles can be combined into composite particles, for example an atom is ...
  • 14:06: It seems quasiparticles can build into complex hierarchies, just like regular particles.
  • 14:13: Which shouldn’t be so surprising, because quasiparticles are like regular particles in many ways.
  • 14:20: After all, the elementary particles like electrons, photons, and quarks are just excitations in the elementary quantum fields.
  • 14:39: And it turns out that any field, elementary or not, will give rise to particles as long as that field has quantized energy states.
  • 06:16: So now we have something like a particle - a quantum of vibrational energy moving around the lattice.
  • 00:53: Now electrons, which are regular particles, are pushed around inside electrical circuits, but it’s only half the story.
  • 07:45: ... is often transferred between phonons and other particles - quasi- and real - and modeling this is needed for modeling the ...
  • 08:40: ... elementary particles can be combined into composite particles, for example an atom is ...
  • 14:06: It seems quasiparticles can build into complex hierarchies, just like regular particles.
  • 14:13: Which shouldn’t be so surprising, because quasiparticles are like regular particles in many ways.
  • 14:20: After all, the elementary particles like electrons, photons, and quarks are just excitations in the elementary quantum fields.
  • 14:39: And it turns out that any field, elementary or not, will give rise to particles as long as that field has quantized energy states.
  • 07:45: ... is often transferred between phonons and other particles - quasi- and real - and modeling this is needed for modeling the behavior ...

2022-11-23: How To See Black Holes By Catching Neutrinos

  • 00:03: Neutrinos are one of the most bizarre of known particles.
  • 00:42: ... far less attention in the media - in fact it’s almost as elusive as the particle it depends on - and yet mapping the neutrino sky will surely unlock ...
  • 01:16: ... elementary particles are fermions - so particles of matter rather than force-carrying bosons ...
  • 03:50: ... through the ice, emitting light as it interacts with other charged particles. ...
  • 04:01: This is seen as a cone of blue light that trails the particle.
  • 04:32: ... expanding EM waves created by the charged particle expand slower than the particle itself, so their wavefronts overlap each ...
  • 06:09: More challenging are confounding particles from our own atmosphere.
  • 06:13: When cosmic rays hit molecules in our atmosphere, many different particles can be produced, but the most annoying are muons and neutrinos.
  • 09:26: ... magnetic fields because in many of them we see jets of high energy particles blasted out from the vicinity of the black hole, and these have all the ...
  • 09:41: They are natural particle accelerators, far more powerful than the ones we can build on earth.
  • 09:47: And collisions of magnetic-field-accelerated particles is exactly how we make neutrinos in our experiments.
  • 10:24: Relativistic boosting due to the jet particles racing towards us at near the speed of light.
  • 09:41: They are natural particle accelerators, far more powerful than the ones we can build on earth.
  • 04:32: ... expanding EM waves created by the charged particle expand slower than the particle itself, so their wavefronts overlap each other ...
  • 00:03: Neutrinos are one of the most bizarre of known particles.
  • 01:16: ... elementary particles are fermions - so particles of matter rather than force-carrying bosons ...
  • 03:50: ... through the ice, emitting light as it interacts with other charged particles. ...
  • 06:09: More challenging are confounding particles from our own atmosphere.
  • 06:13: When cosmic rays hit molecules in our atmosphere, many different particles can be produced, but the most annoying are muons and neutrinos.
  • 09:26: ... magnetic fields because in many of them we see jets of high energy particles blasted out from the vicinity of the black hole, and these have all the ...
  • 09:47: And collisions of magnetic-field-accelerated particles is exactly how we make neutrinos in our experiments.
  • 10:24: Relativistic boosting due to the jet particles racing towards us at near the speed of light.
  • 09:26: ... magnetic fields because in many of them we see jets of high energy particles blasted out from the vicinity of the black hole, and these have all the ...
  • 10:24: Relativistic boosting due to the jet particles racing towards us at near the speed of light.

2022-11-16: Are there Undiscovered Elements Beyond The Periodic Table?

  • 02:36: ... foil that had been part of Ernest Lawrence’s newly invented cyclotron particle ...
  • 13:56: ... we want to get there our conventional nuclear reactors and particle accelerators will not be enough, we will have to come up with something ...
  • 02:36: ... foil that had been part of Ernest Lawrence’s newly invented cyclotron particle accelerator. ...
  • 13:56: ... we want to get there our conventional nuclear reactors and particle accelerators will not be enough, we will have to come up with something new But why ...

2022-11-09: What If Humanity Is Among The First Spacefaring Civilizations?

  • 18:04: So, “spooky action at a distance” does refer to wavefunction collapse, including to the wavefunction collapse of entangled particles.
  • 19:50: Radar they plan to dress as a Quantum Entangled Particle this Halloween and so doing causing lots of spooky action at a distance.
  • 20:06: ... considered the ghost particles from our recent standard model lagrangian episode, Schrodinger’s ...
  • 18:04: So, “spooky action at a distance” does refer to wavefunction collapse, including to the wavefunction collapse of entangled particles.
  • 20:06: ... considered the ghost particles from our recent standard model lagrangian episode, Schrodinger’s ...

2022-10-26: Why Did Quantum Entanglement Win the Nobel Prize in Physics?

  • 04:54: ... relationship between the measured properties of entangled particles if the particles themselves hold the information about their ...
  • 05:46: ... without breaking the exceedingly delicate correlation between the particles. ...
  • 08:08: Bell’s theorem assumes the choice of measurement is completely free and independent of the particle creation process.
  • 10:46: The first I already mentioned: what if the choice of measurement is not independent of the creation of the entangled particles?
  • 10:53: Aspect’s experiment seemed to eliminate that possibility by making that choice after the particles were produced.
  • 11:16: ... called  superdeterminism - basically   stating that the particles are not only correlated with each other, but also with the random number ...
  • 11:55: It can rule out that the secret information about the entangled particle states lives in the particles themselves - that’s what local means here.
  • 12:04: But there could still be hidden variables that exist in the global wavefunction of the entangled particles.
  • 13:02: This is a phenomenon in which a quantum state is transferred between two particles via an interrmediate particle that’s entangled with them both.
  • 15:54: And then the one were were went through the entire Lagrangian equation of the standard model of particle physics.
  • 19:09: On the other hand, I’m not a particle physicist, as is evident from my analogy which has nothing to do with particle physics.
  • 19:41: 05TE informs us that if you recite the full  Lagrangian equation three times in front of a mirror, the particle ghosts will appear.
  • 08:08: Bell’s theorem assumes the choice of measurement is completely free and independent of the particle creation process.
  • 19:41: 05TE informs us that if you recite the full  Lagrangian equation three times in front of a mirror, the particle ghosts will appear.
  • 19:09: On the other hand, I’m not a particle physicist, as is evident from my analogy which has nothing to do with particle physics.
  • 15:54: And then the one were were went through the entire Lagrangian equation of the standard model of particle physics.
  • 19:09: On the other hand, I’m not a particle physicist, as is evident from my analogy which has nothing to do with particle physics.
  • 11:55: It can rule out that the secret information about the entangled particle states lives in the particles themselves - that’s what local means here.
  • 02:36: ... “quantum balls” could be any particle from subatomic to molecular scale, and the entangled property could be ...
  • 04:54: ... relationship between the measured properties of entangled particles if the particles themselves hold the information about their ...
  • 05:46: ... without breaking the exceedingly delicate correlation between the particles. ...
  • 10:46: The first I already mentioned: what if the choice of measurement is not independent of the creation of the entangled particles?
  • 10:53: Aspect’s experiment seemed to eliminate that possibility by making that choice after the particles were produced.
  • 11:16: ... called  superdeterminism - basically   stating that the particles are not only correlated with each other, but also with the random number ...
  • 11:55: It can rule out that the secret information about the entangled particle states lives in the particles themselves - that’s what local means here.
  • 12:04: But there could still be hidden variables that exist in the global wavefunction of the entangled particles.
  • 13:02: This is a phenomenon in which a quantum state is transferred between two particles via an interrmediate particle that’s entangled with them both.
  • 05:16: In particular, the so-called Bell inequality would be true if there are hidden variables contained in the particles,  and violated otherwise.

2022-10-19: The Equation That Explains (Nearly) Everything!

  • 00:00: ... Standard Model of particle physics is arguably the most successful theory in the history of ...
  • 03:24: ... traveled by a ball through the air or the probability that two quantum particles will ...
  • 04:36: ... a Lagrangian. To get the real Lagrangian that describes the behavior of particles in a certain volume, we have to add up infinitely many Lagrangian ...
  • 05:37: ... symmetries I mentioned allow the particles to have two different types of spins. They can either have an integer ...
  • 06:02: ... Particles with half integer spin are called Fermions, and they are stuff, ...
  • 07:51: ... dimensions of spacetime, the number of charges, the number of different particles, or things like that Next we do something similar for the fields of the ...
  • 10:57: ... but, this Lagrangian is haunted, it has ghosts. There are ghosts of particles that cannot be measured, and of infinities that make no sense. But it ...
  • 11:57: ... bear with me. We’re getting there. The particles described by the Lagrangian so far are massless. To add mass we need the ...
  • 12:23: ... of each different fermion. This equation doesn’t actually predict the particle masses - that’s still an unsolved problem. Instead, we have to measure ...
  • 13:07: ... weird. Really, though this term describes the Higgs boson itself. That particle was the last prediction of the Standard Model to be verified, and that ...
  • 13:49: ... it works. Putting in your particle wavefunction and setting your indices right and including the correct ...
  • 14:00: ... that I said “known particle”. There may be unknown particles that are not covered by the standard ...
  • 05:37: ... out that spin determines what might be the most fundamental nature of a particle - whether it represents matter or ...
  • 12:23: ... of each different fermion. This equation doesn’t actually predict the particle masses - that’s still an unsolved problem. Instead, we have to measure those ...
  • 14:00: ... this doesn’t explain. It doesn’t tell us how nature chooses different particle masses, or chooses coupling strengths like the fine structure constant we ...
  • 12:23: ... of each different fermion. This equation doesn’t actually predict the particle masses - that’s still an unsolved problem. Instead, we have to measure those ...
  • 00:00: ... Standard Model of particle physics is arguably the most successful theory in the history of physics. It ...
  • 13:49: ... it works. Putting in your particle wavefunction and setting your indices right and including the correct masses, you can ...
  • 03:24: ... traveled by a ball through the air or the probability that two quantum particles will ...
  • 04:36: ... a Lagrangian. To get the real Lagrangian that describes the behavior of particles in a certain volume, we have to add up infinitely many Lagrangian ...
  • 05:37: ... symmetries I mentioned allow the particles to have two different types of spins. They can either have an integer ...
  • 06:02: ... Particles with half integer spin are called Fermions, and they are stuff, ...
  • 07:51: ... dimensions of spacetime, the number of charges, the number of different particles, or things like that Next we do something similar for the fields of the ...
  • 10:57: ... but, this Lagrangian is haunted, it has ghosts. There are ghosts of particles that cannot be measured, and of infinities that make no sense. But it ...
  • 11:57: ... bear with me. We’re getting there. The particles described by the Lagrangian so far are massless. To add mass we need the ...
  • 14:00: ... that I said “known particle”. There may be unknown particles that are not covered by the standard model or its lagrangian. In fact ...

2022-10-12: The REAL Possibility of Mapping Alien Planets!

  • 18:29: ... for the creation of the interaction   products. It comes from particle kinetic energy, photon energy, even particle rest mass. The ...

2022-09-28: Why Is 1/137 One of the Greatest Unsolved Problems In Physics?

  • 05:14: ... two particles get close to each other  there's a chance they will interact, and ...
  • 05:27: ... diagrams are used to  add up the probabilities   of particles interacting by all the different ways that interaction could ...
  • 05:34: Those probabilities depend on many things,  like the particles’ positions and momenta, spins, charges, masses, etc.
  • 13:07: Or perhaps it hints at a deeper connection  between the properties of  the elementary particles, like the mass and charge of the electron.
  • 05:14: ... two particles get close to each other  there's a chance they will interact, and ...
  • 05:27: ... diagrams are used to  add up the probabilities   of particles interacting by all the different ways that interaction could ...
  • 05:34: Those probabilities depend on many things,  like the particles’ positions and momenta, spins, charges, masses, etc.
  • 13:07: Or perhaps it hints at a deeper connection  between the properties of  the elementary particles, like the mass and charge of the electron.
  • 05:27: ... diagrams are used to  add up the probabilities   of particles interacting by all the different ways that interaction could ...
  • 05:34: Those probabilities depend on many things,  like the particles’ positions and momenta, spins, charges, masses, etc.

2022-09-21: Science of the James Webb Telescope Explained!

  • 13:37: ... attempt to understand QCD, before being abandoned because it predicted a particle which behaves like a ...
  • 15:23: OK, on to our episode on how the Higgs boson could be the key to discovering the dark matter particle.
  • 16:13: nyrdybyrd points out that the info from this Higgs episode is an influential argument for a badass new particle collider.
  • 16:24: I’ve heard it argued that it’s silly to build new particle colliders in the hope of discovering particles that we don’t know exist.
  • 16:30: But that’s not the only, or even best reasons to improve our particle collider capacities.
  • 16:13: nyrdybyrd points out that the info from this Higgs episode is an influential argument for a badass new particle collider.
  • 16:30: But that’s not the only, or even best reasons to improve our particle collider capacities.
  • 16:24: I’ve heard it argued that it’s silly to build new particle colliders in the hope of discovering particles that we don’t know exist.

2022-09-14: Could the Higgs Boson Lead Us to Dark Matter?

  • 00:12: It was the final piece needed to confirm the standard model of particle physics as that model now stands.
  • 00:27: So the discovery of the Higgs wasn’t the end of particle physics - but it may be the way forward.
  • 00:33: Many physicists think that the secret to finding the elusive dark matter particle will come by studying the Higgs.
  • 01:01: These particles dominate our experience of the universe because they are strongly interacting.
  • 01:11: But there are other matter particles that interact only weakly, and so we don’t see them even though they’re insanely abundant.
  • 01:33: We know that there’s some source of gravity out there in the universe NOT caused by the particles of the standard model.
  • 01:46: ... “dark matter” might be a new kind of particle, or, in fact, there could be an entire family of different particles that ...
  • 01:59: So how do you go about detecting a particle whose defining quality is being almost undetectable?
  • 02:05: Let’s start by looking at how we detect new particles in general.
  • 02:17: ... Feynman diagram is just a way to represent the interactions of particles, plotting time versus space so we have two particles coming together, ...
  • 02:37: This particular diagram shows a dark matter particle scattering off a standard model particle in some way.
  • 02:44: The standard model particle could be a quark, an electron, or anything that makes up normal matter.
  • 02:50: ... would call this a direct detection experiment - because a dark matter particle is actually interacted with one of the particles in our say ...
  • 03:06: But with enough particles and enough time, we should eventually see an interaction between a dark matter particle and a matter particle.
  • 03:24: ... have yet to spot even a single collision compatible with the dark matter particle ...
  • 03:51: ... space axes are flipped, so now we’re looking at the annihilation of a particle anti-particle pair from the dark sector, resulting in the creation of a ...
  • 04:06: ... example, two dark matter particles somewhere in space could annihilate to produce gamma ray photons, which ...
  • 04:48: ... particles become dark matter that’s created from the annihilation of some standard ...
  • 05:10: In the LHC we smash together particles of regular matter, like protons or heavier nuclei.
  • 05:17: All sorts of exotic particles get created in those collisions.
  • 05:21: Those particles are sometimes detected directly when they smash into one of the many detectors surrounding the collision point.
  • 05:35: But of all the particles produced in these events, we think that the elusive Higgs boson has the best shot at producing a dark matter particle.
  • 05:46: ... particles with electrical charge OR color charge can’t decay into Higgs bosons, ...
  • 06:01: ... that excludes the electrically charged leptons: electrons, muons and tau particles; it excludes the quarks and whatever is made of quarks; it excludes the W ...
  • 06:30: ... could potentially decay into dark matter particles, but if they do it’s going to be near impossible to spot the event, so ...
  • 07:19: We know that the Higgs field is what gives most of the standard model particles their masses.
  • 07:46: Physicists playfully called it a portal since the Higgs could be the doorway that connects our standard sector of particles to the dark universe.
  • 08:20: After all, those particles are going to fly right through all of our detectors.
  • 08:36: And there is a trick for detecting undetectable particles.
  • 08:48: ... of momentum tells us that the product of velocity times mass of all particles going into a collision has to be the same as the same product for all ...
  • 09:00: ... know pretty well the momentum of the particles going into our collision, and we can measure and add up the momentum of ...
  • 09:19: ... due to the fact that there’s variation in the speed of the colliding particles. ...
  • 09:51: ... momentum perpendicular to the direction of the particle beams is called the transverse momentum, and it’s zero by definition. ...
  • 10:13: ... every particle scattering to the left, you need something scattering the right to ...
  • 10:30: ... stuff firing out in the opposite direction of the jet, but no visible particles appeared on that ...
  • 10:38: The only explanation is that particles were projected in that direction, they're just invisible.
  • 10:44: You might ask - can’t those invisible particles just be neutrinos?
  • 10:50: But every neutrino has to be created with an electron, muon or tau particle partner.
  • 11:24: And the Higgs lives for only a fraction of a second before decaying. The hope is that sometimes it decays into a dark matter particle.
  • 11:59: This number tells you the fraction of times a Higgs decayed into particles that can’t be detected.
  • 12:31: If this number holds up, then ,the Higgs could be decaying into new invisible particles!
  • 12:59: The discovery of the Higgs boson was the end of one era of particle physics but very much the beginning of another.
  • 13:08: ... physics, and we don’t know what it’ll reveal —- hopefully a dark matter particle, perhaps an entire dark sector, perhaps much ...
  • 03:51: ... space axes are flipped, so now we’re looking at the annihilation of a particle anti-particle pair from the dark sector, resulting in the creation of a particle ...
  • 09:51: ... momentum perpendicular to the direction of the particle beams is called the transverse momentum, and it’s zero by definition. And has ...
  • 03:24: ... have yet to spot even a single collision compatible with the dark matter particle hypothesis. ...
  • 10:50: But every neutrino has to be created with an electron, muon or tau particle partner.
  • 00:12: It was the final piece needed to confirm the standard model of particle physics as that model now stands.
  • 00:27: So the discovery of the Higgs wasn’t the end of particle physics - but it may be the way forward.
  • 12:59: The discovery of the Higgs boson was the end of one era of particle physics but very much the beginning of another.
  • 00:27: So the discovery of the Higgs wasn’t the end of particle physics - but it may be the way forward.
  • 02:37: This particular diagram shows a dark matter particle scattering off a standard model particle in some way.
  • 10:13: ... every particle scattering to the left, you need something scattering the right to balance it out. ...
  • 01:01: These particles dominate our experience of the universe because they are strongly interacting.
  • 01:11: But there are other matter particles that interact only weakly, and so we don’t see them even though they’re insanely abundant.
  • 01:33: We know that there’s some source of gravity out there in the universe NOT caused by the particles of the standard model.
  • 01:46: ... of particle, or, in fact, there could be an entire family of different particles that interact with each other but not with ...
  • 02:05: Let’s start by looking at how we detect new particles in general.
  • 02:17: ... Feynman diagram is just a way to represent the interactions of particles, plotting time versus space so we have two particles coming together, ...
  • 02:50: ... - because a dark matter particle is actually interacted with one of the particles in our say ...
  • 03:06: But with enough particles and enough time, we should eventually see an interaction between a dark matter particle and a matter particle.
  • 04:06: ... example, two dark matter particles somewhere in space could annihilate to produce gamma ray photons, which ...
  • 04:48: ... particles become dark matter that’s created from the annihilation of some standard ...
  • 05:10: In the LHC we smash together particles of regular matter, like protons or heavier nuclei.
  • 05:17: All sorts of exotic particles get created in those collisions.
  • 05:21: Those particles are sometimes detected directly when they smash into one of the many detectors surrounding the collision point.
  • 05:35: But of all the particles produced in these events, we think that the elusive Higgs boson has the best shot at producing a dark matter particle.
  • 05:46: ... particles with electrical charge OR color charge can’t decay into Higgs bosons, ...
  • 06:01: ... that excludes the electrically charged leptons: electrons, muons and tau particles; it excludes the quarks and whatever is made of quarks; it excludes the W ...
  • 06:30: ... could potentially decay into dark matter particles, but if they do it’s going to be near impossible to spot the event, so ...
  • 07:19: We know that the Higgs field is what gives most of the standard model particles their masses.
  • 07:46: Physicists playfully called it a portal since the Higgs could be the doorway that connects our standard sector of particles to the dark universe.
  • 08:20: After all, those particles are going to fly right through all of our detectors.
  • 08:36: And there is a trick for detecting undetectable particles.
  • 08:48: ... of momentum tells us that the product of velocity times mass of all particles going into a collision has to be the same as the same product for all ...
  • 09:00: ... know pretty well the momentum of the particles going into our collision, and we can measure and add up the momentum of ...
  • 09:19: ... due to the fact that there’s variation in the speed of the colliding particles. ...
  • 10:13: ... detector at the LHC: this event has caused a jet of various visible particles to shoot off to the ...
  • 10:30: ... stuff firing out in the opposite direction of the jet, but no visible particles appeared on that ...
  • 10:38: The only explanation is that particles were projected in that direction, they're just invisible.
  • 10:44: You might ask - can’t those invisible particles just be neutrinos?
  • 11:59: This number tells you the fraction of times a Higgs decayed into particles that can’t be detected.
  • 12:31: If this number holds up, then ,the Higgs could be decaying into new invisible particles!
  • 10:30: ... stuff firing out in the opposite direction of the jet, but no visible particles appeared on that ...
  • 02:17: ... the interactions of particles, plotting time versus space so we have two particles coming together, undergoing some interaction that involves the exchange of ...
  • 01:01: These particles dominate our experience of the universe because they are strongly interacting.
  • 02:17: ... that involves the exchange of force-carrying particles, and then we have particles leaving the interaction - perhaps the same that went in, perhaps ...
  • 05:35: But of all the particles produced in these events, we think that the elusive Higgs boson has the best shot at producing a dark matter particle.

2022-08-24: What Makes The Strong Force Strong?

  • 01:29: ... the strong force came in the 1940s when we switched on our first particle colliders and started to detect a veritable zoo of new ...
  • 01:41: As physicists tried to understand the aptly named particle zoo, certain peculiar relationships were observed.
  • 01:48: ... particular, Murray Gell-Mann and others realized that the way these particles were created in particle collisions suggested the existence of a new ...
  • 02:03: ... and Yuval Ne'eman noticed that if you arrange particles according to their strangeness and their electric charge, they fall into ...
  • 02:16: This is known as the Eightfold Way and it’s like a periodic table but for particles.
  • 02:22: ... too long it was realized that the particles of the particle zoo were not elementary - they were made of smaller ...
  • 02:31: It turns out that location on these shapes represent the quark content of the particle.
  • 02:41: By the way, these particles of multiple quarks are now called hadrons.
  • 03:15: For the class of particles called fermions, no more than one particle can wear the same dress or occupy the same quantum state.
  • 03:24: That includes electrons, quarks, and many of the particles that are composed of quarks.
  • 04:13: It can’t be spin, because with 3 particles and only two possible spin states two will always have the same spin.
  • 04:39: If our Omega particle’s quarks are going to wear the same dress, they better be different colours.
  • 05:34: It turns out that all of these particles are made of three or two quarks.
  • 05:39: It’s possible to briefly create larger combinations in particle colliders, but not in nature.
  • 06:03: Electrically charged particles interact with each other via the electromagnetic field.
  • 06:07: We can think of each charged particle as generating a constant buzz of virtual photons around it, forming what we think of as its EM field.
  • 06:17: That buzz weakens the further you get from the particle.
  • 06:31: Assuming the strong force works roughly the same way, we need a field to mediate it, and that field should have its own particles.
  • 06:39: We call those particles gluons.
  • 07:34: ... new pions from a single pion. And the same would happen with any other particle made of ...
  • 07:46: If you want to break them apart you just end up forming new particles, so quarks never end up alone except in the most extreme energies.
  • 07:55: ... energy, like in the very early universe or at impact point in a large particle collider, space gets sort of saturated so that new quarks can’t be ...
  • 11:25: This is possible because the mediating particle of electromagnetism, the photon, is itself electrically neutral.
  • 12:07: This means gluons are unable to interact with neutral particles like the combinations of quarks that form the hadrons.
  • 16:52: Starting with Lattice QCD, although the questions are more generally about particle physics.
  • 16:59: Jeremiah Young asks whether relativistic time dilation occurs due to the thermal motion of particles.
  • 17:05: In other words, if heating something up means its particles are moving faster, does time slow down for those particles?
  • 17:53: ... and Gabriel Monteiro de Castro Both ask the same question: if virtual particles don’t actually exist, but instead are a calculation tool to describe ...
  • 18:15: ... the answer is that the story about separation of virtual particles by the event horizon is a meant to be an intuitive picture of what’s ...
  • 18:42: But the event horizon changes the balance of these modes causing imperfect canceling, which looks like particles are being radiated by the black hole.
  • 20:27: Speaking of which, Marik Zilberman asked whether a particle of the quintessence field could account for Dark Matter?
  • 20:38: ... would need to be coupled strongly with the Higgs field to give the particle enough mass, but it would still need to couple extremely weakly with all ...
  • 07:55: ... energy, like in the very early universe or at impact point in a large particle collider, space gets sort of saturated so that new quarks can’t be ...
  • 01:29: ... the strong force came in the 1940s when we switched on our first particle colliders and started to detect a veritable zoo of new ...
  • 05:39: It’s possible to briefly create larger combinations in particle colliders, but not in nature.
  • 01:48: ... and others realized that the way these particles were created in particle collisions suggested the existence of a new conserved quantity that they named ...
  • 16:52: Starting with Lattice QCD, although the questions are more generally about particle physics.
  • 01:41: As physicists tried to understand the aptly named particle zoo, certain peculiar relationships were observed.
  • 02:22: ... too long it was realized that the particles of the particle zoo were not elementary - they were made of smaller particles still - and ...
  • 17:41: There’s also weird stuff, like the fact that there’s enough kinetic energy in this matter to cause spontaneous particle-antiparticle creation.
  • 18:07: After all, Hawking radiation is sometimes portrayed as a virtual particle-antiparticle pair being separated by a black hole event horizon.
  • 17:41: There’s also weird stuff, like the fact that there’s enough kinetic energy in this matter to cause spontaneous particle-antiparticle creation.
  • 18:07: After all, Hawking radiation is sometimes portrayed as a virtual particle-antiparticle pair being separated by a black hole event horizon.
  • 17:41: There’s also weird stuff, like the fact that there’s enough kinetic energy in this matter to cause spontaneous particle-antiparticle creation.
  • 18:07: After all, Hawking radiation is sometimes portrayed as a virtual particle-antiparticle pair being separated by a black hole event horizon.
  • 01:29: ... first particle colliders and started to detect a veritable zoo of new particles. ...
  • 01:48: ... particular, Murray Gell-Mann and others realized that the way these particles were created in particle collisions suggested the existence of a new ...
  • 02:03: ... and Yuval Ne'eman noticed that if you arrange particles according to their strangeness and their electric charge, they fall into ...
  • 02:16: This is known as the Eightfold Way and it’s like a periodic table but for particles.
  • 02:22: ... too long it was realized that the particles of the particle zoo were not elementary - they were made of smaller ...
  • 02:41: By the way, these particles of multiple quarks are now called hadrons.
  • 03:15: For the class of particles called fermions, no more than one particle can wear the same dress or occupy the same quantum state.
  • 03:24: That includes electrons, quarks, and many of the particles that are composed of quarks.
  • 04:13: It can’t be spin, because with 3 particles and only two possible spin states two will always have the same spin.
  • 04:39: If our Omega particle’s quarks are going to wear the same dress, they better be different colours.
  • 05:34: It turns out that all of these particles are made of three or two quarks.
  • 06:03: Electrically charged particles interact with each other via the electromagnetic field.
  • 06:31: Assuming the strong force works roughly the same way, we need a field to mediate it, and that field should have its own particles.
  • 06:39: We call those particles gluons.
  • 07:46: If you want to break them apart you just end up forming new particles, so quarks never end up alone except in the most extreme energies.
  • 12:07: This means gluons are unable to interact with neutral particles like the combinations of quarks that form the hadrons.
  • 16:59: Jeremiah Young asks whether relativistic time dilation occurs due to the thermal motion of particles.
  • 17:05: In other words, if heating something up means its particles are moving faster, does time slow down for those particles?
  • 17:53: ... and Gabriel Monteiro de Castro Both ask the same question: if virtual particles don’t actually exist, but instead are a calculation tool to describe ...
  • 18:15: ... the answer is that the story about separation of virtual particles by the event horizon is a meant to be an intuitive picture of what’s ...
  • 18:42: But the event horizon changes the balance of these modes causing imperfect canceling, which looks like particles are being radiated by the black hole.
  • 03:15: For the class of particles called fermions, no more than one particle can wear the same dress or occupy the same quantum state.
  • 17:53: ... and Gabriel Monteiro de Castro Both ask the same question: if virtual particles don’t actually exist, but instead are a calculation tool to describe ...
  • 06:39: We call those particles gluons.
  • 06:03: Electrically charged particles interact with each other via the electromagnetic field.
  • 04:39: If our Omega particle’s quarks are going to wear the same dress, they better be different colours.

2022-08-17: What If Dark Energy is a New Quantum Field?

  • 00:36: ... space buzzes with random activity that we sometimes describe as virtual particles popping into and out of existence, driving accelerated expansion. But ...
  • 09:13: ... of state depends on this field strength and the kinetic energy of the particles of the field. The field strength can also change over time AND over ...
  • 13:27: ... said, physicists are trying. The most direct test would be to find the particles of this field, for example in one of our particle colliders. But there ...
  • 00:36: ... space buzzes with random activity that we sometimes describe as virtual particles popping into and out of existence, driving accelerated expansion. But ...
  • 09:13: ... of state depends on this field strength and the kinetic energy of the particles of the field. The field strength can also change over time AND over ...
  • 13:27: ... said, physicists are trying. The most direct test would be to find the particles of this field, for example in one of our particle colliders. But there ...
  • 00:36: ... space buzzes with random activity that we sometimes describe as virtual particles popping into and out of existence, driving accelerated expansion. But there are ...

2022-08-03: What Happens Inside a Proton?

  • 00:45: ... a previous  episode, it takes as many bits as there   are particles in the universe to store all the information in the wavefunction of ...
  • 07:07: ... See, it turns out that the virtual   particles that we were using to calculate particle interactions don’t ...
  • 07:53: ... are way too tumultuous to be easily   approximated by virtual particles. Instead we have to try to model the field more ...
  • 08:58: ... the Feynman path integral. It calculates the probability that a particle will move from one   location to another by adding up the ...
  • 10:43: ... each path comes from adding up all the little   shifts in the particle phase from each step. Then at the end of the path, you add ...
  • 14:08: ... field more directly. That helps us put to bed the idea that virtual particles are   more than an approximation of what these ...
  • 15:29: ... said that   it is defined as zero kinetic energy in the  particles, but actually this doesn’t account   for particle vibrations, ...
  • 10:43: ... famous double slit experiment,   where the probability of a particle landing  at a certain point on the screen depends on   whether the ...
  • 15:29: ... the  particles, but actually this doesn’t account   for particle vibrations, which is also a place that thermal energy can live. Better to ...
  • 07:07: ... that the virtual   particles that we were using to calculate particle interactions don’t actually exist. We’ve talked   about that fact ...
  • 01:31: ... describes the interactions of electrons and any other charged particle   via photons. We’re going to come back  to a full description of QCD ...
  • 06:37: ... Feynman diagram approach   even with computers. Now Before any particle physicists start shouting at me,   I’ll quickly add the caveat that there ...
  • 00:45: ... a previous  episode, it takes as many bits as there   are particles in the universe to store all the information in the wavefunction of ...
  • 07:07: ... See, it turns out that the virtual   particles that we were using to calculate particle interactions don’t ...
  • 07:53: ... are way too tumultuous to be easily   approximated by virtual particles. Instead we have to try to model the field more ...
  • 14:08: ... field more directly. That helps us put to bed the idea that virtual particles are   more than an approximation of what these ...
  • 15:29: ... said that   it is defined as zero kinetic energy in the  particles, but actually this doesn’t account   for particle vibrations, ...
  • 14:08: ... field more directly. That helps us put to bed the idea that virtual particles are   more than an approximation of what these messy fields are really ...
  • 07:07: ... exist. We’ve talked   about that fact previously. Real particles  are sustained oscillations in a quantum field   that have real ...
  • 02:06: ... own - they’re always   bound to other quarks in composite particles called hadrons, of which protons and neutrons   are an example. To ...
  • 08:30: ... the number of field configurations by approximating them as virtual particles.   But for QCD we have to stick with fields, so we need a different ...

2022-07-27: How Many States Of Matter Are There?

  • 00:42: ... up and those bonds break and we’re left with weaker bonds that allow the particles to slip and slide around each other while nonetheless generally sticking ...
  • 00:56: Heat it further and the weak bonds break, allowing particles to fly freely around the room - and voila, a gas.
  • 03:12: The two numbers related on the phase diagram - temperature and pressure - are statistical properties of a large collection of particles.
  • 05:05: ... plasma still consists of composite particles: the electrons are elementary, but the atomic nuclei are little bundles ...
  • 05:47: You might wonder if this stuff is even more plasma-like that plasma - with the particles more free to zip around the room.
  • 06:02: We routinely make this stuff in our particle accelerators, but the quantity is tiny - the result of smashing two nucleons together.
  • 07:54: The states of matter we’re most familiar with can be explained as particles interacting under classical forces.
  • 08:26: These are configurations of entangled particles that oscillate between states even when they have no energy.
  • 08:32: In regular thermodynamics, the lowest energy corresponds to absolute zero temperature, which in turn means zero motion of particles.
  • 08:58: Subatomic particles can have their own states of matter.
  • 09:54: Here’s something we don’t usually think of as particles: human beings, but they can behave in ways eerily close to states of matter.
  • 11:28: The fact is, the concept of "states of matter" can help us to understand many kinds of interactions, even between macroscopic “particles”.
  • 06:02: We routinely make this stuff in our particle accelerators, but the quantity is tiny - the result of smashing two nucleons together.
  • 00:42: ... up and those bonds break and we’re left with weaker bonds that allow the particles to slip and slide around each other while nonetheless generally sticking ...
  • 00:56: Heat it further and the weak bonds break, allowing particles to fly freely around the room - and voila, a gas.
  • 03:12: The two numbers related on the phase diagram - temperature and pressure - are statistical properties of a large collection of particles.
  • 05:05: ... plasma still consists of composite particles: the electrons are elementary, but the atomic nuclei are little bundles ...
  • 05:47: You might wonder if this stuff is even more plasma-like that plasma - with the particles more free to zip around the room.
  • 07:54: The states of matter we’re most familiar with can be explained as particles interacting under classical forces.
  • 08:26: These are configurations of entangled particles that oscillate between states even when they have no energy.
  • 08:32: In regular thermodynamics, the lowest energy corresponds to absolute zero temperature, which in turn means zero motion of particles.
  • 08:58: Subatomic particles can have their own states of matter.
  • 09:54: Here’s something we don’t usually think of as particles: human beings, but they can behave in ways eerily close to states of matter.
  • 11:28: The fact is, the concept of "states of matter" can help us to understand many kinds of interactions, even between macroscopic “particles”.
  • 09:54: Here’s something we don’t usually think of as particles: human beings, but they can behave in ways eerily close to states of matter.
  • 07:54: The states of matter we’re most familiar with can be explained as particles interacting under classical forces.

2022-07-20: What If We Live in a Superdeterministic Universe?

  • 02:56: And a wavefunction can also span multiple particles, holding information about the relationships between those particles.
  • 10:24: ... of how they make their measurements, and the states of the measured particles? ...
  • 16:56: For example, Planck units, or the energies or masses or decay timescales of common particles and elements.
  • 02:56: And a wavefunction can also span multiple particles, holding information about the relationships between those particles.
  • 10:24: ... of how they make their measurements, and the states of the measured particles? ...
  • 16:56: For example, Planck units, or the energies or masses or decay timescales of common particles and elements.
  • 02:56: And a wavefunction can also span multiple particles, holding information about the relationships between those particles.

2022-06-30: Could We Decode Alien Physics?

  • 00:00: ... even if it is insanely complex. We know  this because the particle carried by the   alien circuitry looks like the electron. ...
  • 01:25: ... equations   which govern the interactions of charged  particles will reveal that they use a flipped   sign convention. Nope. ...
  • 04:59: ... - the Maxwell’s equations. Those equations tell us how particles with    electric charges respond to each other. ...
  • 05:33: ... of alien physics describes the interactions  of specific particles, we can distinguish   matter from antimatter in the case of ...
  • 06:55: ... for the sign of electrically charged   particles is not the only arbitrary choice we’ve  made in our development of ...
  • 07:38: ... convention, and its choice also determines how we   define particle handedness or partical chirality. What if our aliens were ...
  • 10:41: ... is the symmetry between left and right handed chirality for particles with quantum spin,   and in our universe P-symmetry is broken ...
  • 16:39: ... a magnetic shield may be   enough to block many charged particles, but  neutral particles like dust would pass right   ...
  • 00:00: ... even if it is insanely complex. We know  this because the particle carried by the   alien circuitry looks like the electron. We  ...
  • 07:38: ... convention, and its choice also determines how we   define particle handedness or partical chirality. What if our aliens were predominantly ...
  • 00:00: ... other by   their relative masses, color charge, etc. The  particle running through the alien circuitry   is the lightest lepton and has ...
  • 05:33: ... symmetry breaking. The classic example is the decay of the kaon particle,   which we’ve talked about in detail previously. The long story short ...
  • 00:00: ... of elimination.  The aliens describe two sets of spin-1/2  particles, each with 3 generations - these   must be the quarks and the ...
  • 01:25: ... equations   which govern the interactions of charged  particles will reveal that they use a flipped   sign convention. Nope. ...
  • 04:59: ... - the Maxwell’s equations. Those equations tell us how particles with    electric charges respond to each other. ...
  • 05:33: ... of alien physics describes the interactions  of specific particles, we can distinguish   matter from antimatter in the case of ...
  • 06:55: ... for the sign of electrically charged   particles is not the only arbitrary choice we’ve  made in our development of ...
  • 07:38: ... But   just as with charge, if we dig into the  way particles interact we can find a ...
  • 10:41: ... is the symmetry between left and right handed chirality for particles with quantum spin,   and in our universe P-symmetry is broken ...
  • 16:39: ... a magnetic shield may be   enough to block many charged particles, but  neutral particles like dust would pass right   ...
  • 07:38: ... But   just as with charge, if we dig into the  way particles interact we can find a ...
  • 04:59: ... - the Maxwell’s equations. Those equations tell us how particles with    electric charges respond to each other. They  don’t care what names ...
  • 10:41: ... right handed   anti-particles, not at all with right-handed particles nor left-handed antiparticles. If we search the   alien user ...
  • 16:39: ... or for generating a hot plasma in that magnetic field to vaporize particles. There are lots of   novel shielding ideas that we could’t survey ...

2022-06-22: Is Interstellar Travel Impossible?

  • 03:50: And that’s to say nothing of cosmic rays - particles moving fast enough to kill all on their own.
  • 04:02: ... can a ship large enough to carry humans be adequately shielded from tiny particles without adding so much extra mass that accelerating such a ship becomes ...
  • 08:19: The kinetic energy deposited by each particles is 1/2 times mass times velocity squared.
  • 08:26: ... in the relative densities, particle masses and speeds, the heat deposited onto our ship by the ISM is around ...
  • 08:51: In a 2016 paper, Thiem Hoang and collaborators calculated the damage by individual particle impacts.
  • 12:22: Interstellar space is flooded with high energy particles, from simple protons to massive iron nuclei.
  • 16:16: Yash Chaurasia asks whether asking an electron "are you a particle?" automatically answers "are you a wave?”.
  • 16:34: But if there are only two possible answers - particle or wave - then asking one answers the other.
  • 17:20: ... inside a black hole, given that they do so in the high energies of particle ...
  • 18:11: ... Hegvik asks whether by collecting the information from the entangled particles that emerge from a black hole as Hawking radiation, could we in ...
  • 19:10: Otinane Yos asks whether we can be sure that virtual particle - antiparticle pairs get separated near a Black Hole event horizon.
  • 19:26: And most of those lines of reasoning say nothing about virtual pairs of particles.
  • 19:36: ... virtual particle picture is a sort of colloquial interpretation of what’s going on, ...
  • 19:10: Otinane Yos asks whether we can be sure that virtual particle - antiparticle pairs get separated near a Black Hole event horizon.
  • 17:20: ... inside a black hole, given that they do so in the high energies of particle accelerators. ...
  • 16:16: Yash Chaurasia asks whether asking an electron "are you a particle?" automatically answers "are you a wave?”.
  • 08:51: In a 2016 paper, Thiem Hoang and collaborators calculated the damage by individual particle impacts.
  • 08:26: ... in the relative densities, particle masses and speeds, the heat deposited onto our ship by the ISM is around a ...
  • 19:36: ... virtual particle picture is a sort of colloquial interpretation of what’s going on, although I ...
  • 17:09: ... ask about the wave-like properties (for example the phase), or about the particle-like properties (which detector), but not both at the same time with the same ...
  • 03:50: And that’s to say nothing of cosmic rays - particles moving fast enough to kill all on their own.
  • 04:02: ... can a ship large enough to carry humans be adequately shielded from tiny particles without adding so much extra mass that accelerating such a ship becomes ...
  • 08:19: The kinetic energy deposited by each particles is 1/2 times mass times velocity squared.
  • 12:22: Interstellar space is flooded with high energy particles, from simple protons to massive iron nuclei.
  • 18:11: ... Hegvik asks whether by collecting the information from the entangled particles that emerge from a black hole as Hawking radiation, could we in ...
  • 19:26: And most of those lines of reasoning say nothing about virtual pairs of particles.
  • 03:50: And that’s to say nothing of cosmic rays - particles moving fast enough to kill all on their own.

2022-06-15: Can Wormholes Solve The Black Hole Information Paradox?

  • 02:43: ... Neumann entropy. This is the entropy of   entanglement. If two particles are entangled then they share mysterious correlations - you can ...
  • 03:20: ... you can entangle a particle you can entangle a black hole. One way to think about ...
  • 04:44: ... radiation with that quantum information,   so that each new particle is entangled  with all previously emitted ...
  • 07:24: ... integral  calculates the probability of some quantum   particle traveling between two points by adding up all ways the particle ...
  • 08:14: ... black hole,   as its geometry changes with each  outgoing particle of Hawking ...
  • 03:20: ... a black hole event horizon   before they can annihilate, one particle escapes and becomes real, while the other is swallowed.   But those ...
  • 07:24: ... integral  calculates the probability of some quantum   particle traveling between two points by adding up all ways the particle could make ...
  • 03:20: ... vacuum   of space as being filled with a boiling flux of  particle/antiparticle pairs that constantly appear   and annihilate each other. If ...
  • 02:43: ... Neumann entropy. This is the entropy of   entanglement. If two particles are entangled then they share mysterious correlations - you can ...
  • 03:20: ... radiation is that the black hole is swallowing and emitting virtual particles. We can think about the vacuum   of space as being filled with ...
  • 04:44: ... so that each new particle is entangled  with all previously emitted particles. ...
  • 03:20: ... that constantly appear   and annihilate each other. If these particles get separated by a black hole event horizon   before they can ...
  • 02:43: ... von Neumann entropy   of an entangled particle or system of particles is a measure of how much quantum information   is not stored ...

2022-06-01: What If Physics IS NOT Describing Reality?

  • 00:25: ... formulate mathematically in quantum theory deal  no longer with the particles themselves but with   our knowledge of the elementary ...
  • 02:44: ... those parts.   In quantum mechanics, we have things like  particles and fields which can only take on   discrete or quantized ...
  • 04:56: ... spin.   From a physical point of view, think of it as  a particle’s orientation - a spin axis that   can point either up or down. ...
  • 05:53: ... You started out with one bit of knowledge  about the particle’s up-down alignment.   According to Zeilinger, by definition, ...
  • 07:23: ... to have a spin direction that’s  defined relative to another particle’s spin.   For example, a pair of electrons could be  ...
  • 08:49: ... example, that the product of the measurement error   in a particle’s position and momentum has to be  greater than the Planck constant ...
  • 10:02: ... experiment causes a photon to behave like a wave  or a particle depending on the question asked   of it. And that question ...
  • 10:33: ... only one answer to two complementary questions:   just as our particle could only tell you if it was up or down, but not left or ...
  • 10:02: ... experiment causes a photon to behave like a wave  or a particle depending on the question asked   of it. And that question could be ...
  • 03:22: ... we have — for example, about  the location or speed or mass of a particle.   Zeilinger calls such a statement a proposition  - it’s an answer to ...
  • 00:25: ... formulate mathematically in quantum theory deal  no longer with the particles themselves but with   our knowledge of the elementary ...
  • 02:44: ... those parts.   In quantum mechanics, we have things like  particles and fields which can only take on   discrete or quantized ...
  • 04:56: ... spin.   From a physical point of view, think of it as  a particle’s orientation - a spin axis that   can point either up or down. ...
  • 05:53: ... You started out with one bit of knowledge  about the particle’s up-down alignment.   According to Zeilinger, by definition, ...
  • 07:23: ... to have a spin direction that’s  defined relative to another particle’s spin.   For example, a pair of electrons could be  ...
  • 08:49: ... example, that the product of the measurement error   in a particle’s position and momentum has to be  greater than the Planck constant ...
  • 07:23: ... appears to force an instantaneous communication   between the particles - a spooky action  at a distance. This is ...
  • 02:44: ... that we call entanglement. But as weird  as quantum fields and particles are,   this still feels like a very physical way  to define the building ...
  • 04:56: ... Gerlach apparatus, where the magnetic moment  of the particles interact with a magnetic field   gradient to deflect the particles ...
  • 08:49: ... example, that the product of the measurement error   in a particle’s position and momentum has to be  greater than the Planck constant divided by ...
  • 07:23: ... to have a spin direction that’s  defined relative to another particle’s spin.   For example, a pair of electrons could be  prepared that have ...
  • 05:53: ... You started out with one bit of knowledge  about the particle’s up-down alignment.   According to Zeilinger, by definition, ...
  • 00:25: ... themselves but with   our knowledge of the elementary particles.”  In other words, the mathematical laws of   physics don’t ...

2022-05-18: What If the Galactic Habitable Zone LIMITS Intelligent Life?

  • 06:56: ... as a slightly overdense spot  in the near perfectly smooth cloud of particles   that filled the universe after the Big Bang. As  it cooled, our ...

2022-05-04: Space DOES NOT Expand Everywhere

  • 11:59: ... Empty space has a very weak energy density, even in the absence of particles. As space expands, that density doesn't change - remember, the balloon ...
  • 13:50: ... asks How the heck do you weigh a subatomic particle? Good question. Riley Schroeder quips “carefully and hypothetically” - ...
  • 11:59: ... Empty space has a very weak energy density, even in the absence of particles. As space expands, that density doesn't change - remember, the balloon ...

2022-04-27: How the Higgs Mechanism Give Things Mass

  • 00:10: ... culminated in the April 7 announcement  that this obscure particle’s mass seems to be 0.1%   heavier than expected. So why do we ...
  • 00:46: ... have a   property that we once thought no force-carrying  particle should have - they have ...
  • 01:48: ... packets of energy that can move  around - and those are the particles of a ...
  • 07:33: ... Particles of this field are just oscillations  of the field strength across ...
  • 08:09: ... Lagrangian describes a simple  quantum field made of massive particles which   interact with each other. Let me talk you ...
  • 10:15: ... the other hand, the particle of  the original field needs a rest mass   energy to be ...
  • 11:56: ... vacuum expectation value. The original massive  particles of the field now oscillate in the   radial direction, but no ...
  • 12:26: ... valley in what we’ll call the theta direction.   The resulting particle is called a  Goldstone boson and it’s massless   because ...
  • 13:44: ... potential. Weird stuff happens when the gauge  field couples to the particles of that ...
  • 16:02: ... mechanism. The Higgs field also gives mass   to the matter particles - the fermions -  but that’s for another time. But what ...
  • 10:15: ... the other hand, the particle of  the original field needs a rest mass   energy to be able to ...
  • 00:10: ... culminated in the April 7 announcement  that this obscure particle’s mass seems to be 0.1%   heavier than expected. So why do we ...
  • 01:48: ... packets of energy that can move  around - and those are the particles of a ...
  • 07:33: ... Particles of this field are just oscillations  of the field strength across ...
  • 08:09: ... Lagrangian describes a simple  quantum field made of massive particles which   interact with each other. Let me talk you ...
  • 11:56: ... vacuum expectation value. The original massive  particles of the field now oscillate in the   radial direction, but no ...
  • 13:44: ... potential. Weird stuff happens when the gauge  field couples to the particles of that ...
  • 16:02: ... mechanism. The Higgs field also gives mass   to the matter particles - the fermions -  but that’s for another time. But what ...
  • 07:33: ... where the field strength is zero.  But if there are no particles around   then the field just sits at the lowest  point. We call that the ...
  • 16:02: ... a larger mass that was predicted suggests  an unknown particle or particles flickering   around the W boson. The discovery of the Higgs  boson 10 years ago ...
  • 00:10: ... culminated in the April 7 announcement  that this obscure particle’s mass seems to be 0.1%   heavier than expected. So why do we care? ...
  • 08:09: ... Lagrangian describes a simple  quantum field made of massive particles which   interact with each other. Let me talk you through  the ...
  • 00:46: ... this is the weirdness   of the weak force - in particular the particles  that carry this force. Its W and Z bosons have a   property ...
  • 04:08: ... far so good except that the predicted particles  are massless, while the real weak force bosons   are, as I ...
  • 08:09: ... powers of the field   strength that represent ways the field’s particles  can interact. For example, this phi^4 term says   the ...

2022-04-20: Does the Universe Create Itself?

  • 00:59: ... which say that the universe exists not so much in physical particles and quantum fields, nor solely in the mind of the observer, but rather ...
  • 04:57: ... in his expression “it from bit.” In his words, “Every it — every particle, every field of force, even the spacetime continuum itself — derives its ...
  • 07:43: ... experiment. If we measure the spin of one member of a pair of entangled particles - the choice of the direction of the spin measurement seems to have an ...
  • 12:05: ... could well be code for “interaction”, in which every time two particles bump together and become entangled we have an act of measurement. If ...
  • 00:59: ... which say that the universe exists not so much in physical particles and quantum fields, nor solely in the mind of the observer, but rather ...
  • 07:43: ... experiment. If we measure the spin of one member of a pair of entangled particles - the choice of the direction of the spin measurement seems to have an ...
  • 12:05: ... could well be code for “interaction”, in which every time two particles bump together and become entangled we have an act of measurement. If ...
  • 07:43: ... experiment. If we measure the spin of one member of a pair of entangled particles - the choice of the direction of the spin measurement seems to have an ...
  • 12:05: ... could well be code for “interaction”, in which every time two particles bump together and become entangled we have an act of measurement. If this all ...

2022-03-23: Where Is The Center of The Universe?

  • 16:27: Al H asks what particles and interactions existed before the electroweak force split into electromagnetism and the weak force.
  • 16:37: Well, the big one is that the elementary particles were massless back then due to the absense of the Higgs mechansism.
  • 16:42: Also, before that split, particles could transfer their isospin a lot more easily.
  • 16:55: Just like it makes no sense to distinguish electrons with up or down spin as different particles.
  • 17:02: In fact the universe seemed to be made of only six particles, three quarks and three leptons.
  • 17:09: When the universe cooled down and the electroweak symmetry was broken, particles were locked in whatever isospin state they happened to be in.
  • 17:22: ... given that it’s defined in reference to the momentum vector of the particle. ...
  • 17:32: For example, if a particle races past you you observe its chirality based on its direction of motion.
  • 17:38: What happens if you then you accelerate and overtake the particle so it appears to be moving in the reverse direction.
  • 18:05: It’s only equal to helicity for particles that you can’t overtake - aka light speed, massless particles.
  • 17:32: For example, if a particle races past you you observe its chirality based on its direction of motion.
  • 16:27: Al H asks what particles and interactions existed before the electroweak force split into electromagnetism and the weak force.
  • 16:37: Well, the big one is that the elementary particles were massless back then due to the absense of the Higgs mechansism.
  • 16:42: Also, before that split, particles could transfer their isospin a lot more easily.
  • 16:55: Just like it makes no sense to distinguish electrons with up or down spin as different particles.
  • 17:02: In fact the universe seemed to be made of only six particles, three quarks and three leptons.
  • 17:09: When the universe cooled down and the electroweak symmetry was broken, particles were locked in whatever isospin state they happened to be in.
  • 18:05: It’s only equal to helicity for particles that you can’t overtake - aka light speed, massless particles.

2022-03-16: What If Charge is NOT Fundamental?

  • 00:57: It seems to just be a property that particles can have or not have - as fundamental as mass.
  • 01:30: ... and the answers will take us   through the birth of Particle Physics, and, in fact, through the birth of the universe ...
  • 02:10: Heisenberg wondered if the two particles were in fact just different states of a single particle which he called the nucleon.
  • 02:18: At this point we already knew of particles that had internal states.
  • 02:49: ... if the protons and neutrons are just two states of the same particle, Heisenberg reasoned that they may be differentiated by a property  ...
  • 03:29: ... precise predictions of the outcome of  collisions between these particles. ...
  • 04:02: Our particle colliders advanced, leading to the discovery of weird new particles.
  • 04:07: So many of them, in fact, that physicists struggled to make sense of this so-called particle zoo.
  • 04:14: For example, some of these particles had very similar masses but very different electric charges, which I hope reminds you of the proton and neutron.
  • 04:24: So maybe each of these groups were really a single particle in different states - with different isospins.
  • 04:43: Peering into the depths of the particle zoo, they noticed another pattern.
  • 04:49: There seemed to be a family of particles that were only created in pairs.
  • 05:00: But these new particles weren’t doing this to conserve charge, nor isospin, nor any other known property.
  • 05:30: Electric charge, isospin and hypercharge were intimately connected across all particles.
  • 05:57: Charge alone couldn’t explain the patterns of interactions and particle types observed in the particle zoo.
  • 06:22: Plotting particles according to their isospin and hypercharge revealed peculiar geometric patterns.
  • 06:29: For example some groups of eight particles formed hexagons, and one group of ten particles formed a triangle.
  • 06:41: No big deal - Gell-Mann just hypothesized an undiscovered particle - the omega baryon - with the right isospin and hypercharge to fill that hole.
  • 07:34: ... of the geometric symmetry if nucleons themselves were not elementary particles, but rather made up of smaller components, which he dubbed ...
  • 07:53: He showed that isospin and hypercharge were just emergent properties that reflected the different types of quarks that make up one of these particles.
  • 08:21: ... something that lives in the hearts of these quarks and other elementary particles - that governs these differences between particle groups, and that also ...
  • 09:20: First, the weak force can transform particles into  other particles - something no other force can do.
  • 09:28: Second, it only works on left-handed particles.
  • 09:41: One consequence of quantum spin is this thing called chirality, which is sort of the projection of spin in the direction that a particle is moving.
  • 09:52: ... Particles can have right-handed chirality if their spin is clockwise relative to ...
  • 10:02: Only particles with left-handed chirality feel the weak force.
  • 10:10: Only the left-handed component can emit one of the weak-force carrier particles - the W boson - and in doing so transform into a neutrino.
  • 10:39: Only left-handed particles have it, and so it has an intimate connection to the quantum spin.
  • 11:20: ... must be fundamental because they are properties of elementary particles that can't be broken into smaller ...
  • 11:30: Particles like the electron, the neutrino, and even the quark.
  • 11:40: ... old strong-force versions of isospin and hypercharge in the composite particles of the particle zoo emerge from their different quark content, but are ...
  • 13:08: Which, by the way, grants mass to elementary particles - yet another supposedly “fundamental” property”.
  • 14:39: David, the swiss are famous for their chocolatiers  and for their giant particle colliders.
  • 06:41: No big deal - Gell-Mann just hypothesized an undiscovered particle - the omega baryon - with the right isospin and hypercharge to fill that hole.
  • 04:02: Our particle colliders advanced, leading to the discovery of weird new particles.
  • 14:39: David, the swiss are famous for their chocolatiers  and for their giant particle colliders.
  • 04:02: Our particle colliders advanced, leading to the discovery of weird new particles.
  • 08:21: ... and other elementary particles - that governs these differences between particle groups, and that also governs electric ...
  • 02:49: ... if the protons and neutrons are just two states of the same particle, Heisenberg reasoned that they may be differentiated by a property  analogous ...
  • 01:30: ... and the answers will take us   through the birth of Particle Physics, and, in fact, through the birth of the universe ...
  • 05:57: Charge alone couldn’t explain the patterns of interactions and particle types observed in the particle zoo.
  • 04:07: So many of them, in fact, that physicists struggled to make sense of this so-called particle zoo.
  • 04:43: Peering into the depths of the particle zoo, they noticed another pattern.
  • 05:57: Charge alone couldn’t explain the patterns of interactions and particle types observed in the particle zoo.
  • 11:40: ... versions of isospin and hypercharge in the composite particles of the particle zoo emerge from their different quark content, but are driven by these more ...
  • 00:57: It seems to just be a property that particles can have or not have - as fundamental as mass.
  • 02:10: Heisenberg wondered if the two particles were in fact just different states of a single particle which he called the nucleon.
  • 02:18: At this point we already knew of particles that had internal states.
  • 03:29: ... precise predictions of the outcome of  collisions between these particles. ...
  • 04:02: Our particle colliders advanced, leading to the discovery of weird new particles.
  • 04:14: For example, some of these particles had very similar masses but very different electric charges, which I hope reminds you of the proton and neutron.
  • 04:49: There seemed to be a family of particles that were only created in pairs.
  • 05:00: But these new particles weren’t doing this to conserve charge, nor isospin, nor any other known property.
  • 05:30: Electric charge, isospin and hypercharge were intimately connected across all particles.
  • 06:22: Plotting particles according to their isospin and hypercharge revealed peculiar geometric patterns.
  • 06:29: For example some groups of eight particles formed hexagons, and one group of ten particles formed a triangle.
  • 07:34: ... of the geometric symmetry if nucleons themselves were not elementary particles, but rather made up of smaller components, which he dubbed ...
  • 07:53: He showed that isospin and hypercharge were just emergent properties that reflected the different types of quarks that make up one of these particles.
  • 08:21: ... something that lives in the hearts of these quarks and other elementary particles - that governs these differences between particle groups, and that also ...
  • 09:20: First, the weak force can transform particles into  other particles - something no other force can do.
  • 09:28: Second, it only works on left-handed particles.
  • 09:52: ... Particles can have right-handed chirality if their spin is clockwise relative to ...
  • 10:02: Only particles with left-handed chirality feel the weak force.
  • 10:10: Only the left-handed component can emit one of the weak-force carrier particles - the W boson - and in doing so transform into a neutrino.
  • 10:39: Only left-handed particles have it, and so it has an intimate connection to the quantum spin.
  • 11:20: ... must be fundamental because they are properties of elementary particles that can't be broken into smaller ...
  • 11:30: Particles like the electron, the neutrino, and even the quark.
  • 11:40: ... old strong-force versions of isospin and hypercharge in the composite particles of the particle zoo emerge from their different quark content, but are ...
  • 13:08: Which, by the way, grants mass to elementary particles - yet another supposedly “fundamental” property”.
  • 08:21: ... something that lives in the hearts of these quarks and other elementary particles - that governs these differences between particle groups, and that also ...
  • 09:20: First, the weak force can transform particles into  other particles - something no other force can do.
  • 10:10: Only the left-handed component can emit one of the weak-force carrier particles - the W boson - and in doing so transform into a neutrino.
  • 13:08: Which, by the way, grants mass to elementary particles - yet another supposedly “fundamental” property”.
  • 06:29: For example some groups of eight particles formed hexagons, and one group of ten particles formed a triangle.
  • 09:20: First, the weak force can transform particles into  other particles - something no other force can do.

2022-03-08: Is the Proxima System Our Best Hope For Another Earth?

  • 11:22: ... the star to have powerful outbursts - flares - that blast high energy particles and radiation through the planetary ...
  • 11:36: During flares, Proxima B is blasted with X-rays and ultraviolet light and high energy particles.
  • 11:22: ... the star to have powerful outbursts - flares - that blast high energy particles and radiation through the planetary ...
  • 11:36: During flares, Proxima B is blasted with X-rays and ultraviolet light and high energy particles.

2022-02-23: Are Cosmic Strings Cracks in the Universe?

  • 00:58: ... transition occurs in the quantum fields that   underlie all particles. Just as with water, a  field’s inherent temperature massively ...

2022-02-16: Is The Wave Function The Building Block of Reality?

  • 00:03: ... the world of quantum mechanics, it’s no big deal for particles to be in multiple different states at the same time, or to teleport ...
  • 00:49: ... quantum mechanics, particles don’t have definite properties. Rather they are described by something ...
  • 01:06: ... example when we make a measurement of a particle, the property that we’re measuring seems to be plucked from the wide ...
  • 02:24: ... because it’s confusing. Quantum superpositions can involve many quantum particles. So how far can the superposition extend? The atom, the radioactive ...
  • 03:24: ... ideas in the past. We also have de Broglie-Bohm pilot wave theory, where particles already have defined properties that are hidden within the wave ...
  • 06:41: ... are very rare. It’s incredibly unlikely that a single isolated quantum particle will undergo collapse during the course of an ...
  • 06:53: ... the more particles you add, the more likely that one of them experiences collapse, and that ...
  • 07:17: ... for the quantum-classical divide - it simply depends on the number of particles involved. Small things can stay quantum, but the chance of collapse to ...
  • 07:35: GRW suggested that the collapse rate should be about 10^-16 hits per second per particle.
  • 07:44: ... this value, a single particle wave function remains uncollapsed for around 100 million years. But if ...
  • 00:03: ... the world of quantum mechanics, it’s no big deal for particles to be in multiple different states at the same time, or to teleport ...
  • 00:49: ... quantum mechanics, particles don’t have definite properties. Rather they are described by something ...
  • 02:24: ... because it’s confusing. Quantum superpositions can involve many quantum particles. So how far can the superposition extend? The atom, the radioactive ...
  • 03:24: ... ideas in the past. We also have de Broglie-Bohm pilot wave theory, where particles already have defined properties that are hidden within the wave ...
  • 06:53: ... the more particles you add, the more likely that one of them experiences collapse, and that ...
  • 07:17: ... for the quantum-classical divide - it simply depends on the number of particles involved. Small things can stay quantum, but the chance of collapse to ...
  • 07:44: ... for around 100 million years. But if you have Avogadro’s number of particles - the 6x10^23-ish of a macroscopic object, you expect a collapse every ...
  • 06:53: ... picture - in the measurement device and in your own brain. With enough particles collapse becomes ...
  • 00:49: ... quantum mechanics, particles don’t have definite properties. Rather they are described by something called ...
  • 07:17: ... for the quantum-classical divide - it simply depends on the number of particles involved. Small things can stay quantum, but the chance of collapse to ...
  • 03:24: ... are hidden within the wave function. The wave function may collapse, but particles maintain a rigid physical ...

2022-02-10: The Nature of Space and Time AMA

  • 00:03: ... in the case of space it's the coordinate system it's the grid on which particles move they exert forces on each other and then of course we have time ...

2022-01-27: How Does Gravity Escape A Black Hole?

  • 06:08: Now in quantum mechanics - or more specifically quantum field theory - forces are mediated by particles, not by the geometry of spacetime.
  • 06:16: ... example the electromagnetic force is communicated between charged particles by transferring virtual photons - ephemeral excitations in the ...
  • 06:28: In theories of quantum gravity, the gravitational force should probably also have a mediating particle - usually called the graviton.
  • 06:42: If gravity is really communicated by a particle, how does that particle escape the event horizon?
  • 06:54: There’s a bit of a misconception in how we think about virtual particles.
  • 07:02: Virtual particles aren’t localized like that.
  • 07:16: But those photons don’t follow a well defined path between the interacting particles.
  • 07:21: ... and their summed effect leads to a repulsive force between the particles. ...
  • 07:55: That’s easy - these are virtual particles, and in quantum field theory, virtual particles are not restricted by the speed of light.
  • 08:06: ... between particles result from the sum of all virtual particle interactions, possible and ...
  • 06:28: In theories of quantum gravity, the gravitational force should probably also have a mediating particle - usually called the graviton.
  • 06:42: If gravity is really communicated by a particle, how does that particle escape the event horizon?
  • 08:06: ... between particles result from the sum of all virtual particle interactions, possible and Impossible, and the speed of light limit actually emerges ...
  • 06:08: Now in quantum mechanics - or more specifically quantum field theory - forces are mediated by particles, not by the geometry of spacetime.
  • 06:16: ... example the electromagnetic force is communicated between charged particles by transferring virtual photons - ephemeral excitations in the ...
  • 06:54: There’s a bit of a misconception in how we think about virtual particles.
  • 07:02: Virtual particles aren’t localized like that.
  • 07:16: But those photons don’t follow a well defined path between the interacting particles.
  • 07:21: ... and their summed effect leads to a repulsive force between the particles. ...
  • 07:55: That’s easy - these are virtual particles, and in quantum field theory, virtual particles are not restricted by the speed of light.
  • 08:06: ... between particles result from the sum of all virtual particle interactions, possible and ...

2022-01-19: How To Build The Universe in a Computer

  • 00:47: ... hydrodynamic interactions of countless stars and gas and dark matter particles over billions of future ...
  • 03:59: ... field is constant - it only changes in the next step, after all the particles have made their ...
  • 05:02: In the simplest type of N-body simulation you need to compute the effect of every particle on every other particle.
  • 05:14: For a modern one-million particle simulation of a star cluster, that’s a trillion computations per time step.
  • 05:51: Perhaps the most important is to avoid having to consider every single particle pair.
  • 06:00: ... nearby particles it’s important to consider every individual interaction, but for more ...
  • 06:16: It works like this: you start with a volume full of particles, each with its starting position and velocity.
  • 06:28: You stop dividing in any given part of the volume when there is no more than one particle per cube in that path.
  • 06:36: Next, you run an N-body simulation by calculating  the summed gravitational pull on each given particle.
  • 06:43: ... the effect from distant locations, you don’t do it for each particle - instead you do it for all particles inside one of these ...
  • 06:55: ... you need to do goes down from N^2 to N-times-log-N, which for large particle numbers is much, much ...
  • 07:08: ... approach is the particle-mesh method,  in which particles are converted into a density distribution and a gravitational  ...
  • 07:24: Adaptive particle meshes can be used to add higher resolution where needed - say, where the stars have higher density or structure.
  • 07:41: These mesh codes are useful for systems of particles interacting under gravity.
  • 08:35: ... codes don’t use a rigid grid, but rather they  track tracer particles within the fluid - those particles effectively make up a constantly ...
  • 10:28: It simulated 13-billion light years wide cube containing over 300 billion particles, each representing a billion-Suns worth of dark matter.
  • 10:39: ... is AbacusSummit, which just last year simulated 70 trillion particles on the supercomputers at the Center for Computational Astrophysics in ...
  • 06:43: ... the effect from distant locations, you don’t do it for each particle - instead you do it for all particles inside one of these ...
  • 07:24: Adaptive particle meshes can be used to add higher resolution where needed - say, where the stars have higher density or structure.
  • 06:55: ... you need to do goes down from N^2 to N-times-log-N, which for large particle numbers is much, much ...
  • 05:51: Perhaps the most important is to avoid having to consider every single particle pair.
  • 05:14: For a modern one-million particle simulation of a star cluster, that’s a trillion computations per time step.
  • 07:08: ... approach is the particle-mesh method,  in which particles are converted into a density ...
  • 08:26: Particle-mesh approaches can do this, but these  days it’s more common to use an approach called smoothed-particle hydrodynamics or SPH.
  • 07:08: ... approach is the particle-mesh method,  in which particles are converted into a density distribution and a ...
  • 11:13: ... than is contained in a typical simulation,  which just tracks particle  positions and ...
  • 09:05: ... an amalgam of these methods - for example SPH for large scale flows and particle-particle N-body for small-scale ...
  • 07:33: Modern mesh codes also do  classic particle-particle   interactions at short ranges to improv accuracy at small scales.
  • 00:47: ... hydrodynamic interactions of countless stars and gas and dark matter particles over billions of future ...
  • 03:59: ... field is constant - it only changes in the next step, after all the particles have made their ...
  • 06:00: ... nearby particles it’s important to consider every individual interaction, but for more ...
  • 06:16: It works like this: you start with a volume full of particles, each with its starting position and velocity.
  • 06:43: ... locations, you don’t do it for each particle - instead you do it for all particles inside one of these ...
  • 07:08: ... approach is the particle-mesh method,  in which particles are converted into a density distribution and a gravitational  ...
  • 07:41: These mesh codes are useful for systems of particles interacting under gravity.
  • 08:35: ... codes don’t use a rigid grid, but rather they  track tracer particles within the fluid - those particles effectively make up a constantly ...
  • 10:28: It simulated 13-billion light years wide cube containing over 300 billion particles, each representing a billion-Suns worth of dark matter.
  • 10:39: ... is AbacusSummit, which just last year simulated 70 trillion particles on the supercomputers at the Center for Computational Astrophysics in ...
  • 08:35: ... but rather they  track tracer particles within the fluid - those particles effectively make up a constantly shifting ...
  • 06:43: ... locations, you don’t do it for each particle - instead you do it for all particles inside one of these ...
  • 07:41: These mesh codes are useful for systems of particles interacting under gravity.
  • 05:09: So if there are N particles  that’s N^2 calculations.
  • 06:00: ... interaction, but for more distant locations it’s okay to clump particles  together and consider only  their summed gravitational ...

2022-01-12: How To Simulate The Universe With DFT

  • 00:00: ... you used every particle in the observable universe to solve the schrodinger equation and do full ...
  • 00:23: And yet we routinely simulate systems with thousands, or even millions of particles.
  • 01:12: But for almost every practical use you’d need to do that math for multiple quantum particles interacting - and then the blackboard doesn’t cut it.
  • 01:21: You need exponentially more computing power and more storage the more particles you have.
  • 01:28: In fact you need more particles than exist in the solar system to store the wavefunction of the electrons in a single iron atom.
  • 01:48: ... describes how the wavefunction of a quantum particle - that’s this psi thing - changes over space, assuming the particle is ...
  • 02:30: ... quantum mechanics - it’s an approximation that works for slower moving particles that don’t change over ...
  • 04:06: ... atom on a course grid, you’d need to store more numbers than there are particles in the solar ...
  • 04:52: ... particles to the Schrodinger equation is like adding dice to this system- every ...
  • 05:52: ... to solve the impossible case of many interacting quantum particles, we should start by thinking about the completely solvable case of many ...
  • 06:06: When we use Newton to solve, say, the three-body problem, we can solve the equations for each of the 3 particles separately.
  • 06:18: In fact astrophysicists do huge galaxy simulations of millions of particles without doing millions-of-dimension calculations.
  • 06:37: ... space and consider just the few points in that space where the particles actually exist at a given point in ...
  • 06:59: ... non-local correlations which arise because the position of one quantum particle can restrict the set of possible positions for the other particles, for ...
  • 07:15: In the Newtonian case, particles only interact locally, and that means the Newtonian equations of motion are what we call separable.
  • 07:33: ... this is true then we can take an equation for N particles in 3D and reduce it from a 3^N dimensional equation to simply N coupled ...
  • 07:46: ... mechanics we can not only write down the equations of motion for each particle separately, we can write the x, y, and z equations of motion separately ...
  • 08:11: We need to know the wavefunction for every particle everywhere.
  • 08:15: And we can’t reduce the dimensionality by treating particles separately because the Schrodinger equation can’t be made “separable”.
  • 08:26: ... impossibility of solving the Schrodinger equation for more than a few particles, researchers still manage to do quantum simulations of some extremely ...
  • 09:14: So how does DFT do a calculation that should need to manipulate vastly more bits of information than there are particles in the entire universe?
  • 01:48: ... describes how the wavefunction of a quantum particle - that’s this psi thing - changes over space, assuming the particle is in ...
  • 07:46: ... mechanics we can not only write down the equations of motion for each particle separately, we can write the x, y, and z equations of motion separately ...
  • 00:23: And yet we routinely simulate systems with thousands, or even millions of particles.
  • 01:12: But for almost every practical use you’d need to do that math for multiple quantum particles interacting - and then the blackboard doesn’t cut it.
  • 01:21: You need exponentially more computing power and more storage the more particles you have.
  • 01:28: In fact you need more particles than exist in the solar system to store the wavefunction of the electrons in a single iron atom.
  • 02:30: ... quantum mechanics - it’s an approximation that works for slower moving particles that don’t change over ...
  • 04:06: ... atom on a course grid, you’d need to store more numbers than there are particles in the solar ...
  • 04:52: ... particles to the Schrodinger equation is like adding dice to this system- every ...
  • 05:52: ... to solve the impossible case of many interacting quantum particles, we should start by thinking about the completely solvable case of many ...
  • 06:06: When we use Newton to solve, say, the three-body problem, we can solve the equations for each of the 3 particles separately.
  • 06:18: In fact astrophysicists do huge galaxy simulations of millions of particles without doing millions-of-dimension calculations.
  • 06:37: ... space and consider just the few points in that space where the particles actually exist at a given point in ...
  • 06:59: ... particle can restrict the set of possible positions for the other particles, for example through the Pauli exclusion principle and through quantum ...
  • 07:15: In the Newtonian case, particles only interact locally, and that means the Newtonian equations of motion are what we call separable.
  • 07:33: ... this is true then we can take an equation for N particles in 3D and reduce it from a 3^N dimensional equation to simply N coupled ...
  • 08:15: And we can’t reduce the dimensionality by treating particles separately because the Schrodinger equation can’t be made “separable”.
  • 08:26: ... impossibility of solving the Schrodinger equation for more than a few particles, researchers still manage to do quantum simulations of some extremely ...
  • 09:14: So how does DFT do a calculation that should need to manipulate vastly more bits of information than there are particles in the entire universe?
  • 01:12: But for almost every practical use you’d need to do that math for multiple quantum particles interacting - and then the blackboard doesn’t cut it.
  • 08:26: ... impossibility of solving the Schrodinger equation for more than a few particles, researchers still manage to do quantum simulations of some extremely complex ...
  • 06:06: When we use Newton to solve, say, the three-body problem, we can solve the equations for each of the 3 particles separately.
  • 08:15: And we can’t reduce the dimensionality by treating particles separately because the Schrodinger equation can’t be made “separable”.

2021-12-20: What Happens If A Black Hole Hits Earth?

  • 01:12: The early universe was a wild place. All space everywhere was a boiling particle soup.
  • 06:02: ... accelerates matter to incredible speeds. Near the event horizons, particles collide with each other sizable fractions of the speed of light. This ...
  • 01:12: The early universe was a wild place. All space everywhere was a boiling particle soup.
  • 06:02: ... accelerates matter to incredible speeds. Near the event horizons, particles collide with each other sizable fractions of the speed of light. This ...

2021-12-10: 2021 End of Year AMA!

  • 00:02: ... um and the question is when an electron emits a photon and another particle let's say a proton absorbs it what causes the particles to be um ...

2021-11-17: Are Black Holes Actually Fuzzballs?

  • 02:27: But these few numbers emerge from the motion of every air molecule — and to describe that we’d need the positions and momenta of 10^27ish particles.
  • 05:52: ... string theory, all elementary particles are oscillations in 1-dimensional strands that themselves are embedded ...
  • 02:27: But these few numbers emerge from the motion of every air molecule — and to describe that we’d need the positions and momenta of 10^27ish particles.
  • 05:52: ... string theory, all elementary particles are oscillations in 1-dimensional strands that themselves are embedded ...

2021-11-10: What If Our Understanding of Gravity Is Wrong?

  • 01:02: ... some of the speculative ideas of what it might be made of - from exotic particles to black ...
  • 10:21: One of the most important pieces of evidence  for dark matter as a particle is seen in the light that comes from the very early universe.
  • 13:10: ... MOND proponents say that it’s the behavior of  dark matter particles that have to be carefully fine-tuned to produce the phenomena that ...
  • 13:32: ... of possibilities for what it might be beyond our standard model of particle ...
  • 14:01: ... whether we’re led beyond the standard model by dark matter  particles, or beyond general relativity by hidden gravitational modes of space ...
  • 13:32: ... of possibilities for what it might be beyond our standard model of particle physics. ...
  • 01:02: ... some of the speculative ideas of what it might be made of - from exotic particles to black ...
  • 13:10: ... MOND proponents say that it’s the behavior of  dark matter particles that have to be carefully fine-tuned to produce the phenomena that ...
  • 14:01: ... whether we’re led beyond the standard model by dark matter  particles, or beyond general relativity by hidden gravitational modes of space ...

2021-11-02: Is ACTION The Most Fundamental Property in Physics?

  • 01:22: ... gave us the instant and miraculous power to explain the motion of all particles in the universe. To do this, all you needed to do was know the exact ...
  • 08:39: ... so often do when talking quantum mechanics. In it, a stream of quantum particles are launched at a barrier with two slits cut in it. When the stream ...
  • 09:24: ... seems to be a conflict here. The principle of least action says that a particle will always land where the action of the trajectory is at a minimum or ...
  • 10:26: ... this story is Richard Feynman. Remember that the action tells us about a particle’s history along some hypothetical path. Feynman realized that the path of ...
  • 11:59: ... Dirac started to guess, particles tend to end up near the stationary points of the quantum action. In the ...
  • 13:23: ... Lagrangian for each quantum field which describes how that field and its particles tend to evolve. Combining these gives us the Standard Model Lagrangian, ...
  • 10:26: ... proper time. Instead, it effectively calculates the phase shift that a particle picks up along each path towards a ...
  • 08:39: ... an interference pattern. The quantum interpretation of this is that the particle travels between its source and the screen not as a particle with a well-defined ...
  • 01:22: ... gave us the instant and miraculous power to explain the motion of all particles in the universe. To do this, all you needed to do was know the exact ...
  • 08:39: ... so often do when talking quantum mechanics. In it, a stream of quantum particles are launched at a barrier with two slits cut in it. When the stream ...
  • 09:24: ... correspond only to the central points of those bands. However we see particles landing at every location in between - albeit with more likelihood the ...
  • 10:26: ... this story is Richard Feynman. Remember that the action tells us about a particle’s history along some hypothetical path. Feynman realized that the path of ...
  • 11:59: ... Dirac started to guess, particles tend to end up near the stationary points of the quantum action. In the ...
  • 13:23: ... Lagrangian for each quantum field which describes how that field and its particles tend to evolve. Combining these gives us the Standard Model Lagrangian, ...
  • 10:26: ... this story is Richard Feynman. Remember that the action tells us about a particle’s history along some hypothetical path. Feynman realized that the path of a ...
  • 09:24: ... correspond only to the central points of those bands. However we see particles landing at every location in between - albeit with more likelihood the closer ...
  • 11:59: ... Dirac started to guess, particles tend to end up near the stationary points of the quantum action. In the path ...
  • 13:23: ... Lagrangian for each quantum field which describes how that field and its particles tend to evolve. Combining these gives us the Standard Model Lagrangian, which ...

2021-10-20: Will Constructor Theory REWRITE Physics?

  • 00:32: describe some aspect of the universe with numbers - like the temperature, pressure, etc of a gas or the position, velocity, etc. of a particle Step 2.
  • 12:30: ... quantum teleport even through empty space in  Fact do particles even travel at all or do   their wave functions just randomly ...
  • 14:00: ... space. This is a tough one. It’s not clear that  the particle itself is ever “inside the barrier”,   but its wavefunction ...
  • 15:34: ... that the universe saves CPU space by not fully  rendering particles that aren't being viewed by   the player. This leads to ...
  • 12:30: ... question of whether tunneling can happen through  empty space. A particle moving in free space does   have a range of possible positions ...
  • 00:32: describe some aspect of the universe with numbers - like the temperature, pressure, etc of a gas or the position, velocity, etc. of a particle Step 2.
  • 12:30: ... page has a great question: Could a particle  tunnel through .. nothing. As in could it   quantum teleport ...
  • 15:34: ... that the universe saves CPU space by not fully  rendering particles that aren't being viewed by   the player. This leads to ...
  • 14:48: ... being an emergent   consequence of causality. If every particles  wavefunction is really spread over all of space   can anything ...

2021-10-13: New Results in Quantum Tunneling vs. The Speed of Light

  • 00:32: It describes how quantum particles are able to move across seemingly impenetrable barriers - for example, when atomic nuclei decay.
  • 00:40: ... the quantum world weird - it’s also that the tunneling motion may move particles faster than they could travel if the barrier wasn’t there - and even ...
  • 01:51: ... similar thing happens in the world of quantum mechanics, where particles are pushed and pulled by the fundamental forces, forming energetic hills ...
  • 02:11: If one of these particles had enough energy it could punch through that barrier.
  • 02:22: In radioactive decay, particles that should never have enough energy to escape the nucleus are found to leak out.
  • 02:35: Between observations, quantum particles don’t have well defined properties - and that includes their positions.
  • 02:52: ... measurement, or upon interaction with another particle, the proton can end up anywhere within that wavefunction, with some ...
  • 04:22: For example, is the transition of the particle from one side of the barrier to the other instantaneous, or does it take some time?
  • 05:02: In other words, you can double the length of your barrier, and your particle will take the same amount of time to travel all the way through.
  • 05:48: If the position of the tunneling particle isn’t perfectly known, how do we know when to start and stop our tunneling stopwatch?
  • 07:01: Launch a particle through empty space with a well defined starting position, and it’s position wavefunction will spread out before the finish line.
  • 07:08: ... can’t travel faster than the speed of light, but upon measurement, the particle may appear to be at the leading edge of its wavefunction - potentially ...
  • 08:09: Imagine you try to send a message encoded in a collection of particles to a friend, and you want it to arrive as soon as possible.
  • 08:31: ... you can count the message received at the instant the first particle arrives, then the new study finds that the tunneling message really does ...
  • 09:09: The study finds that the average travel time for tunneling particles is shorter than the average time the free-flying particles.
  • 09:17: But that’s only for the tunneling particles that make it through.
  • 09:31: ... over and over, your friend will most likely receive a free-flying particle long before they receive a tunneling particle - staggeringly more likely ...
  • 10:40: In 2020, a paper was published in the journal Nature that used the swiveling axis of a particle’s quantum spin as the clock hand.
  • 10:48: ... phenomenon is called Larmor precession, in which a particle’s dipole magnetic field, which is defined by its spin axis, precesses like ...
  • 11:17: Some particles, naturally, did manage to tunnel through anyway.
  • 11:30: Did the particles travel faster than light?
  • 11:50: ... with should still show the effect under FTL circumstances, with faster particles and a thicker ...
  • 09:31: ... receive a free-flying particle long before they receive a tunneling particle - staggeringly more likely for any meaningful distance, and that’s just ...
  • 08:31: ... you can count the message received at the instant the first particle arrives, then the new study finds that the tunneling message really does arrive ...
  • 05:48: If the position of the tunneling particle isn’t perfectly known, how do we know when to start and stop our tunneling stopwatch?
  • 09:31: ... over and over, your friend will most likely receive a free-flying particle long before they receive a tunneling particle - staggeringly more likely for ...
  • 00:32: It describes how quantum particles are able to move across seemingly impenetrable barriers - for example, when atomic nuclei decay.
  • 00:40: ... the quantum world weird - it’s also that the tunneling motion may move particles faster than they could travel if the barrier wasn’t there - and even ...
  • 01:51: ... similar thing happens in the world of quantum mechanics, where particles are pushed and pulled by the fundamental forces, forming energetic hills ...
  • 02:11: If one of these particles had enough energy it could punch through that barrier.
  • 02:22: In radioactive decay, particles that should never have enough energy to escape the nucleus are found to leak out.
  • 02:35: Between observations, quantum particles don’t have well defined properties - and that includes their positions.
  • 08:09: Imagine you try to send a message encoded in a collection of particles to a friend, and you want it to arrive as soon as possible.
  • 09:09: The study finds that the average travel time for tunneling particles is shorter than the average time the free-flying particles.
  • 09:17: But that’s only for the tunneling particles that make it through.
  • 10:40: In 2020, a paper was published in the journal Nature that used the swiveling axis of a particle’s quantum spin as the clock hand.
  • 10:48: ... phenomenon is called Larmor precession, in which a particle’s dipole magnetic field, which is defined by its spin axis, precesses like ...
  • 11:17: Some particles, naturally, did manage to tunnel through anyway.
  • 11:30: Did the particles travel faster than light?
  • 11:50: ... with should still show the effect under FTL circumstances, with faster particles and a thicker ...
  • 10:48: ... phenomenon is called Larmor precession, in which a particle’s dipole magnetic field, which is defined by its spin axis, precesses like a top ...
  • 02:35: Between observations, quantum particles don’t have well defined properties - and that includes their positions.
  • 00:40: ... the quantum world weird - it’s also that the tunneling motion may move particles faster than they could travel if the barrier wasn’t there - and even faster ...
  • 11:17: Some particles, naturally, did manage to tunnel through anyway.
  • 10:40: In 2020, a paper was published in the journal Nature that used the swiveling axis of a particle’s quantum spin as the clock hand.
  • 11:30: Did the particles travel faster than light?

2021-10-05: Why Magnetic Monopoles SHOULD Exist

  • 00:00: Physicists have been hunting for one particle longer than perhaps any other.
  • 00:04: It’s not the tachyon or some supersymmetric particle.
  • 00:08: It’s the magnetic monopole - and of all the fantastical beasts of particle physics, this is perhaps the most likely to actually exist.
  • 05:37: The great Paul Dirac had a habit of discovering particles just by staring at the math.
  • 06:49: So magnetic fields affect charged particles.
  • 06:52: In quantum mechanics, this works by shifting the phase of the particle’s wavefunction.
  • 06:57: Imagine a charged particle - say an electron - passing by a Dirac string.
  • 07:56: ... argued that this makes it a mathematical figment, kind of like virtual particles. ...
  • 10:55: And it turns out these knots in the Higgs field in GUT theories behave as massive particles with magnetic charge - magnetic monopoles.
  • 13:37: We have been hunting for magnetic monopoles for longer than just about any particle.
  • 06:57: Imagine a charged particle - say an electron - passing by a Dirac string.
  • 00:00: Physicists have been hunting for one particle longer than perhaps any other.
  • 00:08: It’s the magnetic monopole - and of all the fantastical beasts of particle physics, this is perhaps the most likely to actually exist.
  • 05:37: The great Paul Dirac had a habit of discovering particles just by staring at the math.
  • 06:49: So magnetic fields affect charged particles.
  • 06:52: In quantum mechanics, this works by shifting the phase of the particle’s wavefunction.
  • 07:56: ... argued that this makes it a mathematical figment, kind of like virtual particles. ...
  • 10:55: And it turns out these knots in the Higgs field in GUT theories behave as massive particles with magnetic charge - magnetic monopoles.
  • 06:52: In quantum mechanics, this works by shifting the phase of the particle’s wavefunction.

2021-09-21: How Electron Spin Makes Matter Possible

  • 00:26: ... cute case of quantum mechanics being a bit silly. The fact that some particles have this property is the entire reason that stuff in our universe has ...
  • 01:13: ... Particles with spin-½ - or more generally any half-integer spin - 3/2, 5/2, etc. ...
  • 02:18: ... I’m going to show you why this is the inevitable behavior of groups of particles that have two properties: 1) this weird rotational symmetry, and 2) ...
  • 03:46: ... in each hand so the belt is flat. Let’s think of the belt buckle as a particle - say an electron - and the belt is its connection to whatever - the ...
  • 04:43: ... can think both ends of the belt as spinor particles like electrons, and in that case we can do another experiment. What ...
  • 05:59: ... observed. For example, the wavefunction representing the position of a particle can look like a sine wave moving through space. If you have two such ...
  • 09:08: ... Psi(A,B) = -Psi(B,A) Wavefunctions that change sign like this when it's particle labels are swapped are called anti-symmetric under particle interchange, ...
  • 09:45: ... But it seems like the two-particle wavefunction changes if we swap the particles. Doesn’t that give us a way to “distinguish” the swap? Actually no - no ...
  • 10:12: ... distinguish electron A from electron B through observation of these particles, it turns out that this subtle “unobservable” property has a powerful ...
  • 11:21: ... one. We’re choosing it because it works. To prove it, let’s switch the particles and the wavefunction sign should flip. We want Psi(A,B) to become ...
  • 12:31: The two particle wavefunction would then look like this. The fs become gs.
  • 13:03: ... anti-symmetric wavefunctions, is the pauli exclusion principle. That is, particles with half integer spin have antisymmetric wavefunctions (the belt trick ...
  • 13:25: ... - which is the quantum equation of motion for electrons and other spin-½ particles. ...
  • 14:00: ... can continually remove energy from the system by lowering the state of a particle forever. But if you use the correct anti-symmetric wavefunction then ...
  • 17:29: ... Prot Eus tells us that the hole can only be filled by an adjacent particle, which then just shifts the location of the hole. In this way the hole ...
  • 03:46: ... in each hand so the belt is flat. Let’s think of the belt buckle as a particle - say an electron - and the belt is its connection to whatever - the ...
  • 14:00: ... can continually remove energy from the system by lowering the state of a particle forever. But if you use the correct anti-symmetric wavefunction then everything ...
  • 09:08: ... when it's particle labels are swapped are called anti-symmetric under particle interchange, and those that don’t change sign are, unsurprisingly, called symmetric. ...
  • 17:29: ... location of the hole. In this way the hole sort of acts like it’s own particle, moving around the lattice. But this pseudoparticle is less dense that its ...
  • 12:31: The two particle wavefunction would then look like this. The fs become gs.
  • 00:26: ... cute case of quantum mechanics being a bit silly. The fact that some particles have this property is the entire reason that stuff in our universe has ...
  • 01:13: ... Particles with spin-½ - or more generally any half-integer spin - 3/2, 5/2, etc. ...
  • 02:18: ... I’m going to show you why this is the inevitable behavior of groups of particles that have two properties: 1) this weird rotational symmetry, and 2) ...
  • 04:43: ... can think both ends of the belt as spinor particles like electrons, and in that case we can do another experiment. What ...
  • 09:45: ... But it seems like the two-particle wavefunction changes if we swap the particles. Doesn’t that give us a way to “distinguish” the swap? Actually no - no ...
  • 10:12: ... distinguish electron A from electron B through observation of these particles, it turns out that this subtle “unobservable” property has a powerful ...
  • 11:21: ... one. We’re choosing it because it works. To prove it, let’s switch the particles and the wavefunction sign should flip. We want Psi(A,B) to become ...
  • 13:03: ... anti-symmetric wavefunctions, is the pauli exclusion principle. That is, particles with half integer spin have antisymmetric wavefunctions (the belt trick ...
  • 13:25: ... - which is the quantum equation of motion for electrons and other spin-½ particles. ...
  • 14:00: ... everything works just works out great. So it’s a proof by contradiction: particles described by spinors have to have an anti-symmetric wavefunction and so ...
  • 09:45: ... But it seems like the two-particle wavefunction changes if we swap the particles. Doesn’t that give us a way to “distinguish” the swap? Actually no - no ...
  • 04:43: ... So it seems that for spinors, a 360 degree rotation is equivalent to the particles switching places. This is slightly worrying - if we’re using our hands as ...

2021-09-15: Neutron Stars: The Most Extreme Objects in the Universe

  • 02:00: ... photons in the magnetic field.   That field then becomes a particle accelerator, with electron currents flowing one way and   ...
  • 07:06: ... we can duplicate these energies and these  neutron-rich nuclei in particle ...
  • 08:15: ... forces reshaping the nuclei. The result is this game   of particle tug-of-war, with all its pushing and pulling, we see a complete ...
  • 12:23: ... may be that these extreme pressures and energies we find ‘hyperon’ particles containing   ‘strange quarks’. Or, they might not be ...
  • 02:00: ... photons in the magnetic field.   That field then becomes a particle accelerator, with electron currents flowing one way and   positron currents ...
  • 07:06: ... we can duplicate these energies and these  neutron-rich nuclei in particle accelerators. ...
  • 08:15: ... forces reshaping the nuclei. The result is this game   of particle tug-of-war, with all its pushing and pulling, we see a complete rearrangement ...
  • 02:00: ... their opposite electric charges. These and   other charged particles end up being blasted out along the poles of the magnetic ...
  • 12:23: ... may be that these extreme pressures and energies we find ‘hyperon’ particles containing   ‘strange quarks’. Or, they might not be ...
  • 11:29: ... particular way to form Cooper pairs,  which act as spin-0 or spin-1 particles.   Some of our fermions effectively become bosons - which means they ...

2021-09-07: First Detection of Light from Behind a Black Hole

  • 01:13: We talked about this soon after it came out - but to remind you, here we have radio light from charged particles whirling around the black hole.
  • 14:25: ... big bang - what with it producing an expanding bubble full of energetic particles. ...
  • 15:03: ... yield universe whose interior is expanding quickly - in the sense of particles racing apart from each other. You can look at our past episodes on ...
  • 01:13: We talked about this soon after it came out - but to remind you, here we have radio light from charged particles whirling around the black hole.
  • 14:25: ... big bang - what with it producing an expanding bubble full of energetic particles. ...
  • 15:03: ... yield universe whose interior is expanding quickly - in the sense of particles racing apart from each other. You can look at our past episodes on ...
  • 01:13: We talked about this soon after it came out - but to remind you, here we have radio light from charged particles whirling around the black hole.

2021-08-18: How Vacuum Decay Would Destroy The Universe

  • 00:21: ... has just the right expansion rate, and has just the right particle properties to allow stars and   planets and people to exist. ...
  • 03:11: ... universe is filled with this soup of  Higgsiness. Most elementary particles that have   mass gain their mass due to interactions with ...
  • 04:00: ... the big bang or near a black   hole or in a sufficiently large particle accelerator. But there’s another to make this ...
  • 08:08: ... the expanding bubble with a hot soup of energetic  particles. It’s similar to how the energy held in   the latent heat of ...
  • 08:30: ... the worst of it. As I mentioned, the Higgs field gives elementary particles their   masses. Those masses depend on the energy in the ...
  • 09:38: ... well as the top quark, which is   the most massive elementary particle. And our measurements of these masses tell us that … we are probably ...
  • 04:00: ... the big bang or near a black   hole or in a sufficiently large particle accelerator. But there’s another to make this ...
  • 00:21: ... has just the right expansion rate, and has just the right particle properties to allow stars and   planets and people to exist. The ...
  • 09:38: ... their mass from the Higgs.   The most important are the Higgs particle  itself as well as the top quark, which is   the most massive ...
  • 10:54: ... rapidly evaporating. Now,   there was some fear that our giant particle  colliders like the LHC might nucleate a vacuum   decay bubble. ...
  • 09:38: ... that we’re in the bad,   false one. Further study of the Higgs particle and top quark should help us figure this ...
  • 03:11: ... universe is filled with this soup of  Higgsiness. Most elementary particles that have   mass gain their mass due to interactions with ...
  • 08:08: ... the expanding bubble with a hot soup of energetic  particles. It’s similar to how the energy held in   the latent heat of ...
  • 08:30: ... the worst of it. As I mentioned, the Higgs field gives elementary particles their   masses. Those masses depend on the energy in the ...
  • 09:38: ... shape of the Higgs field with   precise measurements of the particles  that gain their mass from the Higgs.   The most important are ...
  • 00:21: ... fields that pervade all space. The quantum fields give rise to the particles   that make up all matter and all forces - and  if those quantum ...
  • 06:08: ... points across space, which is why  their oscillations propagate as particles.   Now this isn’t necessarily an instant disaster. The interior of the ...
  • 08:30: ... energy in the field and you  reduce the masses of the elementary particles.   The ability for stars to form and undergo  nuclear fusion, and the ...

2021-08-10: How to Communicate Across the Quantum Multiverse

  • 00:53: ... a fantastically complex bath of density fluctuations. A snapshot of particle positions in the room would reveal a hopeless scramble. And yet somehow ...
  • 02:29: ... only one reality; or de Broglie-Bohm pilot wave theory, which says that particles are particles and waves are waves - and the wavefunction’s job is to ...
  • 08:08: ... would mean that information could be sent between entangled pairs of particles. Now we’ve been over entanglement before, but to remind you: if two ...
  • 08:55: ... make it possible to send real information between entangled pairs of particles, enabling instant communication at any distance, and even backwards in ...
  • 09:57: ... Basically it’s a pair of magnets - a north and south pole - that deflect particles with spin and charge. It measures the direction of spin by whether the ...
  • 16:27: ... is exactly it. The supernova shock front is a mixture of high energy particles and magnetic fields. Those magnetic fields do lots of things - including ...
  • 00:53: ... a fantastically complex bath of density fluctuations. A snapshot of particle positions in the room would reveal a hopeless scramble. And yet somehow your ear ...
  • 02:29: ... only one reality; or de Broglie-Bohm pilot wave theory, which says that particles are particles and waves are waves - and the wavefunction’s job is to ...
  • 08:08: ... would mean that information could be sent between entangled pairs of particles. Now we’ve been over entanglement before, but to remind you: if two ...
  • 08:55: ... make it possible to send real information between entangled pairs of particles, enabling instant communication at any distance, and even backwards in ...
  • 09:57: ... Basically it’s a pair of magnets - a north and south pole - that deflect particles with spin and charge. It measures the direction of spin by whether the ...
  • 16:27: ... is exactly it. The supernova shock front is a mixture of high energy particles and magnetic fields. Those magnetic fields do lots of things - including ...
  • 08:55: ... make it possible to send real information between entangled pairs of particles, enabling instant communication at any distance, and even backwards in time. Now ...

2021-08-03: How An Extreme New Star Could Change All Cosmology

  • 06:21: ... - specifically, by the Pauli exclusion principle, which tells us that particles in the fermion family, like elelectrons, can never occupy the same ...
  • 09:51: ... planets are generated by dynamos - self-sustaining currents of charged particles. A collision like this could well produce the sort of turbulent motion to ...
  • 06:21: ... - specifically, by the Pauli exclusion principle, which tells us that particles in the fermion family, like elelectrons, can never occupy the same ...
  • 09:51: ... planets are generated by dynamos - self-sustaining currents of charged particles. A collision like this could well produce the sort of turbulent motion to ...

2021-07-21: How Magnetism Shapes The Universe

  • 01:39: It’s generated when electrically charged particles move.
  • 02:30: ... a moving charged particle will feel a force perpendicular to both its direction of motion and to ...
  • 04:21: We can see those tangled field lines in ultraviolet light as charged particles spiral along them, up and down from the Sun’s surface.
  • 04:29: ... that magnetic field out into the solar system - carrying high energy particles with ...
  • 08:30: These are the densest regions of those galactic disks - places where magnetic fields have confined the charged particles of the interstellar plasma.
  • 10:53: The other cool thing that galactic magnetic fields do is that they act as colossal particle accelerators.
  • 11:47: Those fields grab particles of matter and accelerate them to incredible energies, flinging cosmic rays out into the universe.
  • 15:28: ... measurement of photon number we get countably infinite splits, and for particle position it’s uncountably infinite splits per ...
  • 15:47: If you mean every possible configuration of particle properties in the universe - then the answer is there are infinite worlds.
  • 15:54: A world for every infinitesimal difference in every particle property.
  • 15:58: For example, particle position wavefunction is typically a smooth distribution of possible locations - some more probable than others.
  • 16:18: To get this sort of splitting, two parts of that wavefunction need to influence other particles in ways that are distinguishable from each other.
  • 10:53: The other cool thing that galactic magnetic fields do is that they act as colossal particle accelerators.
  • 15:28: ... measurement of photon number we get countably infinite splits, and for particle position it’s uncountably infinite splits per ...
  • 15:58: For example, particle position wavefunction is typically a smooth distribution of possible locations - some more probable than others.
  • 15:47: If you mean every possible configuration of particle properties in the universe - then the answer is there are infinite worlds.
  • 15:54: A world for every infinitesimal difference in every particle property.
  • 01:39: It’s generated when electrically charged particles move.
  • 02:30: ... and to the field lines - and the net result of that is that charged particles tend to spiral around magnetic field ...
  • 04:21: We can see those tangled field lines in ultraviolet light as charged particles spiral along them, up and down from the Sun’s surface.
  • 04:29: ... that magnetic field out into the solar system - carrying high energy particles with ...
  • 08:30: These are the densest regions of those galactic disks - places where magnetic fields have confined the charged particles of the interstellar plasma.
  • 11:47: Those fields grab particles of matter and accelerate them to incredible energies, flinging cosmic rays out into the universe.
  • 16:18: To get this sort of splitting, two parts of that wavefunction need to influence other particles in ways that are distinguishable from each other.
  • 04:21: We can see those tangled field lines in ultraviolet light as charged particles spiral along them, up and down from the Sun’s surface.
  • 02:30: ... and to the field lines - and the net result of that is that charged particles tend to spiral around magnetic field ...

2021-07-13: Where Are The Worlds In Many Worlds?

  • 04:23: ... particle position and momentum and orientation is chosen from a vast array of ...
  • 06:11: ... a great cosmic wavefunction that includes every electron and every other particle in the ...
  • 06:23: ... wavefunction, which encompasses the piece-wise wavefunctions of many particles as it makes its way to ...
  • 07:42: ... slit, we had two broad classes of world - one for each slit that the particle may have passed ...
  • 04:23: ... particle position and momentum and orientation is chosen from a vast array of ...
  • 06:23: ... wavefunction, which encompasses the piece-wise wavefunctions of many particles as it makes its way to ...

2021-07-07: Electrons DO NOT Spin

  • 01:26: ... far more fundamental than simple rotation - it’s a quantum property of particles, like mass or the various charges. But it doesn’t just cause magnets to ...
  • 08:50: ... But let me say a couple of things to give you a taste. They describe particles that have very strange rotation properties. For familiar  objects, ...
  • 10:30: A particle's momentum is fundamentally  connected to its position.
  • 10:47: Meaning you can represent a particle wavefunction  in terms of either of these properties.
  • 11:05: Well it's angular position. In other  words the orientation of the particle.
  • 12:02: ... say that particles described by spinors have spin quantum numbers that are half-integers - ...
  • 12:13: ... onto whichever direction  you try to measure it. We call these particles fermions. Particles that have integer  spin - 0, 1, 2, etc. are ...
  • 15:31: ... high. Energy was as spread out as it could get between all of the particles and the different  ways they could move. The low gravitational ...
  • 16:45: ... say you have a bunch of particles that are not entangled with each other but are all entangled with ...
  • 10:47: Meaning you can represent a particle wavefunction  in terms of either of these properties.
  • 01:26: ... far more fundamental than simple rotation - it’s a quantum property of particles, like mass or the various charges. But it doesn’t just cause magnets to ...
  • 08:50: ... But let me say a couple of things to give you a taste. They describe particles that have very strange rotation properties. For familiar  objects, ...
  • 10:30: A particle's momentum is fundamentally  connected to its position.
  • 12:02: ... say that particles described by spinors have spin quantum numbers that are half-integers - ...
  • 12:13: ... onto whichever direction  you try to measure it. We call these particles fermions. Particles that have integer  spin - 0, 1, 2, etc. are ...
  • 15:31: ... high. Energy was as spread out as it could get between all of the particles and the different  ways they could move. The low gravitational ...
  • 16:45: ... say you have a bunch of particles that are not entangled with each other but are all entangled with ...
  • 01:26: ... that quantum spin is a manifestation of a  much deeper property of particles - a property that is responsible for the structure of all matter. We’ll ...
  • 12:13: ... onto whichever direction  you try to measure it. We call these particles fermions. Particles that have integer  spin - 0, 1, 2, etc. are called ...
  • 10:30: A particle's momentum is fundamentally  connected to its position.
  • 16:45: ... entangled with each other but are all entangled with another bunch of particles  somewhere else. If you ignore those other particles then it seems like ...

2021-06-23: How Quantum Entanglement Creates Entropy

  • 01:02: ... laws arise from the statistical   behavior of large numbers of particles. For example, a room full of air has a temperature,   ...
  • 01:45: ... than the properties and   laws governing individual particles. Entropy IS a thermodynamic property, and the 2nd law   is ...
  • 02:48: ... in terms of the number of configurations   of particles that give the same set of crude thermodynamic properties. For ...
  • 03:45: ... gain by making a measurement on the system.   If all the particles are bunched up in the corner then measuring their exact positions ...
  • 05:55: ... driven by entanglement - this mysterious connection between quantum particles that Einstein called   “spooky action at a distance”. As a bit ...
  • 07:14: ... that can exhibit these superposition states - like a   particle simultaneously having spin up and spin down as revealed in the ...
  • 11:00: ... - but as a  quantum object interacts with the countless   particles of a macroscopic environment, and those particles interact with ...
  • 12:35: ... about the detailed quantum states of all particles becomes increasingly inaccessible,   leaving only crude ...
  • 17:55: ... said that the uncertainty in the final momentum of   the particle is roughly equal to the momentum of the photon used to measure that ...
  • 07:14: ... that can exhibit these superposition states - like a   particle simultaneously having spin up and spin down as revealed in the Stern-Gerlach ...
  • 17:55: ... The answer is that there’s uncertainty in how the photon hits the particle.   Dead-on? A glancing blow to the left or  right? In the former the ...
  • 11:50: ... the coin’s countless   constituent quantum parts and every particle they’ve ever interacted with. That network of   entanglement IS in a ...
  • 01:02: ... laws arise from the statistical   behavior of large numbers of particles. For example, a room full of air has a temperature,   ...
  • 01:45: ... than the properties and   laws governing individual particles. Entropy IS a thermodynamic property, and the 2nd law   is ...
  • 02:48: ... in terms of the number of configurations   of particles that give the same set of crude thermodynamic properties. For ...
  • 03:45: ... gain by making a measurement on the system.   If all the particles are bunched up in the corner then measuring their exact positions ...
  • 05:55: ... driven by entanglement - this mysterious connection between quantum particles that Einstein called   “spooky action at a distance”. As a bit ...
  • 11:00: ... - but as a  quantum object interacts with the countless   particles of a macroscopic environment, and those particles interact with ...
  • 12:35: ... about the detailed quantum states of all particles becomes increasingly inaccessible,   leaving only crude ...
  • 02:48: ... then you know more about the positions of the   individual particles - they’re all in the corner or the room - versus if they’re spread ...
  • 01:45: ... than the properties and   laws governing individual particles. Entropy IS a thermodynamic property, and the 2nd law   is the … well, ...
  • 01:02: ... laws arise from the statistical   behavior of large numbers of particles. For example, a room full of air has a temperature,   which is a measure of ...
  • 11:00: ... particles of a macroscopic environment, and those particles interact with each other,   the web of entanglement grows so quickly ...
  • 01:02: ... mass and so on, which define how it bounces off the walls or other particles,   giving rise to what we perceive as temperature, and giving rise to ...

2021-06-16: Can Space Be Infinitely Divided?

  • 03:47: ... will happen,   you’ll always have an uncertainty in the  particle’s final momentum that’s roughly equal   to the momentum of the ...
  • 08:37: ... thwarting any attempt to fix its location.  For any particle, this uncertainty due to   this pair production occurs when you ...
  • 03:47: ... will happen,   you’ll always have an uncertainty in the  particle’s final momentum that’s roughly equal   to the momentum of the ...
  • 09:58: ... uncertain.   In the same way that you get virtual particles on subatomic scales, on the Planck scale you   get virtual ...

2021-06-09: Are We Running Out of Space Above Earth?

  • 14:49: ... you could somehow get an elementary particle like an electron within that range then perhaps it would be absorbed and ...
  • 15:02: That will happen long before the next particle is likely to hit it.

2021-05-25: What If (Tiny) Black Holes Are Everywhere?

  • 01:51: It came from thinking about how black holes interact with the quantum fields from which all elementary particles arise.
  • 02:17: To a distant observer it would look like the black hole is radiating particles.
  • 02:28: The distribution of particle energies should follow a blackbody spectrum, as though the black hole has a real temperature.
  • 02:52: ... the wavelength of the emitted particles are about the size of the whole event horizon, so they sort of emerge ...
  • 02:28: The distribution of particle energies should follow a blackbody spectrum, as though the black hole has a real temperature.
  • 02:36: In the common pop-sci description of Hawking radiation you often hear about particle-antiparticle pairs appearing at the event horizon.
  • 01:51: It came from thinking about how black holes interact with the quantum fields from which all elementary particles arise.
  • 02:17: To a distant observer it would look like the black hole is radiating particles.
  • 02:52: ... the wavelength of the emitted particles are about the size of the whole event horizon, so they sort of emerge ...

2021-05-19: Breaking The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

  • 01:31: Perfect knowledge of a particle’s position means its momentum is undefined.
  • 02:31: He hit on it while considering what would happen if he wanted to measure the position of a particle with a photon.
  • 02:37: ... reasoned that the photon would give the particle a momentum kick, which would account for a greater uncertainty in its ...
  • 03:31: ... how can a quantum object sometimes be a “wave” and some times be a “particle?” In a sense it is both, and in a sense it is neither - rather, there are ...
  • 04:30: ... for example, if we only care about a particle’s position we can in principle measure it to extreme precision as long as ...
  • 01:31: Perfect knowledge of a particle’s position means its momentum is undefined.
  • 04:30: ... for example, if we only care about a particle’s position we can in principle measure it to extreme precision as long as ...
  • 01:31: Perfect knowledge of a particle’s position means its momentum is undefined.
  • 04:30: ... for example, if we only care about a particle’s position we can in principle measure it to extreme precision as long as we’re ...

2021-05-11: How To Know If It's Aliens

  • 15:39: ... a way to protect the ship from impacts because hitting even a tiny particle at those speeds would be devestating. So people have actually looked ...
  • 16:32: ... people talk about wimps they’re referring to some undiscovered quantum particle, but actually a micro black hole would have all the properties to qualify ...
  • 17:34: ... certain types of supersymmetric counterparts to the standard model particles might serve as dark ...
  • 16:32: ... to qualify it as a WIMP - namely wearing interacting, massive, and particle-like. Fun fact: Einstein, along with Nathan Rosen, tried to explain particles ...
  • 17:34: ... certain types of supersymmetric counterparts to the standard model particles might serve as dark ...

2021-04-21: The NEW Warp Drive Possibilities

  • 14:04: We’ll start with the muon g-2 result, which revealed a possible a crack in the standard model of particle physics.
  • 14:09: A few of you asked whether similar experiments could be performed using the tau particle.
  • 14:18: The probability that a particle will interact with other massive virtual particles is proportional to the square of that particle’s own mass.
  • 14:26: At nearly 17 times the mass of the muon, the tau should be even more sensitive to unknown particles.
  • 14:41: ... makes it pretty hard to watch tau particles precess in magnetic fields, and so far the g-factor for the tau hasn’t ...
  • 14:52: That said, there are other ways to track a particle’s interactions with virtual particles.
  • 15:01: ... decays products are sensitive to the complex interactions with virtual particles that happen during the ...
  • 16:49: So a particle at an instant in time really does have an instantaneous velocity.
  • 14:04: We’ll start with the muon g-2 result, which revealed a possible a crack in the standard model of particle physics.
  • 14:18: The probability that a particle will interact with other massive virtual particles is proportional to the square of that particle’s own mass.
  • 14:26: At nearly 17 times the mass of the muon, the tau should be even more sensitive to unknown particles.
  • 14:41: ... makes it pretty hard to watch tau particles precess in magnetic fields, and so far the g-factor for the tau hasn’t ...
  • 14:52: That said, there are other ways to track a particle’s interactions with virtual particles.
  • 15:01: ... decays products are sensitive to the complex interactions with virtual particles that happen during the ...
  • 14:52: That said, there are other ways to track a particle’s interactions with virtual particles.
  • 14:41: ... makes it pretty hard to watch tau particles precess in magnetic fields, and so far the g-factor for the tau hasn’t even been ...

2021-04-13: What If Dark Matter Is Just Black Holes?

  • 00:30: ... most dark matter hunters are trying to hypothesize or detect exotic new particles to explain the stuff - and we recently discussed some of the ...
  • 01:25: ... dark matter - it’s more than we can say for any of the other dark matter particle ...
  • 00:30: ... - and we recently discussed some of the possibilities for brand new particle physics that might explain dark ...

2021-04-07: Why the Muon g-2 Results Are So Exciting!

  • 00:29: (bright music) The Standard Model of particle physics describes the elementary building blocks of nature with incredible success.
  • 01:56: ... comes from the part of the Standard Model that describes how particles with electric charge interact via the electromagnetic force, quantum ...
  • 02:05: One of the interactions that QED describes is how a charge particle will tend to rotate to align with a magnetic field.
  • 02:13: The strength of that interaction is defined by something called, the g-factor for the particle.
  • 02:31: If this works so well for electrons surely it works for other particles too.
  • 03:09: Every particle with electric charge also has quantum spin.
  • 03:15: ... particles with quantum spin do generate a magnetic field, same as if you send an ...
  • 04:33: In this theory, electromagnetic interactions result from charge particles communicating by exchanging virtual photons.
  • 05:14: For a deeper dive in Feynman diagrams, virtual particles, and quantum electrodynamics, we have you covered, episode list in the description.
  • 05:57: Same particles in and same particles out, but a slightly more complicated sequence of events.
  • 06:48: Measure that leftover bit and you are testing the sudless interactions of the particle.
  • 07:01: An obvious next step is to do the same for other particles.
  • 07:08: It has two heavier cousins, the muon and the tau particle.
  • 07:43: The quantum vacuum is seething with an incredible variety of possible virtual particles.
  • 07:58: ... when we include every possibility encompassed by the Standard Model of particle physics, we get a g-factor that's ever so slightly off the experimental ...
  • 08:19: The probability of interaction between a particle and some massive virtual particle is proportional to mass squared.
  • 08:39: And it's 40,000 times more likely to encounter any completely unknown virtual particles that might be hiding out there.
  • 08:46: Accounting for all of the known particles, still gives a Muon g-factor that's off.
  • 08:51: So the rising hope, is that an as yet unknown particle is at work here.
  • 10:02: The frequency of the precession also governs the energy of the particles that these muons decay into.
  • 10:08: ... by measuring the energies of those particles, positrons in particular, the researchers can determine the precession ...
  • 10:19: ... ago, physicists at the Large Hadron Collider thought they detected a new particle based on a slight bump at a particular energy of the decay ...
  • 11:10: ... error, some unknown factor influencing the measurement that is not a new particle, the g-2 team worked very hard to rule anything like that ...
  • 10:19: ... ago, physicists at the Large Hadron Collider thought they detected a new particle based on a slight bump at a particular energy of the decay ...
  • 00:29: (bright music) The Standard Model of particle physics describes the elementary building blocks of nature with incredible success.
  • 07:58: ... when we include every possibility encompassed by the Standard Model of particle physics, we get a g-factor that's ever so slightly off the experimental ...
  • 00:29: (bright music) The Standard Model of particle physics describes the elementary building blocks of nature with incredible success.
  • 01:56: ... comes from the part of the Standard Model that describes how particles with electric charge interact via the electromagnetic force, quantum ...
  • 02:31: If this works so well for electrons surely it works for other particles too.
  • 03:15: ... particles with quantum spin do generate a magnetic field, same as if you send an ...
  • 04:33: In this theory, electromagnetic interactions result from charge particles communicating by exchanging virtual photons.
  • 05:14: For a deeper dive in Feynman diagrams, virtual particles, and quantum electrodynamics, we have you covered, episode list in the description.
  • 05:57: Same particles in and same particles out, but a slightly more complicated sequence of events.
  • 07:01: An obvious next step is to do the same for other particles.
  • 07:43: The quantum vacuum is seething with an incredible variety of possible virtual particles.
  • 08:39: And it's 40,000 times more likely to encounter any completely unknown virtual particles that might be hiding out there.
  • 08:46: Accounting for all of the known particles, still gives a Muon g-factor that's off.
  • 10:02: The frequency of the precession also governs the energy of the particles that these muons decay into.
  • 10:08: ... by measuring the energies of those particles, positrons in particular, the researchers can determine the precession ...
  • 04:33: In this theory, electromagnetic interactions result from charge particles communicating by exchanging virtual photons.
  • 10:08: ... by measuring the energies of those particles, positrons in particular, the researchers can determine the precession rate and so ...

2021-03-23: Zeno's Paradox & The Quantum Zeno Effect

  • 07:47: ... as the freezing of quantum tunneling - the same phenomenon that allows particles to “teleport” out of nuclei during nuclear ...

2021-03-09: How Does Gravity Affect Light?

  • 00:38: ... 1783, the English clergyman John Michell proposed that a particle of light gripped by the gravitational field of a sufficiently massive ...
  • 00:52: ... the subject, and Cavendish followed similar reasoning to predict that a particle of light would be deflected in its path as it passed near a massive ...
  • 01:17: ... of gravity was the full picture, and that light behaves like any other particle in response to Newtonian ...
  • 04:47: ... redshift is exactly the same as is required to turn a light-speed particle around and have it fall back, as calculated by Michell from totally ...
  • 06:57: ... imagine light as a perfectly narrow ray, or even as a massless, timeless particle, none of our intuitive explanations say that it should be deflected by ...
  • 07:24: The Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens disagreed with Newton on many things - including the idea that light is a particle.
  • 12:32: Light is a wave and a particle; time slows or space flows in gravitational fields.

2021-02-24: Does Time Cause Gravity?

  • 02:58: ... we move particles through time according to those velocities, we have this sense of time ...
  • 03:36: Each atom, each subatomic particle trying to tick at its own rate.
  • 05:57: ... direction into space - although technically photons and other massless particles don’t have a 4-velocity, which is defined according to the ticking of ...
  • 07:05: Like - what about a particle with no size - supposedly point-like particles like electrons, quarks, etc.
  • 08:08: ... ways to see how the flow of time determines the path of even timeless particles. ...
  • 02:58: ... we move particles through time according to those velocities, we have this sense of time ...
  • 05:57: ... direction into space - although technically photons and other massless particles don’t have a 4-velocity, which is defined according to the ticking of ...
  • 07:05: Like - what about a particle with no size - supposedly point-like particles like electrons, quarks, etc.
  • 08:08: ... ways to see how the flow of time determines the path of even timeless particles. ...
  • 05:57: ... direction into space - although technically photons and other massless particles don’t have a 4-velocity, which is defined according to the ticking of your own ...

2021-02-17: Gravitational Wave Background Discovered?

  • 00:00: ... weird quantum forces neutron stars tend to channel jets of high energy particles due to their intense magnetic fields they also rotate rapidly with the ...

2021-01-26: Is Dark Matter Made of Particles?

  • 00:00: By the time I finish this sentence, up to a billion billion dark matter particles may have streamed through your body like ghosts.
  • 00:07: The particle or particles of the dark sector make up the vast majority of the mass in the universe - so to them, you are the ghostly one.
  • 00:39: Even more disturbing is that there doesn’t even seem to be a candidate for dark matter in the known family of particles.
  • 00:45: ... eerie reality of the dark sector - perhaps there’s an entire family of particles that exists in parallel to those we can see - a dark universe that ...
  • 01:07: When we talk about the “dark sector” we typically mean a particle or family of particles that contribute to dark matter.
  • 01:13: Now it’s possible that dark matter is not particles - it could be black holes or failed stars or even weirder so-called “compact objects”.
  • 01:36: ... the Standard Model - which describes the behavior of the known family of particles with incredible ...
  • 01:44: ... visible universe is made of these particles, interacting with each other through the standard model forces - the ...
  • 01:55: In general, the behavior of a particle is determined by the forces it interacts with.
  • 02:00: We can think of forces as the languages that particles use to communicate.
  • 02:05: Any electrically charged particle experiences the electromagnetic force and can communicate with other charged particles by exchanging photons.
  • 02:14: But for an electrically neutral particle like a neutrino, electromagnetism is a language it doesn’t speak.
  • 02:27: A more technical way to think about this stuff is in terms of quantum fields - where each particle and force is a vibration in its own field.
  • 02:34: ... fields fill the universe, overlapping each other - and if a particle field is connected to - coupled with a force field then it can speak the ...
  • 02:45: The force of gravity is a sort of lingua franca, a common language that every particle with mass can speak.
  • 02:58: The main requirement for a dark matter particle is that it doesn’t “speak electromagnetism”.
  • 04:07: And that tells us a lot about any prospective dark matter particle.
  • 04:51: More accurately, it tells us how far dark matter particles were able to travel in the early universe.
  • 04:57: ... “free-streaming length” of dark matter is how far a dark matter particle could travel before interacting with something - typically another such ...
  • 05:25: ... let’s review - if dark matter is a particle, it’s electrically neutral and doesn’t interact much with itself, and ...
  • 05:35: For a long time people thought the neutrino might be dark matter - being neutral and the most abundant known particle in the universe.
  • 05:52: ... gets physicists very excited - because discovering a dark matter particle may be our best for finding a bigger, deeper theory than the standard ...
  • 06:06: It would also be a no-brainer Nobel prize - and many researchers have devoted their lives to hunting down this particle.
  • 06:17: ... type searches for new evidence out there in the universe or in our particle experiments here on Earth for evidence of particles that don’t fit the ...
  • 06:25: The other delves deep into theory - in speculative mathematics beyond the standard model for signs of new particles.
  • 07:25: This is a weird little particle that popped up in the math when physicists were trying to solve another mystery of physics - the so-called CP problem.
  • 07:52: Explorations of the theoretical landscape have led physicists to multiple possibilities for dark matter particles.
  • 08:07: ... an extension of the standard model which proposes that all the regular particles - both matter and force-carrying - have twins - counterparts on the ...
  • 08:18: Every matter particle or fermion has a supersymmetric force-carrier, or boson.
  • 08:25: ... expected that these supersymmetric particles are much heavier than their standard model counterparts - and that may ...
  • 08:42: ... supersymmetry is called a ‘neutralino.’ It’s a sort of ‘three in one particle’ where the electrically neutral superpartners of the Z boson, photon, and ...
  • 08:55: In some models these are the lightest supersymmetric particles possible - ”LSPs” - but they’re still incredibly heavy.
  • 09:03: ... to decay to lighter things, if these can’t decay into Standard Model particles then they’d be stable and long lived- an almost perfect dark matter ...
  • 09:26: ... expected mass of these particles is eerily close to the mass expected for a certain type of dark matter - ...
  • 09:45: ... dark matter particles like the neutralino are examples of a general dark matter particle type ...
  • 09:59: It’s a description of what some physicists thought dark matter particles had to be like- which is to say, weakly interacting and massive.
  • 10:07: ... you want to make up 80% of the mass in the universe, and also slows the particle down - helps make it ...
  • 10:33: ... idea is this: In the first fractions of a second after the Big Bang, particles and their antimatter counterparts would have been popping into existence ...
  • 10:46: And then when the particle bumps into its antiparticle they both annihilate, releasing that energy again.
  • 11:02: But its possible some particles may not have been able to find an antiparticle counterpart before the expanding universe pulled them too far apart.
  • 11:20: The universe didn’t expand fast enough to throw these particles apart, and so almost all annihilated.
  • 11:36: ... out you can do a calculation of what interaction strength such a relic particle would need to have in order to survive in sufficient numbers to give us ...
  • 12:03: ... possible that an entire ecosystem of particles are going about their dark business across the universe - interacting by ...
  • 08:25: ... counterparts - and that may explain why we haven’t seen them in our particle accelerators - perhaps we just haven’t produced enough energy to make one ...
  • 10:46: And then when the particle bumps into its antiparticle they both annihilate, releasing that energy again.
  • 02:05: Any electrically charged particle experiences the electromagnetic force and can communicate with other charged particles by exchanging photons.
  • 06:17: ... type searches for new evidence out there in the universe or in our particle experiments here on Earth for evidence of particles that don’t fit the standard ...
  • 02:34: ... fields fill the universe, overlapping each other - and if a particle field is connected to - coupled with a force field then it can speak the ...
  • 09:45: ... particles like the neutralino are examples of a general dark matter particle type called the WIMP, or “weakly interacting massive ...
  • 10:57: We were left with a universe full of particle-antiparticle pairs that would then just annihilate over time.
  • 00:00: By the time I finish this sentence, up to a billion billion dark matter particles may have streamed through your body like ghosts.
  • 00:07: The particle or particles of the dark sector make up the vast majority of the mass in the universe - so to them, you are the ghostly one.
  • 00:39: Even more disturbing is that there doesn’t even seem to be a candidate for dark matter in the known family of particles.
  • 00:45: ... eerie reality of the dark sector - perhaps there’s an entire family of particles that exists in parallel to those we can see - a dark universe that ...
  • 01:07: When we talk about the “dark sector” we typically mean a particle or family of particles that contribute to dark matter.
  • 01:13: Now it’s possible that dark matter is not particles - it could be black holes or failed stars or even weirder so-called “compact objects”.
  • 01:36: ... the Standard Model - which describes the behavior of the known family of particles with incredible ...
  • 01:44: ... visible universe is made of these particles, interacting with each other through the standard model forces - the ...
  • 02:00: We can think of forces as the languages that particles use to communicate.
  • 02:05: Any electrically charged particle experiences the electromagnetic force and can communicate with other charged particles by exchanging photons.
  • 04:51: More accurately, it tells us how far dark matter particles were able to travel in the early universe.
  • 06:17: ... universe or in our particle experiments here on Earth for evidence of particles that don’t fit the standard ...
  • 06:25: The other delves deep into theory - in speculative mathematics beyond the standard model for signs of new particles.
  • 07:52: Explorations of the theoretical landscape have led physicists to multiple possibilities for dark matter particles.
  • 08:07: ... an extension of the standard model which proposes that all the regular particles - both matter and force-carrying - have twins - counterparts on the ...
  • 08:25: ... expected that these supersymmetric particles are much heavier than their standard model counterparts - and that may ...
  • 08:55: In some models these are the lightest supersymmetric particles possible - ”LSPs” - but they’re still incredibly heavy.
  • 09:03: ... to decay to lighter things, if these can’t decay into Standard Model particles then they’d be stable and long lived- an almost perfect dark matter ...
  • 09:26: ... expected mass of these particles is eerily close to the mass expected for a certain type of dark matter - ...
  • 09:45: ... dark matter particles like the neutralino are examples of a general dark matter particle type ...
  • 09:59: It’s a description of what some physicists thought dark matter particles had to be like- which is to say, weakly interacting and massive.
  • 10:33: ... idea is this: In the first fractions of a second after the Big Bang, particles and their antimatter counterparts would have been popping into existence ...
  • 11:02: But its possible some particles may not have been able to find an antiparticle counterpart before the expanding universe pulled them too far apart.
  • 11:20: The universe didn’t expand fast enough to throw these particles apart, and so almost all annihilated.
  • 12:03: ... possible that an entire ecosystem of particles are going about their dark business across the universe - interacting by ...
  • 01:13: Now it’s possible that dark matter is not particles - it could be black holes or failed stars or even weirder so-called “compact objects”.
  • 08:07: ... an extension of the standard model which proposes that all the regular particles - both matter and force-carrying - have twins - counterparts on the ...
  • 01:44: ... visible universe is made of these particles, interacting with each other through the standard model forces - the strong and weak ...

2021-01-19: Can We Break the Universe?

  • 14:15: ... of quantum mechanics is "true" is like asking if light is made up of particles or if light is a ...

2021-01-12: What Happens During a Quantum Jump?

  • 05:34: ... and others were using the behavior of systems of many, many individual particles to infer the behavior of individual ...
  • 05:44: He believed that it was completely nonsensical to even think about single particles.
  • 05:34: ... and others were using the behavior of systems of many, many individual particles to infer the behavior of individual ...
  • 05:44: He believed that it was completely nonsensical to even think about single particles.

2020-12-22: Navigating with Quantum Entanglement

  • 04:56: Magnetic fields exert a force on a moving or rotating charged particle.
  • 06:08: When two particles are entangled, it means one or more of their quantum properties are correlated.
  • 06:14: ... an apparent faster-than-light influence - measure the property of one particle and you instantaneously influence the entangled ...
  • 09:49: ... in highly controlled environments - ideally isolated systems of very few particles, perhaps in a vacuum or near absolute zero ...
  • 06:08: When two particles are entangled, it means one or more of their quantum properties are correlated.
  • 09:49: ... in highly controlled environments - ideally isolated systems of very few particles, perhaps in a vacuum or near absolute zero ...

2020-12-15: The Supernova At The End of Time

  • 15:25: ... time in the double slit experiment, because after the measurement of particle position is made, the state of the wavefunction before that measurement ...

2020-12-08: Why Do You Remember The Past But Not The Future?

  • 02:40: ... it formed billions of years ago, before even Earth formed, when tiny particles of dust from a past supernova found each other in the forming solar ...
  • 03:15: ... physicist could measure the exact positions and velocities of every particle comprising the asteroid and calculate their paths backwards to recover ...
  • 04:02: ... age of the universe and the asteroid will decay into a mist of subatomic particles. ...
  • 04:23: ... in the crazy energy of the early universe, a positron and a neutral pion particle combine to form a ...
  • 04:41: Let’s say this process is reversible - the particle physics jury is still out on whether protons can decay - but for this episode they can.
  • 06:02: ... “Feynman diagram” of our asteroid looks like countless particles coming together in many different ways - first subatomic particles ...
  • 06:34: ... asteroid just assembles from subatomic particles with all of its detailed structure mysteriously in place - cosmic ray ...
  • 07:25: Even if we can’t perfectly retrace its formation down to the subatomic particle, it has many crude features that recall that past.
  • 08:36: ... we have an asteroid formed from an incredibly improbable coalescence of particles - but the most improbable things are yet to ...
  • 09:01: It had a streak that freakishly already matched a particle buzzing towards it but hadn’t hit yet.
  • 12:45: ... Particle locations were restricted to being very close to each other - a state ...
  • 09:01: It had a streak that freakishly already matched a particle buzzing towards it but hadn’t hit yet.
  • 04:23: ... in the crazy energy of the early universe, a positron and a neutral pion particle combine to form a ...
  • 03:15: ... physicist could measure the exact positions and velocities of every particle comprising the asteroid and calculate their paths backwards to recover its exact ...
  • 12:45: ... Particle locations were restricted to being very close to each other - a state which ...
  • 04:41: Let’s say this process is reversible - the particle physics jury is still out on whether protons can decay - but for this episode they can.
  • 02:40: ... it formed billions of years ago, before even Earth formed, when tiny particles of dust from a past supernova found each other in the forming solar ...
  • 04:02: ... age of the universe and the asteroid will decay into a mist of subatomic particles. ...
  • 06:02: ... “Feynman diagram” of our asteroid looks like countless particles coming together in many different ways - first subatomic particles ...
  • 06:34: ... asteroid just assembles from subatomic particles with all of its detailed structure mysteriously in place - cosmic ray ...
  • 08:36: ... we have an asteroid formed from an incredibly improbable coalescence of particles - but the most improbable things are yet to ...
  • 12:45: ... - a state which represents a tiny fraction of the possible states those particles could be in - most of which are much further ...
  • 08:36: ... we have an asteroid formed from an incredibly improbable coalescence of particles - but the most improbable things are yet to ...
  • 06:02: ... “Feynman diagram” of our asteroid looks like countless particles coming together in many different ways - first subatomic particles joining, ...

2020-11-18: The Arrow of Time and How to Reverse It

  • 01:38: ... the direction of time? Basically, if you reversed the motion of all particles in the universe - sent them back exactly in the direction they came, and ...
  • 02:08: ... in a particular sequence, like a flip book. OK, so imagine two particles moving towards each other - let’s say, electrons. They move up in time ...
  • 05:10: ... start with a handful of particles with low entropy. You can do low entropy by having a weird distribution ...
  • 06:19: ... of the starting, low-entropy point, you perceive an asymmetry in time - particles expanding, entropy increasing on one side, or particles converging,and ...
  • 06:57: ... and, typically, on very small scales due to random alignments of particle trajectories or however else energy is moving around. Entropy can ...
  • 07:17: ... the universal arrow of time? Well it’s no accident I chose “expanding particles” to illustrate evolving entropy. When we measure the velocities of ...
  • 08:11: ... it right now. But one possible consequence is that if you trace all particles backwards in time to this original “special” slice, at which velocities ...
  • 06:19: ... converging,and entropy decreasing on the other. Zoom in to individual particle interactions and you see perfect reversibility of the laws of physics, but zoom out ...
  • 06:57: ... and, typically, on very small scales due to random alignments of particle trajectories or however else energy is moving around. Entropy can decrease, reach a ...
  • 01:38: ... the direction of time? Basically, if you reversed the motion of all particles in the universe - sent them back exactly in the direction they came, and ...
  • 02:08: ... in a particular sequence, like a flip book. OK, so imagine two particles moving towards each other - let’s say, electrons. They move up in time ...
  • 05:10: ... start with a handful of particles with low entropy. You can do low entropy by having a weird distribution ...
  • 06:19: ... of the starting, low-entropy point, you perceive an asymmetry in time - particles expanding, entropy increasing on one side, or particles converging,and ...
  • 07:17: ... the universal arrow of time? Well it’s no accident I chose “expanding particles” to illustrate evolving entropy. When we measure the velocities of ...
  • 08:11: ... it right now. But one possible consequence is that if you trace all particles backwards in time to this original “special” slice, at which velocities ...
  • 06:19: ... in time - particles expanding, entropy increasing on one side, or particles converging,and entropy decreasing on the other. Zoom in to individual particle ...
  • 08:11: ... in time. It’s not crazy to imagine a symmetric universe in which those particles fan out again like a reverse Big Bang. This might be the case if the Big ...
  • 02:08: ... in a particular sequence, like a flip book. OK, so imagine two particles moving towards each other - let’s say, electrons. They move up in time and ...
  • 05:10: ... the particles in one spot in the available space. Let’s give those particles random velocities and see what happens in the following time steps.Even though ...

2020-11-11: Can Free Will be Saved in a Deterministic Universe?

  • 00:57: ... current state of the universe, like the positions and velocities of all particles, and perfect knowledge of the laws of nature could calculate perfectly ...

2020-11-04: Electroweak Theory and the Origin of the Fundamental Forces

  • 00:02: We have a weird zoo of elementary particles, which interact through very different fundamental forces.
  • 00:47: And this dive into electroweak unification will lead us inevitably to the Higgs field and an understanding of how particles gain mass.
  • 01:17: The electron was called a beta particle by Ernest Rutherford back in 1899 before we knew that these things were electrons.
  • 01:24: It’s one of the main ways radioactive nuclei decay - the other being alpha decay, where the emitted “alpha particle” is really a helium-4 nucleus.
  • 01:54: Basically, he tried to model this as a direction interaction - in which all four “fermion” particles literally touch.
  • 02:36: ... effort was quantum electrodynamics, in which charged particles interact not by actually touching - but via a mediating particle that ...
  • 02:50: By the way, force-mediating particles are bosons, as opposed to the fermions that make up matter.
  • 02:56: QED is what we call a gauge theory - its force-carrying fields and particles arise from the symmetries of the quantum equations of motion.
  • 03:12: Given that the weak interaction could change a neutral particle into a pair of charged particles this mediating particle must itself be charged.
  • 03:20: This was an early hint that somehow the electromagnetic force, which acts on charged particles, was playing a role here.
  • 04:33: ... see, the simple requirement that the weak force was mediated by massive particles ultimately unified the weak force with electromagnetism, and revealed ...
  • 04:50: ... probabilities of certain outcomes being measured for observables like particle position and ...
  • 05:50: That resulted in a new quantum field and a corresponding particle.
  • 08:08: The fields and corresponding particles produced by the pure symmetries we described are fundamentally massless.
  • 09:56: But the individual magnetic particles interact with each other, they want to align with their neighbours.
  • 10:03: ... temperatures - above the Curie temperature - thermal energy causes the particles to rotate randomly so the overall magnetization of the material is ...
  • 10:13: However, if we cool the material down, the interactions between magnetic particles can start to come into play.
  • 10:23: If we cool the system enough all particles get frozen into one aligned state.
  • 12:18: ... was the electroweak era, and we can also produce these conditions in our particle accelerators - and in fact we’ve verified this whole electroweak thing ...
  • 12:39: The very existence of those symmetries requires a family of fields and particles that we now observe in nature.
  • 13:19: ... from which arises the fantastically rich palette of particles and the complexity they enable, inevitable consequences of the broken ...
  • 12:18: ... was the electroweak era, and we can also produce these conditions in our particle accelerators - and in fact we’ve verified this whole electroweak thing with fantastic ...
  • 04:50: ... probabilities of certain outcomes being measured for observables like particle position and ...
  • 00:02: We have a weird zoo of elementary particles, which interact through very different fundamental forces.
  • 00:47: And this dive into electroweak unification will lead us inevitably to the Higgs field and an understanding of how particles gain mass.
  • 01:54: Basically, he tried to model this as a direction interaction - in which all four “fermion” particles literally touch.
  • 02:36: ... effort was quantum electrodynamics, in which charged particles interact not by actually touching - but via a mediating particle that ...
  • 02:50: By the way, force-mediating particles are bosons, as opposed to the fermions that make up matter.
  • 02:56: QED is what we call a gauge theory - its force-carrying fields and particles arise from the symmetries of the quantum equations of motion.
  • 03:12: Given that the weak interaction could change a neutral particle into a pair of charged particles this mediating particle must itself be charged.
  • 03:20: This was an early hint that somehow the electromagnetic force, which acts on charged particles, was playing a role here.
  • 04:33: ... see, the simple requirement that the weak force was mediated by massive particles ultimately unified the weak force with electromagnetism, and revealed ...
  • 08:08: The fields and corresponding particles produced by the pure symmetries we described are fundamentally massless.
  • 09:56: But the individual magnetic particles interact with each other, they want to align with their neighbours.
  • 10:03: ... temperatures - above the Curie temperature - thermal energy causes the particles to rotate randomly so the overall magnetization of the material is ...
  • 10:13: However, if we cool the material down, the interactions between magnetic particles can start to come into play.
  • 10:23: If we cool the system enough all particles get frozen into one aligned state.
  • 12:39: The very existence of those symmetries requires a family of fields and particles that we now observe in nature.
  • 13:19: ... from which arises the fantastically rich palette of particles and the complexity they enable, inevitable consequences of the broken ...
  • 00:47: And this dive into electroweak unification will lead us inevitably to the Higgs field and an understanding of how particles gain mass.
  • 02:36: ... effort was quantum electrodynamics, in which charged particles interact not by actually touching - but via a mediating particle that transmits ...
  • 09:56: But the individual magnetic particles interact with each other, they want to align with their neighbours.
  • 01:54: Basically, he tried to model this as a direction interaction - in which all four “fermion” particles literally touch.
  • 08:08: The fields and corresponding particles produced by the pure symmetries we described are fundamentally massless.
  • 04:33: ... see, the simple requirement that the weak force was mediated by massive particles ultimately unified the weak force with electromagnetism, and revealed the existence ...

2020-10-27: How The Penrose Singularity Theorem Predicts The End of Space Time

  • 02:16: ... black hole,   singularity and all. Makes sense - if all  particles are falling directly towards each   other on a perfect ...
  • 13:38: ... a boltzmann brain is the simplest  explanation.” You’re just random particles   accidentally assembled from the void with your current memories and ...

2020-10-20: Is The Future Predetermined By Quantum Mechanics?

  • 04:08: All particles take on defined properties, and one actual reality is chosen from the many possible ones.
  • 11:10: ... that doesn't have multiple realities, just a wave function that guides particles in a perfectly determined way defined by Bohmiam ...
  • 14:59: ... state of the brain, the momentary spatial configuration of its particles at that instant that gives rise to our conscious ...
  • 04:08: All particles take on defined properties, and one actual reality is chosen from the many possible ones.
  • 11:10: ... that doesn't have multiple realities, just a wave function that guides particles in a perfectly determined way defined by Bohmiam ...
  • 14:59: ... state of the brain, the momentary spatial configuration of its particles at that instant that gives rise to our conscious ...

2020-10-13: Do the Past and Future Exist?

  • 01:27: ... - the idea that, by knowing the current position and velocity of every particle in the universe, as well as the forces that act between those particles, ...
  • 02:08: Newton assumed that all particles, all observers, all points in space were ruled by a single, constantly ticking clock.
  • 01:27: ... particle in the universe, as well as the forces that act between those particles, you could calculate all future and all past states of the ...
  • 02:08: Newton assumed that all particles, all observers, all points in space were ruled by a single, constantly ticking clock.

2020-09-21: Could Life Evolve Inside Stars?

  • 02:31: ... materials, where the direction of the poles of the little magnetic particles changes across the ...

2020-09-08: The Truth About Beauty in Physics

  • 05:32: ... within circles could describe the motion of anything, from a planet to a particle of air - but it wouldn’t explain that ...
  • 11:43: ... for the slightly ugly but fantastically successful standard model of particle ...
  • 15:11: ... Awesome Octagon dropped some knowledge on a different next-generation particle collider that's worth ...
  • 16:35: Particle.
  • 15:11: ... Awesome Octagon dropped some knowledge on a different next-generation particle collider that's worth ...
  • 11:43: ... for the slightly ugly but fantastically successful standard model of particle physics. ...

2020-08-24: Can Future Colliders Break the Standard Model?

  • 00:02: ... a theory of everything, and by eggs I mean a billion billion subatomic particles obliterated in the next generation of giant particle ...
  • 00:18: ... June, the consortium of Europe’s top particle physicists published their vision for the next several years of particle ...
  • 00:28: ... is the Future Circular Collider, which, if it happens, will accelerate particles in a 100 kilometer circumference underground ring encircling ...
  • 00:38: ... size of the Large Hadron Collider, and it would be capable of colliding particle beams with 8 times the current LHC ...
  • 01:16: Physicists have been building machines to accelerate and subsequently obliterate particles since the 1920s.
  • 01:22: ... or linac, which uses oscillating electric fields to accelerate charged particles in a straight line, while the beam is focused by magnetic ...
  • 01:32: ... cyclotron quickly followed - here the particles are still accelerated by electric fields, but now a constant magnetic ...
  • 01:41: Once accelerated, the particles were typically slammed into a motionless target - often just a slab of metal.
  • 01:47: Some particles would collide with enough energy to be destroyed, and their energy would be released in the form of new particles.
  • 01:55: ... those first collision experiments, all sorts of never-before-seen particles were observed allowing physicists to begin to map out the subatomic ...
  • 02:03: There’s a serious limit to the energy you can muster by colliding particles into a stationary object.
  • 02:29: The key to doing this is to store the particle beams in a ring so that they can be collided at your leisure.
  • 02:37: To that end, the particle storage ring was invented by Gerard K. O’Neill in the mid 1950s.
  • 02:44: Within a few years, an Italian group built the first particle beam collider - the AdA, or Anello di Accumuliazione. Apologies for my pronunciation.
  • 03:08: In collider-speak, luminosity is a measure of the number of particle collisions across an area over a time period.
  • 03:15: More collisions means more chance of producing weird particles.
  • 04:09: ... top quark, and so enabled the discovery of the final Fermion - or matter particle - in the standard ...
  • 04:46: The existence of the Higgs confirms our explanation of how the elementary particles acquire mass - which of course we’ve covered previously.
  • 04:56: In a sense this was the last missing piece of the standard model - the one remaining particle that physicists thought MUST exist.
  • 05:04: ... particle hunters expected that to be just the beginning - that their giant ...
  • 05:14: The most highly anticipated were the particles predicted by supersymmetry - or SUSY.
  • 05:25: ... forces, and a huge difference between the measured masses of the known particles and what we expect their masses to be from quantum field theory ...
  • 05:40: The Higgs particle in particular should have an enormous mass if our Standard Model understanding is the whole picture.
  • 05:58: SUSY solves the hierarchy problem by proposing symmetric counterparts to the known particles.
  • 06:02: ... those counterparts should help cancel out the interactions of the known particles with the elementary quantum fields on which those particles live, ...
  • 06:26: The Large Hadron Collider reaches energy a few times higher than the top of that range, so it should have seen such particles by now.
  • 07:00: It doesn’t seem to give us a particle that could explain dark matter.
  • 07:07: ... that unifies our understanding of the Standard Model’s motley zoo of particles and forces, we probably need to achieve higher energies - energies even ...
  • 07:25: ... other clever ways to probe these energies - for example using natural particle accelerators like the sun or supernovae or quasars or galactic magnetic ...
  • 07:41: ... ultra-high energy cosmic rays are rare, and to reliably detect a new particle we need to watch the result of billions of billions of collisions - we ...
  • 08:37: ... of this upgrade isn’t primarily to access higher energies where new particles might exist, but rather to make the LHC much better at studying the ...
  • 08:47: IF either SUSY or other very high-mass particles do exist, then they may be actually a good way beyond the energy range of the LHC.
  • 09:11: ... and positrons with the express intention of making as many Higgs particles as possible. Okay firstly, why electrons and ...
  • 09:25: ... remember that the first particle colliders worked with electron-positron beams, and for good reason: they ...
  • 09:33: It’s easier to achieve the energies and luminosities to produce, for example, large numbers of Higgs particles in relatively clean collisions.
  • 09:59: The Higgs can also be used as a direct search for new particles.
  • 10:24: However there’s no guarantee that any new particles exist in the expanded energy range that the FCC will probe.
  • 10:41: Ever since Europe won the giant collider game with the LHC, particle physicists in the US have focused on smaller experiments.
  • 10:58: ... - and when we visited FermiLab earlier this year we saw the linear particle accelerator that is under development to become DUNE’s neutrino ...
  • 14:04: If any of those particular protons happens to produce a previously undiscovered particle in the collider, we’ll be naming it the Alec S-L-ino.
  • 15:40: In principle there should be a point right at the center where there is no flow - if you were a point-like particle you could just hang there.
  • 04:09: ... top quark, and so enabled the discovery of the final Fermion - or matter particle - in the standard ...
  • 10:58: ... - and when we visited FermiLab earlier this year we saw the linear particle accelerator that is under development to become DUNE’s neutrino ...
  • 07:25: ... other clever ways to probe these energies - for example using natural particle accelerators like the sun or supernovae or quasars or galactic magnetic fields, which ...
  • 02:44: Within a few years, an Italian group built the first particle beam collider - the AdA, or Anello di Accumuliazione. Apologies for my pronunciation.
  • 00:38: ... size of the Large Hadron Collider, and it would be capable of colliding particle beams with 8 times the current LHC ...
  • 02:29: The key to doing this is to store the particle beams in a ring so that they can be collided at your leisure.
  • 00:02: ... billion subatomic particles obliterated in the next generation of giant particle colliders. ...
  • 09:25: ... remember that the first particle colliders worked with electron-positron beams, and for good reason: they are ...
  • 03:08: In collider-speak, luminosity is a measure of the number of particle collisions across an area over a time period.
  • 05:04: ... particle hunters expected that to be just the beginning - that their giant collider would ...
  • 00:18: ... June, the consortium of Europe’s top particle physicists published their vision for the next several years of particle physics ...
  • 10:41: Ever since Europe won the giant collider game with the LHC, particle physicists in the US have focused on smaller experiments.
  • 00:18: ... June, the consortium of Europe’s top particle physicists published their vision for the next several years of particle physics experiments ...
  • 02:37: To that end, the particle storage ring was invented by Gerard K. O’Neill in the mid 1950s.
  • 00:02: ... a theory of everything, and by eggs I mean a billion billion subatomic particles obliterated in the next generation of giant particle ...
  • 00:28: ... is the Future Circular Collider, which, if it happens, will accelerate particles in a 100 kilometer circumference underground ring encircling ...
  • 01:16: Physicists have been building machines to accelerate and subsequently obliterate particles since the 1920s.
  • 01:22: ... or linac, which uses oscillating electric fields to accelerate charged particles in a straight line, while the beam is focused by magnetic ...
  • 01:32: ... cyclotron quickly followed - here the particles are still accelerated by electric fields, but now a constant magnetic ...
  • 01:41: Once accelerated, the particles were typically slammed into a motionless target - often just a slab of metal.
  • 01:47: Some particles would collide with enough energy to be destroyed, and their energy would be released in the form of new particles.
  • 01:55: ... those first collision experiments, all sorts of never-before-seen particles were observed allowing physicists to begin to map out the subatomic ...
  • 02:03: There’s a serious limit to the energy you can muster by colliding particles into a stationary object.
  • 03:15: More collisions means more chance of producing weird particles.
  • 04:46: The existence of the Higgs confirms our explanation of how the elementary particles acquire mass - which of course we’ve covered previously.
  • 05:04: ... beginning - that their giant collider would go on to discover many new particles to take us beyond the standard ...
  • 05:14: The most highly anticipated were the particles predicted by supersymmetry - or SUSY.
  • 05:25: ... forces, and a huge difference between the measured masses of the known particles and what we expect their masses to be from quantum field theory ...
  • 05:58: SUSY solves the hierarchy problem by proposing symmetric counterparts to the known particles.
  • 06:02: ... those counterparts should help cancel out the interactions of the known particles with the elementary quantum fields on which those particles live, ...
  • 06:26: The Large Hadron Collider reaches energy a few times higher than the top of that range, so it should have seen such particles by now.
  • 07:07: ... that unifies our understanding of the Standard Model’s motley zoo of particles and forces, we probably need to achieve higher energies - energies even ...
  • 07:25: ... or galactic magnetic fields, which continuously spray the earth with particles at higher energies than we can hope to ...
  • 08:37: ... of this upgrade isn’t primarily to access higher energies where new particles might exist, but rather to make the LHC much better at studying the ...
  • 08:47: IF either SUSY or other very high-mass particles do exist, then they may be actually a good way beyond the energy range of the LHC.
  • 09:11: ... and positrons with the express intention of making as many Higgs particles as possible. Okay firstly, why electrons and ...
  • 09:33: It’s easier to achieve the energies and luminosities to produce, for example, large numbers of Higgs particles in relatively clean collisions.
  • 09:59: The Higgs can also be used as a direct search for new particles.
  • 10:24: However there’s no guarantee that any new particles exist in the expanded energy range that the FCC will probe.
  • 04:46: The existence of the Higgs confirms our explanation of how the elementary particles acquire mass - which of course we’ve covered previously.
  • 10:24: However there’s no guarantee that any new particles exist in the expanded energy range that the FCC will probe.
  • 06:02: ... of the known particles with the elementary quantum fields on which those particles live, eliminating most of their mass in the ...
  • 00:02: ... a theory of everything, and by eggs I mean a billion billion subatomic particles obliterated in the next generation of giant particle ...
  • 05:14: The most highly anticipated were the particles predicted by supersymmetry - or SUSY.

2020-08-17: How Stars Destroy Each Other

  • 04:38: ... charged particles spiral along the magnetic field lines they emit synchrotron radiation, ...
  • 06:16: ... powerful magnetic field channels high energy particles into a jet that traces a circle across the sky - and often sweeping past ...
  • 04:38: ... charged particles spiral along the magnetic field lines they emit synchrotron radiation, ...
  • 06:16: ... powerful magnetic field channels high energy particles into a jet that traces a circle across the sky - and often sweeping past ...
  • 04:38: ... charged particles spiral along the magnetic field lines they emit synchrotron radiation, and ...

2020-08-10: Theory of Everything Controversies: Livestream

  • 00:00: ... joining forces to bring together some of the leading researchers uh in particle physics and in cosmology to look for a way forward brian great to have ...

2020-07-28: What is a Theory of Everything: Livestream

  • 00:00: ... here uh uh quick introductions so we have james beacham who's a particle physicist with um the atlas experiment at the large hadron collider at ...

2020-07-20: The Boundary Between Black Holes & Neutron Stars

  • 13:53: A couple of you asked why we think there had to be an actual imbalance in the number of antimatter versus matter particles in the early universe.
  • 14:12: Cool thought - but that doesn’t work because when they are created, each particle - antiparticle pair is close together.
  • 13:53: A couple of you asked why we think there had to be an actual imbalance in the number of antimatter versus matter particles in the early universe.

2020-07-08: Does Antimatter Explain Why There's Something Rather Than Nothing?

  • 00:22: ... particle in our universe has its exact counterpart: an anti-particle identical in ...
  • 01:25: ... little more matter compared to anti-matter. If there were slightly more particles than anti-particles, then almost everything would have annihilated, ...
  • 01:56: And there’s the mystery: why were particles created with that 1-in-a-billion overabundance compared to anti-particles?
  • 02:04: ... be something inherently different in the way the universe interacts with particles versus anti-particles. The universe must not treat the two ...
  • 02:12: ... the universe is reflected through a mirror; and time reversal, where all particles have their direction of motion and spins exactly ...
  • 02:51: ... you apply all three of these transformations to a particle - if you apply a CPT transformation - then it becomes its own ...
  • 06:00: ... more exotic antimatter like anti-protons can be created in particle accelerators - just by smashing regular matter together. The problem is, ...
  • 07:21: ... These high-energy protons then hit a metal target and produce a zoo of particles and anti-particles. Some of these by-products are ...
  • 09:19: ... determined by many different factors: the precise mass and charge of the particles, their orbital angular momentum, their magnetic and electric dipole ...
  • 02:51: ... you apply all three of these transformations to a particle - if you apply a CPT transformation - then it becomes its own ...
  • 06:00: ... more exotic antimatter like anti-protons can be created in particle accelerators - just by smashing regular matter together. The problem is, antimatter ...
  • 00:22: ... electron has a positron; a proton, an anti-proton; and so on. And when a particle encounters its anti-particle patrner - when matter encounters anti=matter- the two ...
  • 01:25: ... little more matter compared to anti-matter. If there were slightly more particles than anti-particles, then almost everything would have annihilated, ...
  • 01:56: And there’s the mystery: why were particles created with that 1-in-a-billion overabundance compared to anti-particles?
  • 02:04: ... be something inherently different in the way the universe interacts with particles versus anti-particles. The universe must not treat the two ...
  • 02:12: ... the universe is reflected through a mirror; and time reversal, where all particles have their direction of motion and spins exactly ...
  • 07:21: ... These high-energy protons then hit a metal target and produce a zoo of particles and anti-particles. Some of these by-products are ...
  • 09:19: ... determined by many different factors: the precise mass and charge of the particles, their orbital angular momentum, their magnetic and electric dipole ...
  • 01:56: And there’s the mystery: why were particles created with that 1-in-a-billion overabundance compared to anti-particles?
  • 02:04: ... be something inherently different in the way the universe interacts with particles versus anti-particles. The universe must not treat the two ...

2020-06-30: Dissolving an Event Horizon

  • 05:33: That radiation cian be any type of elementary particle - but in the case of the most massive black holes, it’s mostly just photons.
  • 06:31: ... us with a strange situation - in the far distant future, even if all particles in the universe decay, we may be left with only radiation and these ...
  • 09:37: Then surely we can just throw charged particles into the black hole.
  • 09:41: ... have to be careful, because those particles increase the mass of the black hole as well as the charge - and if the ...
  • 13:46: Inyobill asks if we’re assuming that the lightest particles are without dimension, so they have an undefined size relative to the universe.
  • 13:59: A pointlike particle has size zero - that’s zero volume, zero radius.
  • 14:17: ... an interaction crosssection, which defines the probability of another particle interacting with the electron as a function of ...
  • 05:33: That radiation cian be any type of elementary particle - but in the case of the most massive black holes, it’s mostly just photons.
  • 14:17: ... an interaction crosssection, which defines the probability of another particle interacting with the electron as a function of ...
  • 06:31: ... us with a strange situation - in the far distant future, even if all particles in the universe decay, we may be left with only radiation and these ...
  • 09:37: Then surely we can just throw charged particles into the black hole.
  • 09:41: ... have to be careful, because those particles increase the mass of the black hole as well as the charge - and if the ...
  • 13:46: Inyobill asks if we’re assuming that the lightest particles are without dimension, so they have an undefined size relative to the universe.
  • 09:41: ... have to be careful, because those particles increase the mass of the black hole as well as the charge - and if the mass ...

2020-06-22: Building Black Holes in a Lab

  • 05:25: ... as a type of radiation. The popular description is that pairs of virtual particles appear near the event horizon and are separated - one escapes and one ...
  • 06:12: This perturbs the quantum fields in a way that look likes escaping particles if you’re very far away from the black hole.
  • 08:04: ... that rotating black holes can donate some of their rotational energy to particles or waves that pass close by. This is the Penrose process, and when the ...
  • 09:09: These waves are analogous to incoming particles. The waves are only 1 millimeter high, but superradiance can increase their height by as much as 10%.
  • 10:13: ... of the Hawking radiation. Taking the temperature of the evaporating particles from a BEC provides the strongest direct experimental evidence for ...
  • 08:04: ... boosted is light then we call it superradiance. So this works when a particle passes through the black hole’s ergosphere. That’s the region around the event ...
  • 05:25: ... as a type of radiation. The popular description is that pairs of virtual particles appear near the event horizon and are separated - one escapes and one ...
  • 06:12: This perturbs the quantum fields in a way that look likes escaping particles if you’re very far away from the black hole.
  • 08:04: ... that rotating black holes can donate some of their rotational energy to particles or waves that pass close by. This is the Penrose process, and when the ...
  • 09:09: These waves are analogous to incoming particles. The waves are only 1 millimeter high, but superradiance can increase their height by as much as 10%.
  • 10:13: ... of the Hawking radiation. Taking the temperature of the evaporating particles from a BEC provides the strongest direct experimental evidence for ...
  • 06:33: ... is that energy gets sapped from the black hole because the infalling particles-slash-vibrations themselves acquire negative energy. This effect on the black hole is ...

2020-06-15: What Happens After the Universe Ends?

  • 00:45: ... exponentially to to an unthinkably large size, and every black hole and particle has decayed into faint radiation .... that infinite stretch of space and ...
  • 06:11: For light, or any light-speed particle, the beginning and end of every journey is the same.
  • 07:06: ... will decay - black holes will evaporate by Hawking radiation, and particles of matter will decay into their lightest possible ...
  • 07:16: ... and positrons, and neutrinos, as well as gravitons - the quantum particles of ...
  • 07:46: The standard model of particle physics predicts eternal electrons.
  • 07:53: ... masses of the elementary particles are not some fundamental property of those particles - they come from ...
  • 08:17: Surely it was full of particles.
  • 08:19: Well yeah, but those particles were effectively massless also.
  • 08:24: Two ways to think about this: A particle's energy is a combination of its kinetic energy and rest mass energy.
  • 08:31: Kinetic energies were so high at the big bang that rest mass energy was completely negligible - all particles behaved like light-speed particles.
  • 08:57: ... field - if it decayed to a lower energy - could eliminate elementary particle masses in the late universe ...
  • 09:05: In the first tiny fraction of a second we can think of the universe as being full of effectively or actually massless particles.
  • 11:10: Only radiation - light and other massless particles - can cross over this conformal boundary from one aeon into the next.
  • 08:57: ... field - if it decayed to a lower energy - could eliminate elementary particle masses in the late universe ...
  • 07:46: The standard model of particle physics predicts eternal electrons.
  • 07:06: ... will decay - black holes will evaporate by Hawking radiation, and particles of matter will decay into their lightest possible ...
  • 07:16: ... and positrons, and neutrinos, as well as gravitons - the quantum particles of ...
  • 07:53: ... masses of the elementary particles are not some fundamental property of those particles - they come from ...
  • 08:17: Surely it was full of particles.
  • 08:19: Well yeah, but those particles were effectively massless also.
  • 08:24: Two ways to think about this: A particle's energy is a combination of its kinetic energy and rest mass energy.
  • 08:31: Kinetic energies were so high at the big bang that rest mass energy was completely negligible - all particles behaved like light-speed particles.
  • 09:05: In the first tiny fraction of a second we can think of the universe as being full of effectively or actually massless particles.
  • 11:10: Only radiation - light and other massless particles - can cross over this conformal boundary from one aeon into the next.
  • 07:53: ... of the elementary particles are not some fundamental property of those particles - they come from the interactions of those particles with quantum fields - ...
  • 11:10: Only radiation - light and other massless particles - can cross over this conformal boundary from one aeon into the next.
  • 08:31: Kinetic energies were so high at the big bang that rest mass energy was completely negligible - all particles behaved like light-speed particles.
  • 08:24: Two ways to think about this: A particle's energy is a combination of its kinetic energy and rest mass energy.

2020-05-27: Does Gravity Require Extra Dimensions?

  • 05:14: ... but we all know that the apparently 2-D ground is made up of 3-D particles, and if we zoomed in on a seemingly flat floor to small enough scale, we ...
  • 11:58: This is the negative pressure due to the exclusion of quantum vacuum modes, or virtual particles, between two very closely separated plates.
  • 05:14: ... but we all know that the apparently 2-D ground is made up of 3-D particles, and if we zoomed in on a seemingly flat floor to small enough scale, we ...
  • 11:58: This is the negative pressure due to the exclusion of quantum vacuum modes, or virtual particles, between two very closely separated plates.

2020-05-11: How Luminiferous Aether Led to Relativity

  • 04:06: ... Newton also favoured his own corpuscular theory of light - light as tiny particles rather than ...
  • 05:08: ... versus Newton. Light as a wave versus a particle. Most accepted Newton - as most always did. This was until the beginning ...
  • 12:25: ... the near vacuum state of spacetime in which quantum physicists believe particle pairs are quickly born and destroyed. In retrospect, Descartes seems ...
  • 04:06: ... Newton also favoured his own corpuscular theory of light - light as tiny particles rather than ...

2020-04-28: Space Time Livestream: Ask Matt Anything

  • 00:00: ... simple theory of everything there's a TED talk it's an e 8 theory for particle physics and Garrett Lisi found it says here say so so our leasing can ...

2020-04-22: Will Wormholes Allow Fast Interstellar Travel?

  • 01:09: ... idea - but not into a theory of wormholes - instead as a theory of particles. Einstein and Rosen imagined two regions described by the Schwarzschild ...
  • 01:52: ... turns out that this is almost certainly NOT what particles are, but the Einstein-Rosen paper inspired others to take the wormhole ...
  • 02:08: ... for another 20 years before it was resurrected - this time not to build particles, but in an attempt to break causality. John Archibald Wheeler, along with ...
  • 15:35: ... hydrogen - protons stripped of their electrons, with densities between 1 particle per cubic centimeter and 1 particle per cubic meter. It's vacuum-y ...
  • 01:09: ... idea - but not into a theory of wormholes - instead as a theory of particles. Einstein and Rosen imagined two regions described by the Schwarzschild ...
  • 01:52: ... turns out that this is almost certainly NOT what particles are, but the Einstein-Rosen paper inspired others to take the wormhole ...
  • 02:08: ... for another 20 years before it was resurrected - this time not to build particles, but in an attempt to break causality. John Archibald Wheeler, along with ...
  • 01:09: ... idea - but not into a theory of wormholes - instead as a theory of particles. Einstein and Rosen imagined two regions described by the Schwarzschild solution ...

2020-04-14: Was the Milky Way a Quasar?

  • 02:33: ... astronomers believe that when dark matter particles crash into and annihilate each other, the result could be a fireworks ...
  • 04:15: The protons sometimes obliterate each other to form a neutral pion particle plus some other stuff.
  • 02:33: ... astronomers believe that when dark matter particles crash into and annihilate each other, the result could be a fireworks ...

2020-04-07: How We Know The Earth Is Ancient

  • 07:17: ... atomic nuclei decay into lighter nuclei by splitting or by ejecting particles. The rate of decay is expressed in terms of “half-life” - which is the ...

2020-03-31: What’s On The Other Side Of A Black Hole?

  • 12:02: ... Mich always thought entanglement could only occur between two particles. What you're thinking about is the principle of monogamy of entanglement, ...

2020-03-24: How Black Holes Spin Space Time

  • 10:51: ... of space in the ergosphere spins up the magnetic field into a gigantic particle accelerator. Charged particles are accelerated along those magnetic ...

2020-03-16: How Do Quantum States Manifest In The Classical World?

  • 00:57: ... properties can be expressed as superpositions - for example a particle’s position can be expressed as a superposition of momentum states. I’ll ...
  • 02:56: ... quantum particles have a property called quantum spin. That spin has an axis that points ...
  • 04:28: ... A high energy photon decays into an electron and a positron. These particles both have spin values of 1/2, but the original photon had spin 0. So the ...
  • 05:32: ... crazy thing is if I measure the spin of one particle - say the electron - my choice of measurement basis defines the spin of ...
  • 06:24: ... happening when I try to measure the spin of one of those entangled particles. I’ll try to do that in the most subtle way possible. Here’s our ...
  • 10:41: ... out why this might be the case. It turns out that as more and more particles join our entanglement web, information about quantum states get spread ...
  • 10:53: ... possible to extract this information if you could perfectly measure all particles in your measurement device. But eventually this entanglement cascade ...
  • 12:33: ... Cat? Well an important example of a pointer state is the position of a particle. Most quantum interactions depend heavily on the relative location of ...
  • 13:47: ... consistent entanglement, even spooky-action-at-a-distance entangled particles maintain their correlations, no matter how far separated in boring old ...
  • 16:29: ... to produce a new big bang? Could a random perfect alignment of all particle trajectories produce a big bang density? Maybe - some physicsts think ...
  • 05:32: ... crazy thing is if I measure the spin of one particle - say the electron - my choice of measurement basis defines the spin of ...
  • 12:33: ... location of interacting particles. Therefore information about relative particle locations is robustly shared and propagated through the entanglement network. The ...
  • 04:28: ... is in a superposition of states - measured in the vertical basis, each particle starts in a state of both up AND down, while in the horizontal each is left AND ...
  • 16:29: ... to produce a new big bang? Could a random perfect alignment of all particle trajectories produce a big bang density? Maybe - some physicsts think this may be how ...
  • 00:57: ... properties can be expressed as superpositions - for example a particle’s position can be expressed as a superposition of momentum states. I’ll ...
  • 02:56: ... quantum particles have a property called quantum spin. That spin has an axis that points ...
  • 04:28: ... A high energy photon decays into an electron and a positron. These particles both have spin values of 1/2, but the original photon had spin 0. So the ...
  • 06:24: ... happening when I try to measure the spin of one of those entangled particles. I’ll try to do that in the most subtle way possible. Here’s our ...
  • 10:41: ... out why this might be the case. It turns out that as more and more particles join our entanglement web, information about quantum states get spread ...
  • 10:53: ... possible to extract this information if you could perfectly measure all particles in your measurement device. But eventually this entanglement cascade ...
  • 12:33: ... interactions depend heavily on the relative location of interacting particles. Therefore information about relative particle locations is robustly ...
  • 13:47: ... consistent entanglement, even spooky-action-at-a-distance entangled particles maintain their correlations, no matter how far separated in boring old ...
  • 06:24: ... happening when I try to measure the spin of one of those entangled particles. I’ll try to do that in the most subtle way possible. Here’s our measuring ...
  • 10:41: ... out why this might be the case. It turns out that as more and more particles join our entanglement web, information about quantum states get spread ...
  • 13:47: ... consistent entanglement, even spooky-action-at-a-distance entangled particles maintain their correlations, no matter how far separated in boring old space ...
  • 00:57: ... properties can be expressed as superpositions - for example a particle’s position can be expressed as a superposition of momentum states. I’ll come back ...

2020-03-03: Does Quantum Immortality Save Schrödinger's Cat?

  • 13:33: ... in a typical quantum eraser experiment you use entangled photon or other particle pairs - one of the pairs goes through a double-slit experiment and the ...
  • 13:59: ... true decoherence - relative phase information is spread across only two particles, and so decoherence is ...
  • 14:38: Well these days double-slit experiments are usually done with single photons or other particles.
  • 14:54: ... of a typical double-slit experiment without actually scattering off air particles, and more minor interactions don't necessarily decohere the light - ...
  • 13:33: ... in a typical quantum eraser experiment you use entangled photon or other particle pairs - one of the pairs goes through a double-slit experiment and the other ...
  • 13:59: ... true decoherence - relative phase information is spread across only two particles, and so decoherence is ...
  • 14:38: Well these days double-slit experiments are usually done with single photons or other particles.
  • 14:54: ... of a typical double-slit experiment without actually scattering off air particles, and more minor interactions don't necessarily decohere the light - ...

2020-02-24: How Decoherence Splits The Quantum Multiverse

  • 03:38: ... you remember it from last week - a quantum particle seems to pass through two slits simultaneously as a probability wave ...
  • 04:04: This time we'll use particles of light - photons as our quantum particle.
  • 04:57: Because the wavefunction is amplified at that spot, there’s a high probability of the particle landing there.
  • 05:22: That’s destructive interference and the probability of the particle ending up there goes to zero.
  • 05:36: And so on - so we ultimately see this series of bands - lots of particles where the wavefunction is amplified, few where it’s canceled.
  • 07:54: For example, add a collection of particles to one of the slits.
  • 07:58: The part of the wavefunction - corresponding to a possible path of the photon - is now disturbed by those particles.
  • 08:05: ... slice as the “possible photon” being absorbed and reemitted by those particles, and so the wavefunction leaving that slit picks up a random phase offset ...
  • 09:54: We can think about the photon wavefunction becoming mixed with the wavefunctions of the quantum particles along this chain.
  • 11:25: The once coherent particles with their superposition of both separate histories that could merge, become decoherent.
  • 13:34: That includes yourself and your measuring device, unless you know the exact quantum state of all of the particles of both.
  • 04:57: Because the wavefunction is amplified at that spot, there’s a high probability of the particle landing there.
  • 03:38: ... to leave it as a single position on a screen, and multiple independent particles then land in these bands - an interference pattern, which ultimately ...
  • 04:04: This time we'll use particles of light - photons as our quantum particle.
  • 05:36: And so on - so we ultimately see this series of bands - lots of particles where the wavefunction is amplified, few where it’s canceled.
  • 07:54: For example, add a collection of particles to one of the slits.
  • 07:58: The part of the wavefunction - corresponding to a possible path of the photon - is now disturbed by those particles.
  • 08:05: ... slice as the “possible photon” being absorbed and reemitted by those particles, and so the wavefunction leaving that slit picks up a random phase offset ...
  • 09:54: We can think about the photon wavefunction becoming mixed with the wavefunctions of the quantum particles along this chain.
  • 11:25: The once coherent particles with their superposition of both separate histories that could merge, become decoherent.
  • 13:34: That includes yourself and your measuring device, unless you know the exact quantum state of all of the particles of both.

2020-02-18: Does Consciousness Influence Quantum Mechanics?

  • 02:40: ... of this experiment by saying that the electron does NOT travel as a particle or as a physical wave along one of these ...
  • 13:01: ... - a little about he laundry detergent, but mostly about the hypothetical particle that might solve the mystery of dark matter - if we could just detect ...
  • 13:54: ... mean right at the beginning - before the Higgs mechanism gave elementary particles their ...
  • 15:01: ... Francisco Martinez asked whether we would get new quantum fields and new particles if other fundamental constants turned out to vary over space, in the ...
  • 15:25: Would it be a quantum field with particles?
  • 15:28: ... theta field yields particles because it has a lowest energy state - a value for theta where potential ...
  • 15:37: ... field can oscillate within that dip - and that oscillation is our axion particle if you also assume quantized energy ...
  • 15:49: ... are just scaling factors and so varying them shouldn't lead to quantum particles - but perhaps other constants could give us a ...
  • 13:54: ... mean right at the beginning - before the Higgs mechanism gave elementary particles their ...
  • 15:01: ... Francisco Martinez asked whether we would get new quantum fields and new particles if other fundamental constants turned out to vary over space, in the ...
  • 15:25: Would it be a quantum field with particles?
  • 15:28: ... theta field yields particles because it has a lowest energy state - a value for theta where potential ...
  • 15:49: ... are just scaling factors and so varying them shouldn't lead to quantum particles - but perhaps other constants could give us a ...

2020-02-11: Are Axions Dark Matter?

  • 00:51: ... the unexpected discovery? A brand new particle - the axion - which, while not yet proven to exist, may explain a much ...
  • 01:05: ... sign of the x, y, and z axes. Another example is flipping the charges of particles - positive to negative and vice versa - most of the equations of physics ...
  • 02:11: ... quarks together into protons and neutrons, and is mediated by the gluon particle. ...
  • 03:59: ... state of a field - which is what you’ll find when there are no actual particles around, and as we saw in previous episodes, the vacuum is a very lively ...
  • 05:16: ... why theta should be zero - at least not within the standard model of particle physics. This fundamental constant may have ended up very close to zero ...
  • 06:54: ... you might recall that in quantum field theory a particle is just an oscillation in a quantum field. So with a new field - this ...
  • 07:53: ... how can we expect to detect such an elusive particles? Well, even though axions have no electric charge, they can still ...
  • 11:03: This all seems like a lot of work for a hypothetical particle predicted from speculative math.
  • 11:08: ... and only weak interactions via the other forces. And although these particles are extremely light, axions, if they exist, are likely to have been ...
  • 12:47: ... compares that to an estimate of the number of possible configurations of particles in the universe - 10^90 factorial. Now, I assume Ethan got that number ...
  • 00:51: ... the unexpected discovery? A brand new particle - the axion - which, while not yet proven to exist, may explain a much ...
  • 05:16: ... why theta should be zero - at least not within the standard model of particle physics. This fundamental constant may have ended up very close to zero just by ...
  • 11:03: This all seems like a lot of work for a hypothetical particle predicted from speculative math.
  • 06:54: ... realised that this new field could be quantised to give rise to a new particle. Wilczeck once explained how they chose the name for their new particle. They ...
  • 01:05: ... sign of the x, y, and z axes. Another example is flipping the charges of particles - positive to negative and vice versa - most of the equations of physics ...
  • 03:59: ... state of a field - which is what you’ll find when there are no actual particles around, and as we saw in previous episodes, the vacuum is a very lively ...
  • 06:54: ... So with a new field - this theta field - we have the potential for new particles. Theta can oscillate very slightly around its value of zero - and that ...
  • 07:53: ... how can we expect to detect such an elusive particles? Well, even though axions have no electric charge, they can still ...
  • 11:08: ... and only weak interactions via the other forces. And although these particles are extremely light, axions, if they exist, are likely to have been ...
  • 12:47: ... compares that to an estimate of the number of possible configurations of particles in the universe - 10^90 factorial. Now, I assume Ethan got that number ...
  • 01:05: ... sign of the x, y, and z axes. Another example is flipping the charges of particles - positive to negative and vice versa - most of the equations of physics ...
  • 06:54: ... So with a new field - this theta field - we have the potential for new particles. Theta can oscillate very slightly around its value of zero - and that ...

2020-02-03: Are there Infinite Versions of You?

  • 01:41: ... a raffle draw in which there are as many raffle tickets as there are particles in the ...
  • 03:19: ... conditions in any given region - like positions, velocities, etc of all particles - perfectly determines the future history of any point with that ...
  • 03:57: ... probability of getting every particle just right is unthinkably smaller than the already unthinkably small ...
  • 06:08: It means that every particle, or chunk of quantum field, or whatever elementary pixel of reality - has matching properties between the two regions.
  • 07:12: I should also note that it’s not just the particles that define starting conditions, there’s also the laws of physics themselves.
  • 07:24: ... repetition of both the laws of physics AND the arrangement of particles. ...
  • 07:55: ... things like the mass or charge or other properties of individual particles, an infinite range means going to very, very high values for these ...
  • 08:48: ... histories because the number of possible configurations of particles at every instant is still ...
  • 14:20: RobTheImpure would like to know what is meant when we talk about "spaceless timeless particle scattering" in the context of the s-matrix.
  • 14:32: How can particles scatter off each other without some notion of cause and effect or location?
  • 14:37: Well to start with, there is a causal order for the incoming and outgoing particles - the former cause the latter, and so they must come first.
  • 15:00: Imagine an interaction where an electron emits a virtual photon which then deflects another particles - say, a proton.
  • 15:42: ... t channel is where 2 particles scatter off each other by exchanging a virtual particle, while the ...
  • 14:20: RobTheImpure would like to know what is meant when we talk about "spaceless timeless particle scattering" in the context of the s-matrix.
  • 01:41: ... a raffle draw in which there are as many raffle tickets as there are particles in the ...
  • 03:19: ... conditions in any given region - like positions, velocities, etc of all particles - perfectly determines the future history of any point with that ...
  • 07:12: I should also note that it’s not just the particles that define starting conditions, there’s also the laws of physics themselves.
  • 07:24: ... repetition of both the laws of physics AND the arrangement of particles. ...
  • 07:55: ... things like the mass or charge or other properties of individual particles, an infinite range means going to very, very high values for these ...
  • 08:48: ... histories because the number of possible configurations of particles at every instant is still ...
  • 14:32: How can particles scatter off each other without some notion of cause and effect or location?
  • 14:37: Well to start with, there is a causal order for the incoming and outgoing particles - the former cause the latter, and so they must come first.
  • 15:00: Imagine an interaction where an electron emits a virtual photon which then deflects another particles - say, a proton.
  • 15:42: ... t channel is where 2 particles scatter off each other by exchanging a virtual particle, while the ...
  • 03:19: ... conditions in any given region - like positions, velocities, etc of all particles - perfectly determines the future history of any point with that ...
  • 14:37: Well to start with, there is a causal order for the incoming and outgoing particles - the former cause the latter, and so they must come first.
  • 15:00: Imagine an interaction where an electron emits a virtual photon which then deflects another particles - say, a proton.
  • 03:19: ... conditions in any given region - like positions, velocities, etc of all particles - perfectly determines the future history of any point with that ...
  • 15:42: ... other by exchanging a virtual particle, while the s-channel is where the particles annihilate each other into a virtual particle, which then creates 2 new ...
  • 14:32: How can particles scatter off each other without some notion of cause and effect or location?
  • 15:42: ... t channel is where 2 particles scatter off each other by exchanging a virtual particle, while the s-channel is ...

2020-01-27: Hacking the Nature of Reality

  • 00:00: In particle physics we try to understand reality by looking for smaller and smaller building blocks.
  • 02:16: ... clockwork of reality led to quantum field theory, in which all particles are described by vibrations in elementary fields that fill the universe, ...
  • 03:24: Those nuclear particles were originally thought to be elementary - to have no internal structure, just like the electron.
  • 03:33: But new experiments were revealing that they seemed to have some real size - as though they were made of yet-smaller particles.
  • 03:40: ... were scattering experiments - particles were shot into atomic nuclei, and the internal structure was probed by ...
  • 03:50: ... experiments revealed that the forces binding these sub-nuclear particles together must be so strong that space and time should break down at ...
  • 04:25: In this case the observables were the particles that entered and left the nucleus in a scattering experiment.
  • 04:44: The S-matrix is a map of the probabilities of all possible outgoing particles, or out-states, for a given set colliding particles - in-states.
  • 06:04: At the time, nuclear scattering experiments were producing a startling variety of different particles.
  • 06:19: But at the time, prior to the discovery of quarks, no point-like, elementary nuclear particles were known.
  • 06:25: ... than searching for smaller and smaller particles, Chew and collaborators promoted a “nuclear democracy”, in which no ...
  • 06:37: They attempted to build scattering matrices with no elementary particles at all, and with no details of nuclear structure.
  • 07:12: ... of quantum properties like spin, and the assumption of a family of particles that can be involved in the ...
  • 07:53: Imagine two particles scattering off each other.
  • 07:56: Two go in, and two go out - the out particles could be the different to the in particles, or they could be the same just with different momenta.
  • 08:05: ... are two broad ways this can happen as follows: 1) the ingoing particles exchange a virtual particle which deflects or transforms them into the ...
  • 10:33: And as we discussed in our episode on virtual particles, the physical-ness of these states are questionable at best.
  • 12:22: Those fluctuations sometimes caused by individual particles.
  • 13:10: These only emerge later as a consequence of spaceless, timeless particle scattering.
  • 00:00: In particle physics we try to understand reality by looking for smaller and smaller building blocks.
  • 13:10: These only emerge later as a consequence of spaceless, timeless particle scattering.
  • 02:16: ... clockwork of reality led to quantum field theory, in which all particles are described by vibrations in elementary fields that fill the universe, ...
  • 03:24: Those nuclear particles were originally thought to be elementary - to have no internal structure, just like the electron.
  • 03:33: But new experiments were revealing that they seemed to have some real size - as though they were made of yet-smaller particles.
  • 03:40: ... were scattering experiments - particles were shot into atomic nuclei, and the internal structure was probed by ...
  • 03:50: ... experiments revealed that the forces binding these sub-nuclear particles together must be so strong that space and time should break down at ...
  • 04:25: In this case the observables were the particles that entered and left the nucleus in a scattering experiment.
  • 04:44: The S-matrix is a map of the probabilities of all possible outgoing particles, or out-states, for a given set colliding particles - in-states.
  • 06:04: At the time, nuclear scattering experiments were producing a startling variety of different particles.
  • 06:19: But at the time, prior to the discovery of quarks, no point-like, elementary nuclear particles were known.
  • 06:25: ... than searching for smaller and smaller particles, Chew and collaborators promoted a “nuclear democracy”, in which no ...
  • 06:37: They attempted to build scattering matrices with no elementary particles at all, and with no details of nuclear structure.
  • 07:12: ... of quantum properties like spin, and the assumption of a family of particles that can be involved in the ...
  • 07:53: Imagine two particles scattering off each other.
  • 07:56: Two go in, and two go out - the out particles could be the different to the in particles, or they could be the same just with different momenta.
  • 08:05: ... are two broad ways this can happen as follows: 1) the ingoing particles exchange a virtual particle which deflects or transforms them into the ...
  • 10:33: And as we discussed in our episode on virtual particles, the physical-ness of these states are questionable at best.
  • 12:22: Those fluctuations sometimes caused by individual particles.
  • 04:44: The S-matrix is a map of the probabilities of all possible outgoing particles, or out-states, for a given set colliding particles - in-states.
  • 08:05: ... a virtual particle which deflects or transforms them into the outgoing particles - this is called the S-channel; or 2) the particles annihilate each other, ...
  • 04:44: The S-matrix is a map of the probabilities of all possible outgoing particles, or out-states, for a given set colliding particles - in-states.
  • 08:05: ... into the outgoing particles - this is called the S-channel; or 2) the particles annihilate each other, briefly forming a virtual particle, which then creates the ...
  • 06:25: ... than searching for smaller and smaller particles, Chew and collaborators promoted a “nuclear democracy”, in which no nuclear ...
  • 03:40: ... nuclei, and the internal structure was probed by the way those or other particles emerged. ...
  • 08:05: ... are two broad ways this can happen as follows: 1) the ingoing particles exchange a virtual particle which deflects or transforms them into the outgoing ...
  • 07:53: Imagine two particles scattering off each other.

2020-01-20: Solving the Three Body Problem

  • 13:37: ... with electrons and if they interact again, they make only electrons. In particle beams, neutrinos are made with muons and can subsequently only make ...
  • 14:24: ... >>DOES<< interact in the argon, we can see the path of the particles made in the interaction. From that, we can reconstruct the collision and ...
  • 13:37: ... with electrons and if they interact again, they make only electrons. In particle beams, neutrinos are made with muons and can subsequently only make muons. In ...
  • 14:24: ... >>DOES<< interact in the argon, we can see the path of the particles made in the interaction. From that, we can reconstruct the collision and ...

2020-01-13: How To Capture Black Holes

  • 06:15: ... in a rotating disk, it will exert a gravitational tug on the surrounding particles. Depending on the local properties of the disk, that can cause the object ...

2020-01-06: How To Detect a Neutrino

  • 00:07: ♪ (𝘢𝘥𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩) ♪ For over half a century, ♪ ♪ this has been the premier particle accelerator facility of the United States.
  • 00:13: ... the super-powered geniuses of Fermilab are tackling ♪ ♪ the most feeble particle in the universe: ♪ (𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘩𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺) ♪ the ...
  • 00:23: ... ♪ Because, this elusive particle may hold powerful secrets, ♪ ♪ from the unification of the forces of ...
  • 00:42: ... (𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘶𝘭 / 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘴) ♪ So Don is a particle physics researcher here at Fermilab, ♪ ♪ So Don is a particle physics ...
  • 01:27: ♪ (𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰) ♪ ♪ (𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰) ♪ DR. DON: Neutrinos are elementary particles of a type called leptons.
  • 01:31: ♪ ♪ DR. DON (voiceover): That's the same family as the familiar electron ♪ ♪ and it's heavier cousins the muon and tau particle.
  • 01:57: ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Neutrinos are among the most elusive elementary particles of nature, ♪ ♪ only interacting by the weak nuclear force and gravity.
  • 03:02: ♪ ♪ Those protons are then smashed into a graphite barrier, ♪ ♪ and as they collide with nuclei they produce all sorts of particles.
  • 03:09: ♪ ♪ More magnetic fields are used to sort the positively charged pion particles from the debris ♪ ♪ and focus *them* into a beam.
  • 05:37: ... in our detector, ♪ ♪ an Argon nucleus is broken apart and charged particles are released - in particular, pions and ...
  • 05:47: ♪ ♪ Those particles then travel through the liquid argon knocking electrons free from atoms.
  • 05:58: ... to the walls of the tank, which lets us trace out the path of the particles ♪ ♪ From those paths, we can learn all about the neutrino oscillation, ♪ ...
  • 07:38: ... ♪ MATT (voiceover): Our best understanding of particle physics tells us that matter and antimatter ♪ (𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴) ♪ ...
  • 07:51: ... leave a bit of leftover stuff to produce the stars and galaxies and ♪ ♪ particle physicists that we see around us ...
  • 08:31: ... neutrinos in the early universe may have decayed into other matter particles, ♪ ♪ with matter neutrinos producing antimatter particles, ♪ ♪ and ...
  • 09:25: ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ And that is how you study the most elusive particle in the universe.
  • 00:07: ♪ (𝘢𝘥𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩) ♪ For over half a century, ♪ ♪ this has been the premier particle accelerator facility of the United States.
  • 07:51: ... leave a bit of leftover stuff to produce the stars and galaxies and ♪ ♪ particle physicists that we see around us ...
  • 00:42: ... (𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘶𝘭 / 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘴) ♪ So Don is a particle physics researcher here at Fermilab, ♪ ♪ So Don is a particle physics researcher ...
  • 07:38: ... ♪ MATT (voiceover): Our best understanding of particle physics tells us that matter and antimatter ♪ (𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴) ♪ should ...
  • 00:42: ... (𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘶𝘭 / 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘴) ♪ So Don is a particle physics researcher here at Fermilab, ♪ ♪ So Don is a particle physics researcher here at ...
  • 07:38: ... ♪ MATT (voiceover): Our best understanding of particle physics tells us that matter and antimatter ♪ (𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴) ♪ should have ...
  • 01:27: ♪ (𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰) ♪ ♪ (𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰) ♪ DR. DON: Neutrinos are elementary particles of a type called leptons.
  • 01:57: ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Neutrinos are among the most elusive elementary particles of nature, ♪ ♪ only interacting by the weak nuclear force and gravity.
  • 03:02: ♪ ♪ Those protons are then smashed into a graphite barrier, ♪ ♪ and as they collide with nuclei they produce all sorts of particles.
  • 03:09: ♪ ♪ More magnetic fields are used to sort the positively charged pion particles from the debris ♪ ♪ and focus *them* into a beam.
  • 05:37: ... in our detector, ♪ ♪ an Argon nucleus is broken apart and charged particles are released - in particular, pions and ...
  • 05:47: ♪ ♪ Those particles then travel through the liquid argon knocking electrons free from atoms.
  • 05:58: ... to the walls of the tank, which lets us trace out the path of the particles ♪ ♪ From those paths, we can learn all about the neutrino oscillation, ♪ ...
  • 08:31: ... neutrinos in the early universe may have decayed into other matter particles, ♪ ♪ with matter neutrinos producing antimatter particles, ♪ ♪ and ...

2019-12-17: Do Black Holes Create New Universes?

  • 06:48: ... effect of other stars - and that seems to require the presence of tiny particles of ice and hydrocarbon ...
  • 09:25: Now it may be that in the cores of the most massive neutron stars, some particles can convert into strange quarks.
  • 09:41: And the lower the mass of the strange quark, the easier it is to convert lighter particles into strange quarks.
  • 06:48: ... effect of other stars - and that seems to require the presence of tiny particles of ice and hydrocarbon ...
  • 09:25: Now it may be that in the cores of the most massive neutron stars, some particles can convert into strange quarks.
  • 09:41: And the lower the mass of the strange quark, the easier it is to convert lighter particles into strange quarks.

2019-11-18: Can You Observe a Typical Universe?

  • 05:45: All particles in the observable universe were packed together in a subatomic-sized dot.
  • 06:01: ... high entropy - iron stars, black holes, and a mist of cold elementary particles, not very hospitable to ...
  • 13:55: To speed that up, we've linked to your amazing lectures on particle physics and general relativity in the description.
  • 05:45: All particles in the observable universe were packed together in a subatomic-sized dot.
  • 06:01: ... high entropy - iron stars, black holes, and a mist of cold elementary particles, not very hospitable to ...

2019-11-11: Does Life Need a Multiverse to Exist?

  • 00:50: ... the speed of light, the Planck constant, the masses of the elementary particles, and the constants defining the relative strengths of the fundamental ...
  • 01:02: ... the general theory of relativity and the standard model of particle physics, there are something like 20 independent fundamental constants ...
  • 07:14: Mess with these much in either direction and the universe remains a mist of subatomic particles.
  • 08:01: Another set of free parameters are the masses of the elementary particles.
  • 08:05: ... are determined by the interaction of those particles with the Higgs field - but again, there’s no apparent pattern and we ...
  • 08:25: ... balance of the strengths of the forces and the masses of the elementary particles, is just right for things like stars and complex matter to form in our ...
  • 09:04: ... which fill all of space and whose oscillations produce the familiar particles of matter or radiation, were expected to have a so-called zero-point ...
  • 09:16: ... should interact with themselves even when there are no particles around, resulting in a quantum buzz of energy everywhere in the universe ...
  • 01:02: ... the general theory of relativity and the standard model of particle physics, there are something like 20 independent fundamental constants of ...
  • 00:50: ... the speed of light, the Planck constant, the masses of the elementary particles, and the constants defining the relative strengths of the fundamental ...
  • 07:14: Mess with these much in either direction and the universe remains a mist of subatomic particles.
  • 08:01: Another set of free parameters are the masses of the elementary particles.
  • 08:05: ... are determined by the interaction of those particles with the Higgs field - but again, there’s no apparent pattern and we ...
  • 08:25: ... balance of the strengths of the forces and the masses of the elementary particles, is just right for things like stars and complex matter to form in our ...
  • 09:04: ... which fill all of space and whose oscillations produce the familiar particles of matter or radiation, were expected to have a so-called zero-point ...
  • 09:16: ... should interact with themselves even when there are no particles around, resulting in a quantum buzz of energy everywhere in the universe ...

2019-10-21: Is Time Travel Impossible?

  • 02:47: We call a particle with imaginary mass a tachyon.

2019-10-15: Loop Quantum Gravity Explained

  • 00:16: ... to connect our understanding of the tiny scales of atoms and subatomic particles with that of the vast scales of planets, galaxies, and the entire ...
  • 01:58: Like actors on a stage, where the actors are particles and wavefunctions and fields and the stage is the coordinates of space and time.
  • 04:06: In the first formulations of quantum mechanics, that wavefunction describes the distribution of possible positions and momenta of, say, a particle.
  • 05:19: ... of quantum mechanics let you calculate changing properties of a particle- - like its position or momentum - relative to the background coordinate ...
  • 00:16: ... to connect our understanding of the tiny scales of atoms and subatomic particles with that of the vast scales of planets, galaxies, and the entire ...
  • 01:58: Like actors on a stage, where the actors are particles and wavefunctions and fields and the stage is the coordinates of space and time.

2019-09-30: How Many Universes Are There?

  • 07:54: Each different configuration results in a different family of particles and also a different cosmological constant.
  • 08:07: But it’s lucky it does – because the resulting particles allow for things like complex chemistry.
  • 08:24: All different vacuum states exist, and our universe necessarily has one that leads to life-friendly particles.
  • 07:54: Each different configuration results in a different family of particles and also a different cosmological constant.
  • 08:07: But it’s lucky it does – because the resulting particles allow for things like complex chemistry.
  • 08:24: All different vacuum states exist, and our universe necessarily has one that leads to life-friendly particles.

2019-09-03: Is Earth's Magnetic Field Reversing?

  • 00:38: Magnetic fields exert a force on moving charged particles, causing them to spiral around those force lines.
  • 00:46: Now, that’s helpful, because Earth is constantly bombarded by very fast moving charged particles, especially coming from the Sun.
  • 02:58: ... iron, the sum total of the tiny magnetic fields of their constituent particles align to give a global ...
  • 03:15: Alternatively, flows of many charged particles like electrons – so electrical currents - can produce magnetic fields.
  • 11:54: ... be higher incidents of cancer and other mutation from more high energy particles reaching the ground, and probably we’ll have to get much better at ...
  • 00:38: Magnetic fields exert a force on moving charged particles, causing them to spiral around those force lines.
  • 00:46: Now, that’s helpful, because Earth is constantly bombarded by very fast moving charged particles, especially coming from the Sun.
  • 02:58: ... iron, the sum total of the tiny magnetic fields of their constituent particles align to give a global ...
  • 03:15: Alternatively, flows of many charged particles like electrons – so electrical currents - can produce magnetic fields.
  • 11:54: ... be higher incidents of cancer and other mutation from more high energy particles reaching the ground, and probably we’ll have to get much better at ...
  • 02:58: ... iron, the sum total of the tiny magnetic fields of their constituent particles align to give a global ...
  • 00:38: Magnetic fields exert a force on moving charged particles, causing them to spiral around those force lines.
  • 11:54: ... be higher incidents of cancer and other mutation from more high energy particles reaching the ground, and probably we’ll have to get much better at shielding ...

2019-08-19: What Happened Before the Big Bang?

  • 01:36: ... bizarre property of containing a ton of energy even in the absence of particles. ...
  • 02:24: Other fields like the particle field or the electromagnetic field are described by multiple components and vectors instead of single numbers.
  • 02:37: That's the Higgs field which gives elementary particles their mass.
  • 02:50: I mentioned last time that quantum fields can hold energy without actually having particles.
  • 02:58: You can think of a field with a high field strength as being full of virtual particles.
  • 03:15: ... energy would be converted into another form, for example into real particles. ...
  • 03:54: When that state decays, potential energy is released as real particles, ending inflation, and re-heating the universe in an expanding bubble.
  • 11:46: Then an ocean of inflaton particles released by the decaying inflaton field turned into extremely energetic particles and radiation.
  • 02:24: Other fields like the particle field or the electromagnetic field are described by multiple components and vectors instead of single numbers.
  • 01:36: ... bizarre property of containing a ton of energy even in the absence of particles. ...
  • 02:37: That's the Higgs field which gives elementary particles their mass.
  • 02:50: I mentioned last time that quantum fields can hold energy without actually having particles.
  • 02:58: You can think of a field with a high field strength as being full of virtual particles.
  • 03:15: ... energy would be converted into another form, for example into real particles. ...
  • 03:54: When that state decays, potential energy is released as real particles, ending inflation, and re-heating the universe in an expanding bubble.
  • 11:46: Then an ocean of inflaton particles released by the decaying inflaton field turned into extremely energetic particles and radiation.

2019-08-06: What Caused the Big Bang?

  • 01:09: And these are strange particles predicted to have been produced in the early universe.
  • 05:09: The field strength determines how much force a quantum field exerts on other fields and particles.
  • 05:22: ... the way, an elementary particle is just an oscillation in this field strength - a little packet of ...
  • 05:41: Particles get dispersed and so the energy density goes down.
  • 05:45: ... quantum field can contain an intrinsic energy even without particles. In that case, it will always try to drop to the lowest energy state and ...
  • 07:02: It would have a lot of energy but no particles.
  • 10:04: The energy that existed in the inflaton field doesn't just go away, it remains in that field very briefly, but now in the form of inflaton particles.
  • 10:14: ... what was once pure inflaton field is converted to a stack of inflaton particles. ...
  • 10:26: ... particles are unstable and they very quickly disperse their energy into the other ...
  • 10:39: So, the vacuum of inflation is converted into an extremely hot ocean of particles.
  • 01:09: And these are strange particles predicted to have been produced in the early universe.
  • 05:09: The field strength determines how much force a quantum field exerts on other fields and particles.
  • 05:22: ... energy held by the field. If a quantum field has energy in the form of particles and if space is expanding - as is the case for our universe - then that ...
  • 05:41: Particles get dispersed and so the energy density goes down.
  • 05:45: ... quantum field can contain an intrinsic energy even without particles. In that case, it will always try to drop to the lowest energy state and ...
  • 07:02: It would have a lot of energy but no particles.
  • 10:04: The energy that existed in the inflaton field doesn't just go away, it remains in that field very briefly, but now in the form of inflaton particles.
  • 10:14: ... what was once pure inflaton field is converted to a stack of inflaton particles. ...
  • 10:26: ... particles are unstable and they very quickly disperse their energy into the other ...
  • 10:39: So, the vacuum of inflation is converted into an extremely hot ocean of particles.
  • 01:09: And these are strange particles predicted to have been produced in the early universe.

2019-07-18: Did Time Start at the Big Bang?

  • 11:12: ... Bang given infinite time or The same amount of time could lead to all particles randomly converging back to the same spot Or maybe black holes birth new ...

2019-07-15: The Quantum Internet

  • 06:00: A pair of entangled particles are created, and Bill and Ted receive one each via the quantum channel.
  • 08:22: It can also be used to transmit quantum information over longer distances than we could normally send entangled particles.
  • 09:07: ... means transferring a quantum state between a photon and a matter particle – say, an electron whose up or down spin direction can be entangled with ...
  • 10:14: These are great because they’re much, much faster than repeaters that have to transfer quantum states between photons and matter particles.
  • 06:00: A pair of entangled particles are created, and Bill and Ted receive one each via the quantum channel.
  • 08:22: It can also be used to transmit quantum information over longer distances than we could normally send entangled particles.
  • 10:14: These are great because they’re much, much faster than repeaters that have to transfer quantum states between photons and matter particles.

2019-07-01: Thorium and the Future of Nuclear Energy

  • 00:33: ... atmosphere At the other end of the spectrum is the energy released when particles of matter and antimatter are brought together They annihilate each other ...

2019-06-06: The Alchemy of Neutron Star Collisions

  • 02:47: ... it drives material outwards we tend to think of neutrinos as ghostly particles that barely interact with matter but here both the neutrino and matter ...

2019-05-09: Why Quantum Computing Requires Quantum Cryptography

  • 04:38: ... know the values of certain pairs of properties – for example, a particle’s position and ...
  • 11:04: ... the super-brief summary: create a pair of particles with a quantum property that is correlated between the two – for ...
  • 11:25: ... comes in: choose an axis or basis on which to measure one of those particles – say up-down for spin or rectilinear for polarization - and the other ...
  • 12:02: This time Albert creates a set of entangled particle pairs and transmits one half of those pairs to Niels.
  • 12:09: He then chooses a set of bases to measure his own particles.
  • 12:18: Niels chooses a random set of bases to measure the particles he receives.
  • 12:40: But it was probably that Werner dude – he must have made some measurements and disentangled the particles en route.
  • 15:04: ... assuming that dark matter is some sort of exotic particle - which is the going hypothesis - then black holes would definitely ...
  • 15:27: Occasional dark matter particles would be snared by black holes - and they would add to its mass just like regular matter.
  • 15:04: ... assuming that dark matter is some sort of exotic particle - which is the going hypothesis - then black holes would definitely ...
  • 12:02: This time Albert creates a set of entangled particle pairs and transmits one half of those pairs to Niels.
  • 04:38: ... know the values of certain pairs of properties – for example, a particle’s position and ...
  • 11:04: ... the super-brief summary: create a pair of particles with a quantum property that is correlated between the two – for ...
  • 11:25: ... comes in: choose an axis or basis on which to measure one of those particles – say up-down for spin or rectilinear for polarization - and the other ...
  • 12:09: He then chooses a set of bases to measure his own particles.
  • 12:18: Niels chooses a random set of bases to measure the particles he receives.
  • 12:40: But it was probably that Werner dude – he must have made some measurements and disentangled the particles en route.
  • 15:27: Occasional dark matter particles would be snared by black holes - and they would add to its mass just like regular matter.
  • 04:38: ... know the values of certain pairs of properties – for example, a particle’s position and ...

2019-05-01: The Real Science of the EHT Black Hole

  • 05:39: It’s also blasting out a jet of energetic particles, channeled by the intense magnetic fields around the black hole.

2019-04-24: No Dark Matter = Proof of Dark Matter?

  • 00:03: ... universe is invisible and formed by something not explained by modern particle physics or our understanding of gravity is completely broken the debate ...

2019-04-10: The Holographic Universe Explained

  • 03:27: ... only is any surface sufficient to fully describe the locations of all particles in its volume, but also the full machinery of the volume can exist on ...
  • 05:03: For example, the resolution of our microscope or the power of our particle collider.
  • 08:23: ... dimension you get the wave equation for a graviton – the quantum particle of ...
  • 09:02: We now have a several versions string theory that try to explain how vibrating strings can lead to the familiar particles of this universe.
  • 10:37: ... a quantum field theory like the ones that gives us our standard model of particle physics – a Yang-Mills theory, but with supersymmetry added ...
  • 11:58: ... space – like in black holes – look like a solvable configuration of particles in the low-D ...
  • 05:03: For example, the resolution of our microscope or the power of our particle collider.
  • 10:37: ... a quantum field theory like the ones that gives us our standard model of particle physics – a Yang-Mills theory, but with supersymmetry added ...
  • 03:27: ... only is any surface sufficient to fully describe the locations of all particles in its volume, but also the full machinery of the volume can exist on ...
  • 09:02: We now have a several versions string theory that try to explain how vibrating strings can lead to the familiar particles of this universe.
  • 11:58: ... space – like in black holes – look like a solvable configuration of particles in the low-D ...

2019-04-03: The Edge of an Infinite Universe

  • 00:46: It’s boundary is called the particle horizon.
  • 01:22: To review: the particle horizon defines the limit of the visible past, and there’s also cosmic event horizon defining the limit of the visible future.
  • 08:44: He concluded that the black hole must generate particles – Hawking radiation.
  • 14:49: Every particle, every gravitational effect in the bulk is represented by quantum fields on an infinitely distant surface.
  • 00:46: It’s boundary is called the particle horizon.
  • 01:22: To review: the particle horizon defines the limit of the visible past, and there’s also cosmic event horizon defining the limit of the visible future.
  • 08:44: He concluded that the black hole must generate particles – Hawking radiation.

2019-03-28: Could the Universe End by Tearing Apart Every Atom?

  • 08:00: The final result is that no particles will be close enough to interact with each other, ever.
  • 10:03: ... a big rip universe will be nothing but hopelessly isolated elementary particles separated by infinitely expanding space. That's a hell of a ...
  • 13:28: ... quark pairs?" For background, when you try to separate composite quark particles - hadrons, the energy put into breaking the bond just generates new ...
  • 14:05: ... fun - that the exponentially increasing dark energy leads to exponential particle production, which ends up looking like a new Big ...
  • 08:00: The final result is that no particles will be close enough to interact with each other, ever.
  • 10:03: ... a big rip universe will be nothing but hopelessly isolated elementary particles separated by infinitely expanding space. That's a hell of a ...
  • 13:28: ... quark pairs?" For background, when you try to separate composite quark particles - hadrons, the energy put into breaking the bond just generates new ...
  • 10:03: ... a big rip universe will be nothing but hopelessly isolated elementary particles separated by infinitely expanding space. That's a hell of a ...

2019-03-20: Is Dark Energy Getting Stronger?

  • 02:40: ... of study and calculation suggest that dark matter is a particle of some unknown type, cold, diffuse, and immune to electromagnetic ...

2019-03-13: Will You Travel to Space?

  • 14:05: Now to remind you, the Brownian ratchet has this flywheel that turns a cog due to random motions of particles hitting the flywheel.
  • 14:28: So, what if the cog is in a vacuum, so there are no particles to turn it backwards?
  • 14:33: Well, the cog itself is made of particles that vibrate thermally.
  • 14:38: ... light enough to rotate its flywheel due to being hit by individual particles will also have a lot of internal thermal vibration. Even in a vacuum, ...
  • 16:00: ... and giving them your 2's aka entropy, and Yeah, this is where we leave particle gambling metaphors to the great ...
  • 14:05: Now to remind you, the Brownian ratchet has this flywheel that turns a cog due to random motions of particles hitting the flywheel.
  • 14:28: So, what if the cog is in a vacuum, so there are no particles to turn it backwards?
  • 14:33: Well, the cog itself is made of particles that vibrate thermally.
  • 14:38: ... light enough to rotate its flywheel due to being hit by individual particles will also have a lot of internal thermal vibration. Even in a vacuum, ...
  • 14:05: Now to remind you, the Brownian ratchet has this flywheel that turns a cog due to random motions of particles hitting the flywheel.

2019-03-06: The Impossibility of Perpetual Motion Machines

  • 04:00: Individual gas particles are moving around with random – or Brownian motion.
  • 06:55: Due to the intrinsic quantum randomness of all particles, as expressed by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, everything moves.
  • 13:47: ... and also from individual electrons either bumping into other charged particles or circling in magnetic fields Fortunately we can model that stuff ...
  • 04:00: Individual gas particles are moving around with random – or Brownian motion.
  • 06:55: Due to the intrinsic quantum randomness of all particles, as expressed by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, everything moves.
  • 13:47: ... and also from individual electrons either bumping into other charged particles or circling in magnetic fields Fortunately we can model that stuff ...

2019-02-07: Sound Waves from the Beginning of Time

  • 01:57: These particles of matter are our baryons.
  • 03:08: ... interaction between the charged particles of the plasma via the trapped photons meant that ripples in the plasma ...
  • 01:57: These particles of matter are our baryons.
  • 03:08: ... interaction between the charged particles of the plasma via the trapped photons meant that ripples in the plasma ...

2019-01-30: Perpetual Motion From Negative Mass?

  • 08:33: All of this assumes the simplistic case of what we call test particles – small objects moving in a much larger gravitational field.
  • 10:58: ... GR analogs of Newton’s second law and give the equations of motion of particles. ...
  • 08:33: All of this assumes the simplistic case of what we call test particles – small objects moving in a much larger gravitational field.
  • 10:58: ... GR analogs of Newton’s second law and give the equations of motion of particles. ...

2019-01-24: The Crisis in Cosmology

  • 11:34: One: A new type of very fast-moving particle.
  • 11:44: That particle could be the sterile neutrino,...
  • 11:53: Two: Dark matter particles behave differently to how we thought.
  • 13:05: ...or of unknown particles beyond the standard model.
  • 16:31: And a negative mass particle, moving backwards in time,...
  • 16:34: ...is mathematically the same as a positive mass particle moving forward in time That notion makes sense in the math,...
  • 16:31: And a negative mass particle, moving backwards in time,...
  • 16:34: ...is mathematically the same as a positive mass particle moving forward in time That notion makes sense in the math,...
  • 16:31: And a negative mass particle, moving backwards in time,...
  • 16:34: ...is mathematically the same as a positive mass particle moving forward in time That notion makes sense in the math,...
  • 11:53: Two: Dark matter particles behave differently to how we thought.
  • 13:05: ...or of unknown particles beyond the standard model.
  • 11:53: Two: Dark matter particles behave differently to how we thought.

2019-01-16: Our Antimatter, Mirrored, Time-Reversed Universe

  • 03:02: ... symmetry appears to hold not just in an imaginary clocks but also in the particles of the standard model the great parity violating process is the weak ...
  • 08:43: ... is conserved in this type of time rehearsal. Mathematically, the particles in a rewinding universe actually look like they underwent a charge ...
  • 10:54: ... evolution of a physical system - an explosion becomes an implosion and particle decay becomes particle creation. You're not rewinding time, you're not ...
  • 13:52: ... be at that scale at all for the purpose of string theory supersymmetric particles could be far beyond the energies detected by the Large Hadron Collider - ...
  • 17:15: ... has no obligation to make itself currently testable to any particular particle collider building technology level. It's under no obligation to make ...
  • 10:54: ... system - an explosion becomes an implosion and particle decay becomes particle creation. You're not rewinding time, you're not converting matter to antimatter - ...
  • 03:02: ... symmetry appears to hold not just in an imaginary clocks but also in the particles of the standard model the great parity violating process is the weak ...
  • 08:43: ... is conserved in this type of time rehearsal. Mathematically, the particles in a rewinding universe actually look like they underwent a charge ...
  • 10:54: ... just reversing all momentum and spin. Essentially you're taking all particles in the universe and pointing them back in the direction they came from. ...
  • 13:52: ... be at that scale at all for the purpose of string theory supersymmetric particles could be far beyond the energies detected by the Large Hadron Collider - ...
  • 03:02: ... KS particles were found at the far end the only explanation is that KL particles oscillated into KS's, violating charge parity conservation well that sucks our ...

2019-01-09: Are Dark Matter And Dark Energy The Same?

  • 00:32: And it’s pretty wild: negative mass particles continuously popping into existence between the galaxies.
  • 01:39: We call it dark matter, and try as we might we can’t find the presumably-exotic particle that constitutes it.
  • 06:15: The author uses these ideas about the interactions of negative and positive mass particles to create an N-body simulation.
  • 06:22: ... virtual universe into his computer with both positive and negative mass particles, along with his interpretations of Newton’s ...
  • 06:32: Those simulations showed that galaxies do indeed spin more quickly when surrounded by negative mass particles.
  • 00:32: And it’s pretty wild: negative mass particles continuously popping into existence between the galaxies.
  • 06:15: The author uses these ideas about the interactions of negative and positive mass particles to create an N-body simulation.
  • 06:22: ... virtual universe into his computer with both positive and negative mass particles, along with his interpretations of Newton’s ...
  • 06:32: Those simulations showed that galaxies do indeed spin more quickly when surrounded by negative mass particles.
  • 00:32: And it’s pretty wild: negative mass particles continuously popping into existence between the galaxies.

2018-12-20: Why String Theory is Wrong

  • 01:35: ... of its inclusion of quantum gravity, its promise to unify all particles under one umbrella, and there's also the convergence of many versions of ...
  • 04:42: It also predicted an unknown field, the dilaton field, and a corresponding particle that had never been seen.
  • 06:20: Five different approaches to getting all of the desired particles out of the basic premise of strings wiggling in ten dimensions.
  • 08:55: ... or mode number divided by radius can be used to define the momentum of a particle produced by this ...
  • 13:08: ... set of porperties for vibrating strings, and so a different family of particles and different laws of physics to go with ...
  • 14:05: Physicists at the Large Hadron Collider had expected to find supersymmetric particles by now.
  • 08:55: ... or mode number divided by radius can be used to define the momentum of a particle produced by this ...
  • 01:35: ... of its inclusion of quantum gravity, its promise to unify all particles under one umbrella, and there's also the convergence of many versions of ...
  • 06:20: Five different approaches to getting all of the desired particles out of the basic premise of strings wiggling in ten dimensions.
  • 13:08: ... set of porperties for vibrating strings, and so a different family of particles and different laws of physics to go with ...
  • 14:05: Physicists at the Large Hadron Collider had expected to find supersymmetric particles by now.

2018-12-12: Quantum Physics in a Mirror Universe

  • 00:02: ... so does spinning flying balls so do many molecules and some quantum particles but chirality in quantum mechanics means something quite specific ...

2018-11-21: 'Oumuamua Is Not Aliens

  • 13:46: Last week we talked about the possible detection of what may be the first supersymmetric particle.
  • 16:34: Neutrinos are detected by the Cherenkov radiation produced by particles produced in neutrino collisions.
  • 17:03: Many of you are impressed by Ice Cube's incredible contributions to particle physics and how the guy has had such a diverse career.
  • 16:34: Neutrinos are detected by the Cherenkov radiation produced by particles produced in neutrino collisions.

2018-11-14: Supersymmetric Particle Found?

  • 00:03: ... for clues to a deeper theory of physics, we're going to need a bigger particle ...
  • 00:14: And the particles the galaxy flings at us may have finally revealed particles beyond the standard model.
  • 00:34: Your theory predicts a new particle.
  • 00:36: Build a particle accelerator big enough to see it.
  • 00:49: The LHC has thoroughly tested the standard model of particle physics.
  • 01:02: There must be a more fundamental theory that explains the origin of this rich family of particles.
  • 01:59: ... between fermions and bosons is, in general, a step towards unifying the particles of the standard ...
  • 02:15: Supersymmetry predicts that every single standard model of particle has a supersymmetric partner particle of the opposite type.
  • 02:30: ... that's relevant for today's episode is that these supersymmetric particles are all expected to be way more massive than their known partners in the ...
  • 02:41: To solve the hierarchy problem perfectly, those particles would need to have masses at around what we call the electroweak energy.
  • 02:54: ... had hoped that, by smashing particles together hard enough in the Large Hadron Collider, there'd be enough ...
  • 03:18: It may just be that these new particles are way more massive than expected.
  • 03:27: To detect more massive supersymmetric particles, you need higher energy particle collisions.
  • 03:48: The universe itself is a pretty good particle accelerator.
  • 03:52: ... bursts, black hole magnetic fields are all expected to blast high energy particles like electrons and atomic nuclei into the ...
  • 04:11: Unfortunately, for particle physics experiments cosmic rays at these energies are extremely rare.
  • 04:17: So it's not surprising that we haven't seen supersymmetric particles in our cosmic ray observations yet, or have we?
  • 05:14: Neutrinos are almost ghost like particles that travel through the CMB unimpeded.
  • 05:36: We detect neutrinos because very, very rarely one will interact with an atomic nucleus and produce a shower of particles.
  • 05:53: It spots neutrinos when they're decayed or electrons, muons, or tau particles, which in turn produce visible light as they streak through the ice.
  • 07:29: ... energy radio bursts that could only have been produced by a high energy particle passing all the way through the middle of the ...
  • 08:05: It produces a Cherenkov burst when it's created and then a second burst when it decays into a shower of secondary particles.
  • 08:34: Physicists are having trouble accounting for these events with any known standard model particle, which brings us back to supersymmetry.
  • 08:43: ... that there's a version of supersymmetry that predicts exactly the right particle to do this ...
  • 08:52: It's the supersymmetric partner of the tau lepton, the stau particle.
  • 08:58: You put an S in front to get the SUSY particle.
  • 09:07: A stau particle was produced on the opposite side of the planet by an incoming ultra high energy neutrino plowing into the earth.
  • 09:39: This particle is also not in the standard model but has nothing to do with supersymmetry.
  • 09:44: Hints of its existence have been found in the Fermilab particle accelerator experiments.
  • 11:38: Given the painful absence of new particles from the Large Hadron Collider, any hint of something new is bound to get physicists excited.
  • 13:11: ... to operate in a way that is currently testable by any particular size particle accelerator, nor does it have any obligation to be simple enough to be ...
  • 00:03: ... for clues to a deeper theory of physics, we're going to need a bigger particle accelerator. ...
  • 00:36: Build a particle accelerator big enough to see it.
  • 03:48: The universe itself is a pretty good particle accelerator.
  • 09:44: Hints of its existence have been found in the Fermilab particle accelerator experiments.
  • 13:11: ... to operate in a way that is currently testable by any particular size particle accelerator, nor does it have any obligation to be simple enough to be deduced by ...
  • 00:36: Build a particle accelerator big enough to see it.
  • 09:44: Hints of its existence have been found in the Fermilab particle accelerator experiments.
  • 03:27: To detect more massive supersymmetric particles, you need higher energy particle collisions.
  • 07:29: ... energy radio bursts that could only have been produced by a high energy particle passing all the way through the middle of the ...
  • 00:49: The LHC has thoroughly tested the standard model of particle physics.
  • 04:11: Unfortunately, for particle physics experiments cosmic rays at these energies are extremely rare.
  • 00:14: And the particles the galaxy flings at us may have finally revealed particles beyond the standard model.
  • 01:02: There must be a more fundamental theory that explains the origin of this rich family of particles.
  • 01:59: ... between fermions and bosons is, in general, a step towards unifying the particles of the standard ...
  • 02:30: ... that's relevant for today's episode is that these supersymmetric particles are all expected to be way more massive than their known partners in the ...
  • 02:41: To solve the hierarchy problem perfectly, those particles would need to have masses at around what we call the electroweak energy.
  • 02:54: ... had hoped that, by smashing particles together hard enough in the Large Hadron Collider, there'd be enough ...
  • 03:18: It may just be that these new particles are way more massive than expected.
  • 03:27: To detect more massive supersymmetric particles, you need higher energy particle collisions.
  • 03:52: ... bursts, black hole magnetic fields are all expected to blast high energy particles like electrons and atomic nuclei into the ...
  • 04:17: So it's not surprising that we haven't seen supersymmetric particles in our cosmic ray observations yet, or have we?
  • 05:14: Neutrinos are almost ghost like particles that travel through the CMB unimpeded.
  • 05:36: We detect neutrinos because very, very rarely one will interact with an atomic nucleus and produce a shower of particles.
  • 05:53: It spots neutrinos when they're decayed or electrons, muons, or tau particles, which in turn produce visible light as they streak through the ice.
  • 08:05: It produces a Cherenkov burst when it's created and then a second burst when it decays into a shower of secondary particles.
  • 11:38: Given the painful absence of new particles from the Large Hadron Collider, any hint of something new is bound to get physicists excited.

2018-11-07: Why String Theory is Right

  • 00:59: ... waves simply by changing the vibrational mode and you get different particles analogous to how different vibrational modes on guitar strings give ...
  • 01:36: ... come together so neatly towards a unified description of all forces and particles, and most importantly that unification includes ...
  • 03:24: Let's actually start with the regular old point particles of the standard model.
  • 03:29: When a point particle is moving through space and time it traces a line.
  • 03:40: In quantum theories of gravity, the gravitational force is communicated by the graviton particle.
  • 03:47: When the graviton acts on another particle, it exerts its effect at an intersection in their world lines over some distance.
  • 04:22: OK, let's switch to string theory where particles are not points.
  • 06:31: It quantizes the equations of motion of slow-moving, point-like particles.
  • 11:35: These are particles, and the first mode looks like the graviton, a quantum particle in the aforementioned gravitational field.
  • 11:57: ... a caveat-- you can only get the right particles, including the graviton and the photon, out of string theory for a very ...
  • 14:14: ... most misunderstood concepts in quantum mechanics, the idea of virtual particles and their tenuous connection to ...
  • 14:44: ... fluctuations can be approximated as the sum of many virtual particles, but the particles themselves are just convenient mathematical building ...
  • 14:56: Eddie Mitch asked whether the virtual particles are required to explain the Casimir force.
  • 15:02: ... effect is sometimes explained as resulting from the exclusion of virtual particles between two very closely separated conducting plates which results in ...
  • 15:14: ... but if it is, then it's still misleading to attribute it to virtual particles. ...
  • 15:40: Those horizons perturb the vacuum which can lead to the creation of very real particles, as in Hawking radiation.
  • 15:47: ... effect, the double horizon between the plates restricts what real particles can be produced there whereas there's less restriction on the outside of ...
  • 00:59: ... waves simply by changing the vibrational mode and you get different particles analogous to how different vibrational modes on guitar strings give ...
  • 01:36: ... come together so neatly towards a unified description of all forces and particles, and most importantly that unification includes ...
  • 03:24: Let's actually start with the regular old point particles of the standard model.
  • 04:22: OK, let's switch to string theory where particles are not points.
  • 06:31: It quantizes the equations of motion of slow-moving, point-like particles.
  • 11:35: These are particles, and the first mode looks like the graviton, a quantum particle in the aforementioned gravitational field.
  • 11:57: ... a caveat-- you can only get the right particles, including the graviton and the photon, out of string theory for a very ...
  • 14:14: ... most misunderstood concepts in quantum mechanics, the idea of virtual particles and their tenuous connection to ...
  • 14:44: ... fluctuations can be approximated as the sum of many virtual particles, but the particles themselves are just convenient mathematical building ...
  • 14:56: Eddie Mitch asked whether the virtual particles are required to explain the Casimir force.
  • 15:02: ... effect is sometimes explained as resulting from the exclusion of virtual particles between two very closely separated conducting plates which results in ...
  • 15:14: ... but if it is, then it's still misleading to attribute it to virtual particles. ...
  • 15:40: Those horizons perturb the vacuum which can lead to the creation of very real particles, as in Hawking radiation.
  • 15:47: ... effect, the double horizon between the plates restricts what real particles can be produced there whereas there's less restriction on the outside of ...
  • 00:59: ... waves simply by changing the vibrational mode and you get different particles analogous to how different vibrational modes on guitar strings give different ...
  • 11:57: ... a caveat-- you can only get the right particles, including the graviton and the photon, out of string theory for a very specific ...

2018-10-31: Are Virtual Particles A New Layer of Reality?

  • 00:02: Let me tell you a story about virtual particles.
  • 00:08: Out there in the emptiest places of the universe, phantom particles appear and vanish again out of nowhere.
  • 00:29: And every time two particles interact, an infinite number of virtual particles mediate infinite versions of that one interaction.
  • 00:39: Virtual particles sound pretty cool, I guess, but is this really how they work?
  • 00:45: Seriously, what are virtual particles?
  • 01:26: A more recent mathematical hack is the virtual particle.
  • 01:41: So will virtual particles also prove to represent a new underlying aspect of reality?
  • 01:57: First, let's get to the origin of virtual particles.
  • 02:01: So quantum field theory is the machinery behind the standard model of particle physics.
  • 02:05: In it, particles are excitations in fundamental fields that exist everywhere in space.
  • 02:12: In particle interactions, packets of energy are exchanged between these fields.
  • 03:12: Those interactions are mediated by virtual particles.
  • 03:16: In that sense, virtual particles are the building blocks of our approximation of the behavior of quantum fields.
  • 03:54: Every one of these interactions is described with a simple excitation and transfer of particles-- virtual particles.
  • 04:22: The virtual particles never exist independently.
  • 04:25: Instead, virtual particles are the mathematical building blocks we use to approximate the complex states of interacting fields.
  • 04:48: Particles that either enter or leave these diagrams are our real particles.
  • 04:53: All those that both start and end within the diagram are virtual particles.
  • 04:58: ... calculations, but they also add to the misconception about virtual particles. ...
  • 05:09: They sure make it look like virtual particles are doing regular particle stuff like traveling through space but that's just not the case.
  • 05:18: ... particles share some properties with their real counterparts-- in particular, ...
  • 05:30: In fact, they ignore a lot of the physics of real particles.
  • 05:45: Virtual particles are our mathematical representation of the quantum mechanical behavior of fields, and that behavior is weird.
  • 06:12: How can throwing photons between particles cause them to be drawn together?
  • 06:55: But how do they make the journey between the particles?
  • 07:03: These virtual particles sort of exist everywhere at once, which is confusing.
  • 07:09: ... one of these infinite possible virtual particles represents a quantum of energy in a single possible vibrational mode of ...
  • 07:20: In a way, a virtual particle represents a pure excitation of the field, an idealized case of perfectly defined momentum.
  • 07:29: The Heisenberg uncertainty principle tells us that the perfectly defined momenta of virtual particles means completely undefined position.
  • 07:39: In contrast, real particles are mixed up combinations of many excitations, many different momentum modes.
  • 08:03: ... out moving in the wrong direction and then quantum tunnels between the particles, kicking them towards each other like a teleporting ...
  • 08:42: So that's the deal with virtual particles in particle interactions, but we also hear about the role of virtual particles in a complete vacuum.
  • 09:06: So the quantum fields are composed of these vibrational modes of all different frequencies/momenta that can be excited to become particles.
  • 09:48: So there's a chance that when measured the vacuum will appear to have energy and so have particles.
  • 09:54: But the key word here is "measured." Do those particles exist if you're not looking?
  • 10:00: Or more to the point, do vacuum fluctuations produce actual particles when there's nothing else around?
  • 10:21: Regarding its particle content, it remains in a steady state of uncertainty.
  • 10:27: ... a quantum state in a superposition of "yep particles" and "nope, no particles." The quantum state is not fluctuating on its ...
  • 10:48: Virtual particles are not popping into and out of existence in the absence of any else.
  • 11:03: Stephen Hawking himself was the first to use virtual particles as an intuitive way to describe his radiation.
  • 11:37: This disturbance of the vacuum generates particles.
  • 11:50: ... these, and just like with Hawking radiation, you don't need for virtual particles to have an independent existence to explain these ...
  • 12:00: So to recap, virtual particles are best thought of as a mathematical device to represent the behavior of quantum fields.
  • 12:08: ... original idea of virtual particles came about as a calculation tool in perturbation theory as we tried to ...
  • 12:42: So what about virtual particles?
  • 12:53: It turns out there is a version of quantum field theory that doesn't use virtual particles at all.
  • 13:05: It doesn't rely on perturbation theory, and so it doesn't use virtual particles while ultimately giving the same results.
  • 13:13: Ergo, virtual particles are probably just a mathematical artifact.
  • 13:17: There is no good reason to believe that virtual particles exist outside the math we use to approximate the behavior of quantum fields.
  • 10:21: Regarding its particle content, it remains in a steady state of uncertainty.
  • 02:12: In particle interactions, packets of energy are exchanged between these fields.
  • 08:42: So that's the deal with virtual particles in particle interactions, but we also hear about the role of virtual particles in a complete vacuum.
  • 02:12: In particle interactions, packets of energy are exchanged between these fields.
  • 02:01: So quantum field theory is the machinery behind the standard model of particle physics.
  • 07:20: In a way, a virtual particle represents a pure excitation of the field, an idealized case of perfectly defined momentum.
  • 05:09: They sure make it look like virtual particles are doing regular particle stuff like traveling through space but that's just not the case.
  • 08:52: ... have heard the quantum vacuum described as his roiling ocean of virtual particle-antiparticle pairs popping into and out of existence, the so-called vacuum ...
  • 00:02: Let me tell you a story about virtual particles.
  • 00:08: Out there in the emptiest places of the universe, phantom particles appear and vanish again out of nowhere.
  • 00:29: And every time two particles interact, an infinite number of virtual particles mediate infinite versions of that one interaction.
  • 00:39: Virtual particles sound pretty cool, I guess, but is this really how they work?
  • 00:45: Seriously, what are virtual particles?
  • 01:41: So will virtual particles also prove to represent a new underlying aspect of reality?
  • 01:57: First, let's get to the origin of virtual particles.
  • 02:05: In it, particles are excitations in fundamental fields that exist everywhere in space.
  • 03:12: Those interactions are mediated by virtual particles.
  • 03:16: In that sense, virtual particles are the building blocks of our approximation of the behavior of quantum fields.
  • 03:54: Every one of these interactions is described with a simple excitation and transfer of particles-- virtual particles.
  • 04:22: The virtual particles never exist independently.
  • 04:25: Instead, virtual particles are the mathematical building blocks we use to approximate the complex states of interacting fields.
  • 04:48: Particles that either enter or leave these diagrams are our real particles.
  • 04:53: All those that both start and end within the diagram are virtual particles.
  • 04:58: ... calculations, but they also add to the misconception about virtual particles. ...
  • 05:09: They sure make it look like virtual particles are doing regular particle stuff like traveling through space but that's just not the case.
  • 05:18: ... particles share some properties with their real counterparts-- in particular, ...
  • 05:30: In fact, they ignore a lot of the physics of real particles.
  • 05:45: Virtual particles are our mathematical representation of the quantum mechanical behavior of fields, and that behavior is weird.
  • 06:12: How can throwing photons between particles cause them to be drawn together?
  • 06:55: But how do they make the journey between the particles?
  • 07:03: These virtual particles sort of exist everywhere at once, which is confusing.
  • 07:09: ... one of these infinite possible virtual particles represents a quantum of energy in a single possible vibrational mode of ...
  • 07:29: The Heisenberg uncertainty principle tells us that the perfectly defined momenta of virtual particles means completely undefined position.
  • 07:39: In contrast, real particles are mixed up combinations of many excitations, many different momentum modes.
  • 08:03: ... out moving in the wrong direction and then quantum tunnels between the particles, kicking them towards each other like a teleporting ...
  • 08:42: So that's the deal with virtual particles in particle interactions, but we also hear about the role of virtual particles in a complete vacuum.
  • 09:06: So the quantum fields are composed of these vibrational modes of all different frequencies/momenta that can be excited to become particles.
  • 09:48: So there's a chance that when measured the vacuum will appear to have energy and so have particles.
  • 09:54: But the key word here is "measured." Do those particles exist if you're not looking?
  • 10:00: Or more to the point, do vacuum fluctuations produce actual particles when there's nothing else around?
  • 10:27: ... a quantum state in a superposition of "yep particles" and "nope, no particles." The quantum state is not fluctuating on its ...
  • 10:48: Virtual particles are not popping into and out of existence in the absence of any else.
  • 11:03: Stephen Hawking himself was the first to use virtual particles as an intuitive way to describe his radiation.
  • 11:37: This disturbance of the vacuum generates particles.
  • 11:50: ... these, and just like with Hawking radiation, you don't need for virtual particles to have an independent existence to explain these ...
  • 12:00: So to recap, virtual particles are best thought of as a mathematical device to represent the behavior of quantum fields.
  • 12:08: ... original idea of virtual particles came about as a calculation tool in perturbation theory as we tried to ...
  • 12:42: So what about virtual particles?
  • 12:53: It turns out there is a version of quantum field theory that doesn't use virtual particles at all.
  • 13:05: It doesn't rely on perturbation theory, and so it doesn't use virtual particles while ultimately giving the same results.
  • 13:13: Ergo, virtual particles are probably just a mathematical artifact.
  • 13:17: There is no good reason to believe that virtual particles exist outside the math we use to approximate the behavior of quantum fields.
  • 09:54: But the key word here is "measured." Do those particles exist if you're not looking?
  • 13:17: There is no good reason to believe that virtual particles exist outside the math we use to approximate the behavior of quantum fields.
  • 00:29: And every time two particles interact, an infinite number of virtual particles mediate infinite versions of that one interaction.
  • 08:03: ... out moving in the wrong direction and then quantum tunnels between the particles, kicking them towards each other like a teleporting ...
  • 00:29: And every time two particles interact, an infinite number of virtual particles mediate infinite versions of that one interaction.
  • 07:09: ... one of these infinite possible virtual particles represents a quantum of energy in a single possible vibrational mode of the ...
  • 05:18: ... particles share some properties with their real counterparts-- in particular, quantum ...
  • 07:03: These virtual particles sort of exist everywhere at once, which is confusing.
  • 00:39: Virtual particles sound pretty cool, I guess, but is this really how they work?
  • 03:54: Every one of these interactions is described with a simple excitation and transfer of particles-- virtual particles.

2018-10-25: Will We Ever Find Alien Life?

  • 13:01: ... example, you can check out Particle Fever, which follows the first round of experiments at the Large Hadron ...
  • 13:24: Sam Pollard asks, how does adding more particles require fewer dimensions?
  • 13:01: ... example, you can check out Particle Fever, which follows the first round of experiments at the Large Hadron ...
  • 13:24: Sam Pollard asks, how does adding more particles require fewer dimensions?

2018-10-18: What are the Strings in String Theory?

  • 00:10: There are these tiny vibrating strings, and that's where all the force's particles, including gravity, in the entire universe come from.
  • 00:47: This is why the standard model of particle physics is considered incomplete.
  • 00:59: We need to use physical measurement to fix 19 free parameters like the masses of particles.
  • 03:01: It's a particle.
  • 03:03: And one of those modes appeared to be a massless spin-2 particle.
  • 03:08: But the only hypothetical massless spin-2 particle is the graviton, the conjectured quantum particle of the gravitational field.
  • 03:16: ... the gravitational field is made of quantum particles, which it might be-- we really don't know, but if it is-- then the quanta ...
  • 03:51: In fact, what if all force-carrying particles result from oscillations in tiny strings?
  • 07:02: The hope is that tweaked just right, those discrete vibrational modes can be made to match the properties of known particles.
  • 07:10: Particle mass just comes from the length of the string and its tension.
  • 07:24: And those modes, in turn, define particle properties like electric charge and spin.
  • 07:32: ... tension, or equivalently, string length scale, all of the possible particles should be automatically ...
  • 07:56: They have vibrational modes that define particle properties.
  • 08:51: These last properties are important because it gives a mechanism for the particles of string theory to interact and to decay into other particles.
  • 09:31: String theory fixes this because the graviton is a loop, not a point particle.
  • 10:01: ... themselves are 1-D, but to even start to produce the properties of known particles, they need to vibrate in more than just the three dimensions of ...
  • 10:23: In short, without exactly this number of dimensions, you don't get gravitons or any other massless particle.
  • 15:57: Like I said, our black hole computer is only simulating particles, not black holes.
  • 07:10: Particle mass just comes from the length of the string and its tension.
  • 00:47: This is why the standard model of particle physics is considered incomplete.
  • 03:16: ... the quanta of gravity should have an uncanny resemblance to the type of particle produced by this little investigation into hadronic strings except that there's ...
  • 07:24: And those modes, in turn, define particle properties like electric charge and spin.
  • 07:56: They have vibrational modes that define particle properties.
  • 00:10: There are these tiny vibrating strings, and that's where all the force's particles, including gravity, in the entire universe come from.
  • 00:59: We need to use physical measurement to fix 19 free parameters like the masses of particles.
  • 03:16: ... the gravitational field is made of quantum particles, which it might be-- we really don't know, but if it is-- then the quanta ...
  • 03:51: In fact, what if all force-carrying particles result from oscillations in tiny strings?
  • 07:02: The hope is that tweaked just right, those discrete vibrational modes can be made to match the properties of known particles.
  • 07:32: ... tension, or equivalently, string length scale, all of the possible particles should be automatically ...
  • 08:51: These last properties are important because it gives a mechanism for the particles of string theory to interact and to decay into other particles.
  • 10:01: ... themselves are 1-D, but to even start to produce the properties of known particles, they need to vibrate in more than just the three dimensions of ...
  • 15:57: Like I said, our black hole computer is only simulating particles, not black holes.
  • 00:10: There are these tiny vibrating strings, and that's where all the force's particles, including gravity, in the entire universe come from.
  • 03:51: In fact, what if all force-carrying particles result from oscillations in tiny strings?

2018-10-10: Computing a Universe Simulation

  • 01:04: ... neighbors by a simple set of rules, leading to oscillations, elementary particles, atoms, and ultimately to all of the emergent laws of physics, physical ...
  • 03:48: ... like 10 to the power of 90 bits, roughly corresponding to the number of particles of matter and ...
  • 04:21: How large would that black hole need to be to store all of the information about all of the particles in the universe?
  • 04:38: If we instead count all the elementary particles with mass, we might get 10 to the 81 particles.
  • 04:43: But let's just go with a nice, round order of magnitude-- 10 to the 80 bits assuming 1 bit per particle.
  • 05:13: ... you could store the entire observable universe of non-radiation particles on the surface area of a black hole the size of ...
  • 08:14: ... get that, if every single particle in the universe were used to make a computation, it should process 5 by ...
  • 08:45: And that's actually independent of the number of particles or degrees of freedom the universe is using to do that computation.
  • 08:52: The number is based on its energy content, and it has to spread that computational power over its particles.
  • 01:04: ... neighbors by a simple set of rules, leading to oscillations, elementary particles, atoms, and ultimately to all of the emergent laws of physics, physical ...
  • 03:48: ... like 10 to the power of 90 bits, roughly corresponding to the number of particles of matter and ...
  • 04:21: How large would that black hole need to be to store all of the information about all of the particles in the universe?
  • 04:38: If we instead count all the elementary particles with mass, we might get 10 to the 81 particles.
  • 05:13: ... you could store the entire observable universe of non-radiation particles on the surface area of a black hole the size of ...
  • 08:45: And that's actually independent of the number of particles or degrees of freedom the universe is using to do that computation.
  • 08:52: The number is based on its energy content, and it has to spread that computational power over its particles.
  • 01:04: ... neighbors by a simple set of rules, leading to oscillations, elementary particles, atoms, and ultimately to all of the emergent laws of physics, physical ...

2018-10-03: How to Detect Extra Dimensions

  • 06:07: ... number of dimensions on which the quantum field and their corresponding particles can ...

2018-09-20: Quantum Gravity and the Hardest Problem in Physics

  • 02:25: It describes particles as waves of infinite possibility whose observed properties are intrinsically uncertain.
  • 05:21: In order to measure a location in space-- say, the location of a particle-- you need to interact with it.
  • 05:28: You would typically do that by bouncing a photon or other particle off the object.
  • 05:44: So let's say we shoot a particle with a beam from a particle accelerator to measure its location with extreme precision.
  • 07:01: ... know that for a particle to have a highly defined location, its position wave function needs to ...
  • 07:33: Particles whose positions are defined within a Planck length can spontaneously become black holes.
  • 11:09: The non-renormalizability of quantized general relativity is connected to the idea that precisely localized particles produce black holes.
  • 15:01: VoodooD0g points out that the vacuum isn't really empty, what, with all the virtual particles popping into and out of existence.
  • 15:09: Well, actually, those don't really contain information because they aren't real in the sense that we think of normal particles.
  • 15:16: The phantom virtual particles represent both the absence of particles and every possibility of particles.
  • 05:44: So let's say we shoot a particle with a beam from a particle accelerator to measure its location with extreme precision.
  • 02:25: It describes particles as waves of infinite possibility whose observed properties are intrinsically uncertain.
  • 07:33: Particles whose positions are defined within a Planck length can spontaneously become black holes.
  • 11:09: The non-renormalizability of quantized general relativity is connected to the idea that precisely localized particles produce black holes.
  • 15:01: VoodooD0g points out that the vacuum isn't really empty, what, with all the virtual particles popping into and out of existence.
  • 15:09: Well, actually, those don't really contain information because they aren't real in the sense that we think of normal particles.
  • 15:16: The phantom virtual particles represent both the absence of particles and every possibility of particles.
  • 15:01: VoodooD0g points out that the vacuum isn't really empty, what, with all the virtual particles popping into and out of existence.
  • 11:09: The non-renormalizability of quantized general relativity is connected to the idea that precisely localized particles produce black holes.
  • 15:16: The phantom virtual particles represent both the absence of particles and every possibility of particles.

2018-09-12: How Much Information is in the Universe?

  • 00:19: Hundreds of billions of galaxies, each with hundreds of billions of stars, each with rather a lot of particles in them.
  • 00:25: ... stuff that isn't stars-- the dark matter, black holes, planets, and the particles, and radiation in between the stars and galaxies, not to mention space ...
  • 04:18: Particles have more information than just their position.
  • 05:59: In other words, one bit per elementary particle.
  • 06:11: Most other particles are much rarer, so we're still in the realm of 10 to 80 to 10 to the 81.
  • 06:34: So almost all of the information, and for that matter, the entropy in particles is in neutrinos and in the cosmic microwave background photons.
  • 06:42: The situation with dark matter is unclear, so let's just round up to 10 to the power of 90 bits of information in particles in our universe.
  • 08:43: The universe can keep having particles, and you can leave your horribly bloated email inbox alone.
  • 08:52: Say, in the form of too many particles.
  • 10:07: Assume one bit per elementary particle.
  • 00:19: Hundreds of billions of galaxies, each with hundreds of billions of stars, each with rather a lot of particles in them.
  • 00:25: ... stuff that isn't stars-- the dark matter, black holes, planets, and the particles, and radiation in between the stars and galaxies, not to mention space ...
  • 04:18: Particles have more information than just their position.
  • 06:11: Most other particles are much rarer, so we're still in the realm of 10 to 80 to 10 to the 81.
  • 06:34: So almost all of the information, and for that matter, the entropy in particles is in neutrinos and in the cosmic microwave background photons.
  • 06:42: The situation with dark matter is unclear, so let's just round up to 10 to the power of 90 bits of information in particles in our universe.
  • 08:43: The universe can keep having particles, and you can leave your horribly bloated email inbox alone.
  • 08:52: Say, in the form of too many particles.

2018-09-05: The Black Hole Entropy Enigma

  • 02:47: He described a mechanism by which the information contained by infalling particles could be preserved on the event horizon of the black hole.
  • 03:46: ... need to perfectly describe the system's internal state like all the particle positions, velocities, et ...
  • 03:55: The higher the entropy, the more randomly distributed its particles and the more possible configurations lead to the same macroscopic state.
  • 04:03: ... the entropy, the less you can guess about the properties of individual particles based on the global properties like temperature, volume, pressure, et ...
  • 04:12: ... must always increase, which means energy tends to spread out evenly and particles tend to randomize, reducing our information about their microscopic ...
  • 04:36: Now that's a high entropy based, super hot and full of randomly moving particles.
  • 04:41: We have almost no information about the individual particles, but that information still exists in the universe.
  • 04:47: Like, I guess, the particles know where they are.
  • 08:05: Essentially he built a black hole out of idealized elementary particles that each contained a single bit of information.
  • 09:04: He showed that black holes radiate random particles exactly as though they have a peak glow for a particular temperature that depends on their mass.
  • 03:46: ... need to perfectly describe the system's internal state like all the particle positions, velocities, et ...
  • 02:47: He described a mechanism by which the information contained by infalling particles could be preserved on the event horizon of the black hole.
  • 03:55: The higher the entropy, the more randomly distributed its particles and the more possible configurations lead to the same macroscopic state.
  • 04:03: ... the entropy, the less you can guess about the properties of individual particles based on the global properties like temperature, volume, pressure, et ...
  • 04:12: ... must always increase, which means energy tends to spread out evenly and particles tend to randomize, reducing our information about their microscopic ...
  • 04:36: Now that's a high entropy based, super hot and full of randomly moving particles.
  • 04:41: We have almost no information about the individual particles, but that information still exists in the universe.
  • 04:47: Like, I guess, the particles know where they are.
  • 08:05: Essentially he built a black hole out of idealized elementary particles that each contained a single bit of information.
  • 09:04: He showed that black holes radiate random particles exactly as though they have a peak glow for a particular temperature that depends on their mass.
  • 04:03: ... the entropy, the less you can guess about the properties of individual particles based on the global properties like temperature, volume, pressure, et ...
  • 04:12: ... must always increase, which means energy tends to spread out evenly and particles tend to randomize, reducing our information about their microscopic ...

2018-08-23: How Will the Universe End?

  • 06:09: But in short, protons have the most stable composite particles.
  • 06:13: According to the standard model of particle physics, they should last forever.
  • 07:44: They slowly leak away their mass as a cool heat [INAUDIBLE] of random particles for the most part faint radio light.
  • 08:38: ... though we don't know exactly what it is, dark matter particles will likely either annihilate themselves as they collide with each other ...
  • 09:03: And after that, just particles and light, now not even bound gravitationally.
  • 11:36: ... universe will be nothing but an increasingly diffuse void of elementary particles with maybe a bit of dust if you're ...
  • 15:25: ... far as quantum mechanics is concerned, size is a property of composite particles, things that are made up of multiple elementary ...
  • 15:35: It's the size of that bundle of elementary particles.
  • 15:39: But elementary particles themselves don't have size in this sense.
  • 15:43: All they have is their quantum wave function, which tells the probability of the particle's location, momentum, spin, direction, et cetera.
  • 16:20: ... randomly to the observations when we come up with stuff like virtual particles and that it's so weird that that actually ...
  • 06:13: According to the standard model of particle physics, they should last forever.
  • 06:09: But in short, protons have the most stable composite particles.
  • 07:44: They slowly leak away their mass as a cool heat [INAUDIBLE] of random particles for the most part faint radio light.
  • 08:38: ... though we don't know exactly what it is, dark matter particles will likely either annihilate themselves as they collide with each other ...
  • 09:03: And after that, just particles and light, now not even bound gravitationally.
  • 11:36: ... universe will be nothing but an increasingly diffuse void of elementary particles with maybe a bit of dust if you're ...
  • 15:25: ... far as quantum mechanics is concerned, size is a property of composite particles, things that are made up of multiple elementary ...
  • 15:35: It's the size of that bundle of elementary particles.
  • 15:39: But elementary particles themselves don't have size in this sense.
  • 15:43: All they have is their quantum wave function, which tells the probability of the particle's location, momentum, spin, direction, et cetera.
  • 16:20: ... randomly to the observations when we come up with stuff like virtual particles and that it's so weird that that actually ...
  • 15:43: All they have is their quantum wave function, which tells the probability of the particle's location, momentum, spin, direction, et cetera.
  • 15:25: ... far as quantum mechanics is concerned, size is a property of composite particles, things that are made up of multiple elementary ...

2018-08-15: Quantum Theory's Most Incredible Prediction

  • 00:50: Quantum field theory describes a universe filled with different quantum fields in which particles are excitations, quantized vibrations.
  • 01:13: ... calculations of QED describe how this field interacts with charged particles to give us the electromagnetic force, which binds electrons to atoms, ...
  • 07:27: Quantum field theory describes the interactions between particles as the sum total of all possible interactions that can lead to the same result.
  • 08:54: ... particles in and out, so it leads to the same overall result. But now the electron ...
  • 09:50: ... electron can interact with the EM field, with crazy networks of virtual particles and virtual matter, anti-matter loops between the real ingoing and ...
  • 10:45: One way to do it is to watch the way electrons process in the constant magnetic field of a cyclotron, a type of particle accelerator.
  • 11:32: This is the fundamental constant governing the strength of the electromagnetic interaction of charged particles.
  • 10:45: One way to do it is to watch the way electrons process in the constant magnetic field of a cyclotron, a type of particle accelerator.
  • 00:50: Quantum field theory describes a universe filled with different quantum fields in which particles are excitations, quantized vibrations.
  • 01:13: ... calculations of QED describe how this field interacts with charged particles to give us the electromagnetic force, which binds electrons to atoms, ...
  • 07:27: Quantum field theory describes the interactions between particles as the sum total of all possible interactions that can lead to the same result.
  • 08:54: ... particles in and out, so it leads to the same overall result. But now the electron ...
  • 09:50: ... electron can interact with the EM field, with crazy networks of virtual particles and virtual matter, anti-matter loops between the real ingoing and ...
  • 11:32: This is the fundamental constant governing the strength of the electromagnetic interaction of charged particles.

2018-08-01: How Close To The Sun Can Humanity Get?

  • 01:22: Magnetic storms driving a constant stream of energy and potentially, destructive particles.
  • 02:19: Charged particles traveling at nearly 1% the speed of light bombarded the earth.
  • 04:08: Finally, it will detect radio waves from processes responsible for the acceleration of particles in the solar wind.
  • 04:18: The solar wind electrons, alphas, and protons instrument-- or SWEAP-- will directly detect the particles that make up most of the solar wind.
  • 04:27: The most common types are electrons, helium ions, AKA alpha particles, and protons.
  • 04:51: ... will capture the most energetic particles of the solar wind-- charged particles like electrons, protons, and ...
  • 09:51: ... we talked about Maxwell's demon-- the thought experiment in which the particles in two halves of a box are sorted without using ...
  • 10:42: ... represents some physical system that can detect incoming particles, measure their velocity, and then open the door based on a decision about ...
  • 11:40: Surely, when you open and close the gate to admit the particle, you use energy.
  • 12:48: That energy can come from the incoming particle.
  • 12:50: And it can be returned to that particle reversibly by either the latch or the gate, depending on how you set it up.
  • 12:57: So an incoming particle is detected and the latch releases, the gate opens, closes, and the particle passes through without losing any energy.
  • 12:50: And it can be returned to that particle reversibly by either the latch or the gate, depending on how you set it up.
  • 01:22: Magnetic storms driving a constant stream of energy and potentially, destructive particles.
  • 02:19: Charged particles traveling at nearly 1% the speed of light bombarded the earth.
  • 04:08: Finally, it will detect radio waves from processes responsible for the acceleration of particles in the solar wind.
  • 04:18: The solar wind electrons, alphas, and protons instrument-- or SWEAP-- will directly detect the particles that make up most of the solar wind.
  • 04:27: The most common types are electrons, helium ions, AKA alpha particles, and protons.
  • 04:51: ... will capture the most energetic particles of the solar wind-- charged particles like electrons, protons, and ...
  • 09:51: ... we talked about Maxwell's demon-- the thought experiment in which the particles in two halves of a box are sorted without using ...
  • 10:42: ... represents some physical system that can detect incoming particles, measure their velocity, and then open the door based on a decision about ...
  • 02:19: Charged particles traveling at nearly 1% the speed of light bombarded the earth.

2018-07-25: Reversing Entropy with Maxwell's Demon

  • 01:31: ... defined by the number of possible configurations of particles-- or microstates in physics-speak-- that could produce the same observed ...
  • 03:06: ... those stones all being on one side could represent particles that all have high or all have low energies, or particles that are all ...
  • 03:20: The particles would quickly flow to fill the available space, and you could extract energy from that flow.
  • 03:43: The particles are pretty well mixed.
  • 05:41: The demon has the ability to observe speed and trajectories of individual particles in the system.
  • 05:50: ... time the demon sees a high speed particle approaching from the right, it opens the door to let it pass to the left ...
  • 06:00: Soon enough, the left side is full of fast particles and is hot, while the right contains slow particles and is cold.
  • 06:46: ... non-demonic-- or even intelligent-- mechanisms to detect approaching particles and open the door, mechanisms which, in principle, don't increase ...
  • 06:58: But it turns out, there's one last step in the process of sorting particles where the increase of entropy is unavoidable.
  • 07:08: Weirdly, it's not in the measurement of particle trajectories or the motion of the door.
  • 07:18: See, in order for the demon to do its job, it must learn about the particles.
  • 07:22: ... demon, or the particle sorting system it represents, must start in some known predictable ...
  • 07:34: From our point of view, the randomness of the particles decreases, but that randomness is transferred to the memory of the demon.
  • 07:45: At some point, the system for sorting particles needs to be reset to continue its work.
  • 08:56: ... you have perfect knowledge of the state of all particles in the box, you could open and close the door in exactly the right ...
  • 05:50: ... time the demon sees a high speed particle approaching from the right, it opens the door to let it pass to the left side, and ...
  • 07:22: ... demon, or the particle sorting system it represents, must start in some known predictable state, which ...
  • 07:08: Weirdly, it's not in the measurement of particle trajectories or the motion of the door.
  • 01:31: ... defined by the number of possible configurations of particles-- or microstates in physics-speak-- that could produce the same observed ...
  • 03:06: ... those stones all being on one side could represent particles that all have high or all have low energies, or particles that are all ...
  • 03:20: The particles would quickly flow to fill the available space, and you could extract energy from that flow.
  • 03:43: The particles are pretty well mixed.
  • 05:41: The demon has the ability to observe speed and trajectories of individual particles in the system.
  • 05:50: ... opens the door to let it pass to the left side, and it lets lower speed particles pass left to ...
  • 06:00: Soon enough, the left side is full of fast particles and is hot, while the right contains slow particles and is cold.
  • 06:46: ... non-demonic-- or even intelligent-- mechanisms to detect approaching particles and open the door, mechanisms which, in principle, don't increase ...
  • 06:58: But it turns out, there's one last step in the process of sorting particles where the increase of entropy is unavoidable.
  • 07:18: See, in order for the demon to do its job, it must learn about the particles.
  • 07:34: From our point of view, the randomness of the particles decreases, but that randomness is transferred to the memory of the demon.
  • 07:45: At some point, the system for sorting particles needs to be reset to continue its work.
  • 08:56: ... you have perfect knowledge of the state of all particles in the box, you could open and close the door in exactly the right ...
  • 07:34: From our point of view, the randomness of the particles decreases, but that randomness is transferred to the memory of the demon.
  • 05:50: ... opens the door to let it pass to the left side, and it lets lower speed particles pass left to ...

2018-07-18: The Misunderstood Nature of Entropy

  • 03:57: This theory explained thermodynamic behavior as the summed result of the individual motion of tiny particles under Newton's laws of motion.
  • 04:11: For a given set of large-scale observable properties, every possible configuration of particles that could give those properties is equally likely.
  • 04:22: By configuration, I mean the exact arrangement, of positions, velocities, et cetera of all microscopic particles.
  • 04:37: Macrostates are entirely defined by thermodynamic properties, temperature, pressure, volume, and number of particles.
  • 04:52: ... macrostates, there are lots of different microstates or arrangements of particles that lead to roughly the same thermodynamic properties, while other ...
  • 05:15: All particle arrangements will eventually happen.
  • 06:32: ... been talking a lot about particle position, but really, that Go board is an analogy for all possible ...
  • 06:49: And instead of particles being distributed through position space, a microstate is really defined by how energy is distributed through phase space.
  • 06:58: The average distribution of individual particles in phase space defines the thermodynamic properties of the system.
  • 07:13: So if you leave a system alone long enough, its particles and its energy will find its way into all the different forms that are possible.
  • 08:04: ... the way, there are certain special microstates, special arrangements of particles that look highly ordered but are still consistent with their ...
  • 08:27: ... thermodynamic entropy, the only special arrangements of particles that change entropy are the ones that change the thermodynamic ...
  • 10:04: But entropy is also statistical and emerges from behavior of particles under the laws of motion.
  • 05:15: All particle arrangements will eventually happen.
  • 06:32: ... been talking a lot about particle position, but really, that Go board is an analogy for all possible combinations of ...
  • 03:57: This theory explained thermodynamic behavior as the summed result of the individual motion of tiny particles under Newton's laws of motion.
  • 04:11: For a given set of large-scale observable properties, every possible configuration of particles that could give those properties is equally likely.
  • 04:22: By configuration, I mean the exact arrangement, of positions, velocities, et cetera of all microscopic particles.
  • 04:37: Macrostates are entirely defined by thermodynamic properties, temperature, pressure, volume, and number of particles.
  • 04:52: ... macrostates, there are lots of different microstates or arrangements of particles that lead to roughly the same thermodynamic properties, while other ...
  • 06:49: And instead of particles being distributed through position space, a microstate is really defined by how energy is distributed through phase space.
  • 06:58: The average distribution of individual particles in phase space defines the thermodynamic properties of the system.
  • 07:13: So if you leave a system alone long enough, its particles and its energy will find its way into all the different forms that are possible.
  • 08:04: ... the way, there are certain special microstates, special arrangements of particles that look highly ordered but are still consistent with their ...
  • 08:27: ... thermodynamic entropy, the only special arrangements of particles that change entropy are the ones that change the thermodynamic ...
  • 10:04: But entropy is also statistical and emerges from behavior of particles under the laws of motion.

2018-07-11: Quantum Invariance & The Origin of The Standard Model

  • 00:03: ... standard model of particle physics is the most successful, most accurate physical theory ever ...
  • 00:55: The most amazing example of this is the standard model of particle physics.
  • 02:44: We can never see the underlying wave function of, say, a particle.
  • 03:11: The square of the magnitude of this wave function tells us the probability distribution of a particle's position.
  • 03:18: The position that we observe when we look at the particle is picked randomly from that distribution.
  • 04:26: It determines the particle's position.
  • 04:31: ... by any amount and you wouldn't change the resulting position of the particle, as long as you do the same shift to both the real and imaginary ...
  • 05:56: That shouldn't change our probabilities for the positions of the particles, but what about observables besides positions?
  • 06:08: Among other things, messing with local phase really screws up our prediction for the particle's momentum.
  • 06:45: To do that, we need to alter the part of the Schrodinger equation that gives us the momentum of a particle, the momentum operator.
  • 07:34: ... we've discovered that the only way for particles to have local phase invariance is for us to introduce a new fundamental ...
  • 08:12: And now we know how it interacts with particles of matter to give them this symmetry.
  • 08:24: Any particle that has this kind of charge will interact with and be affected by the electromagnetic field and be granted local phase invariance.
  • 08:35: In order to have this particular type of local phase invariance, particles must possess electric charge.
  • 09:28: But what about all those fundamental particles without electric charge?
  • 09:32: Neutral particles like neutrinos.
  • 10:02: ... and they all have their associated oscillations, their associated particles. ...
  • 10:49: And following those mathematical labyrinths reveals physical theory with stunning predictive power, like the standard model of particle physics.
  • 11:10: Last time on Space Time Journal Club, we looked at a new result potentially detecting a particle beyond the standard model, the sterile neutrino.
  • 11:28: And no one, not even the researchers, are claiming the actual discovery of this new particle, yet.
  • 00:03: ... standard model of particle physics is the most successful, most accurate physical theory ever developed, ...
  • 00:55: The most amazing example of this is the standard model of particle physics.
  • 10:49: And following those mathematical labyrinths reveals physical theory with stunning predictive power, like the standard model of particle physics.
  • 03:11: The square of the magnitude of this wave function tells us the probability distribution of a particle's position.
  • 04:26: It determines the particle's position.
  • 05:56: That shouldn't change our probabilities for the positions of the particles, but what about observables besides positions?
  • 06:08: Among other things, messing with local phase really screws up our prediction for the particle's momentum.
  • 07:34: ... we've discovered that the only way for particles to have local phase invariance is for us to introduce a new fundamental ...
  • 08:12: And now we know how it interacts with particles of matter to give them this symmetry.
  • 08:35: In order to have this particular type of local phase invariance, particles must possess electric charge.
  • 09:28: But what about all those fundamental particles without electric charge?
  • 09:32: Neutral particles like neutrinos.
  • 10:02: ... and they all have their associated oscillations, their associated particles. ...
  • 06:08: Among other things, messing with local phase really screws up our prediction for the particle's momentum.
  • 03:11: The square of the magnitude of this wave function tells us the probability distribution of a particle's position.
  • 04:26: It determines the particle's position.

2018-07-04: Will A New Neutrino Change The Standard Model?

  • 00:07: Since the discovery of the Higgs boson, physicists have searched and searched for any hint of new particles.
  • 00:18: ... Club, we'll look at a paper that reports a compelling hint of a new particle outside the standard model, the sterile ...
  • 02:10: ... going to drop through the standard model of particle physics, electric charge and antimatter, the bizarreness of quantum ...
  • 02:25: ... the standard model of particle physics-- as we'll see in upcoming episodes, these particles are divided ...
  • 03:16: An antimatter version of a particle has the same mass and the opposite electric charge.
  • 03:46: Helicity is just the direction of a particle's spin relative to its direction of motion.
  • 04:04: It's related to the direction in which the particle's phase shifts under rotations.
  • 04:10: Helicity depends on your own motion relative to the particle in question.
  • 04:14: It flips direction if you start moving faster than the particle.
  • 04:17: However, chirality is fundamental to the particle and doesn't depend on your own velocity.
  • 04:23: ... is where we need to expand our picture of the particles of the standard model a little and open up the possibility of the ...
  • 04:42: ... quarks and electrons are actually a combination of left and right chiral particles that oscillate back and forth between those particles through ...
  • 04:55: That oscillation is what gives these particles their mass.
  • 05:05: ... charged electrons have their own positively charged antimatter particles, which are right and left chiral, ...
  • 05:16: These different chiralities are thought of as completely separate particles, and there's a good reason for this.
  • 05:21: Chirality determines whether a particle can interact with the weak nuclear force.
  • 09:05: If this is right, then it's the first particle outside the standard model since the Higgs boson.
  • 02:10: ... going to drop through the standard model of particle physics, electric charge and antimatter, the bizarreness of quantum chirality and ...
  • 02:25: ... the standard model of particle physics-- as we'll see in upcoming episodes, these particles are divided into the ...
  • 02:10: ... going to drop through the standard model of particle physics, electric charge and antimatter, the bizarreness of quantum chirality and the ...
  • 09:21: Forgive the particle-physics energy units for mass.
  • 00:07: Since the discovery of the Higgs boson, physicists have searched and searched for any hint of new particles.
  • 02:25: ... model of particle physics-- as we'll see in upcoming episodes, these particles are divided into the bosons which carry the fundamental forces and the ...
  • 03:46: Helicity is just the direction of a particle's spin relative to its direction of motion.
  • 04:04: It's related to the direction in which the particle's phase shifts under rotations.
  • 04:23: ... is where we need to expand our picture of the particles of the standard model a little and open up the possibility of the ...
  • 04:42: ... quarks and electrons are actually a combination of left and right chiral particles that oscillate back and forth between those particles through ...
  • 04:55: That oscillation is what gives these particles their mass.
  • 05:05: ... charged electrons have their own positively charged antimatter particles, which are right and left chiral, ...
  • 05:16: These different chiralities are thought of as completely separate particles, and there's a good reason for this.
  • 04:04: It's related to the direction in which the particle's phase shifts under rotations.
  • 03:46: Helicity is just the direction of a particle's spin relative to its direction of motion.

2018-06-20: The Black Hole Information Paradox

  • 02:13: If we see a black hole, how can we possibly figure out what particles went in to form it?
  • 03:02: That distortion looks like particles flowing away from the black hole.
  • 03:06: And the energy to create those particles must come from the mass of the black hole itself.
  • 03:11: What type of particles?
  • 03:13: According to Hawking's calculation, those particles should come out with energies that follow the black-body spectrum.
  • 03:44: The black hole radiates particles, mostly photons, that contain no information.
  • 03:49: Eventually the black hole must completely evaporate into those particles, leaving no clue as to what fell into it in the first place.
  • 10:51: ... suggests that each particle of Hawking radiation should be simultaneously entangled with the ...
  • 14:11: Virtual particles in general are just a way to mathematically account for the infinite ways a quantum field can communicate its influence.
  • 14:19: Virtual particles don't have the same restrictions as regular particles.
  • 14:35: ... this picture, virtual particles can escape a black hole to communicate the influence of the charge ...
  • 02:13: If we see a black hole, how can we possibly figure out what particles went in to form it?
  • 03:02: That distortion looks like particles flowing away from the black hole.
  • 03:06: And the energy to create those particles must come from the mass of the black hole itself.
  • 03:11: What type of particles?
  • 03:13: According to Hawking's calculation, those particles should come out with energies that follow the black-body spectrum.
  • 03:44: The black hole radiates particles, mostly photons, that contain no information.
  • 03:49: Eventually the black hole must completely evaporate into those particles, leaving no clue as to what fell into it in the first place.
  • 14:11: Virtual particles in general are just a way to mathematically account for the infinite ways a quantum field can communicate its influence.
  • 14:19: Virtual particles don't have the same restrictions as regular particles.
  • 14:35: ... this picture, virtual particles can escape a black hole to communicate the influence of the charge ...
  • 14:19: Virtual particles don't have the same restrictions as regular particles.
  • 03:02: That distortion looks like particles flowing away from the black hole.
  • 03:49: Eventually the black hole must completely evaporate into those particles, leaving no clue as to what fell into it in the first place.

2018-06-13: What Survives Inside A Black Hole?

  • 08:15: ... black hole with nonzero charge will quickly attract particles with the opposite charge until positive and negative charges within the ...
  • 10:06: An example would be the number of particles of different types, like the balance between quarks and antiquarks represented by baryon number.
  • 10:24: So what if the universe forgets what type of particles a black hole is made of?
  • 10:37: It's fundamental to quantum mechanics that the universe keeps track of its quantum states, which also means the types of particles it contains.
  • 12:10: We said that there's always a 100% chance, for example, that the particle position always has some value.
  • 12:16: So what if the particle is destroyed?
  • 12:18: ... particle creation and annihilation is described by quantum-field theory, and ...
  • 12:28: QFT describes the evolution of quantum fields in which particles are excited states.
  • 12:34: Now it's the evolution of the fields, not the particles, that conserves probability.
  • 12:18: ... particle creation and annihilation is described by quantum-field theory, and unitary ...
  • 12:10: We said that there's always a 100% chance, for example, that the particle position always has some value.
  • 08:15: ... black hole with nonzero charge will quickly attract particles with the opposite charge until positive and negative charges within the ...
  • 10:06: An example would be the number of particles of different types, like the balance between quarks and antiquarks represented by baryon number.
  • 10:24: So what if the universe forgets what type of particles a black hole is made of?
  • 10:37: It's fundamental to quantum mechanics that the universe keeps track of its quantum states, which also means the types of particles it contains.
  • 12:28: QFT describes the evolution of quantum fields in which particles are excited states.
  • 12:34: Now it's the evolution of the fields, not the particles, that conserves probability.

2018-05-23: Why Quantum Information is Never Destroyed

  • 00:07: If you have perfect knowledge of every single particle in the universe, can you use the laws of physics to rewind all the way back to the Big Bang?
  • 02:38: ... would be time-reversal symmetric if knowing the exact state of every particle in the universe at one point in time allowed us to calculate its exact ...
  • 03:30: For example, what if many different configurations of particles in the present could converge on a single configuration of particles in the future?
  • 05:10: ... example, the wave function of a particle encapsulates the probability that it will be found in this or that ...
  • 06:27: In the case of particle position, probability of adding to 1 just means that the particle is definitely somewhere.
  • 06:34: And as time goes on, a particle's properties will continue to have possible values.
  • 09:35: And in the case of pilot wave theory, the wave function contains hidden information that is carried with the final measured particle.
  • 10:55: I'm talking black hole thermodynamics and some pretty deep particle physics.
  • 05:10: ... example, the wave function of a particle encapsulates the probability that it will be found in this or that location if we ...
  • 10:55: I'm talking black hole thermodynamics and some pretty deep particle physics.
  • 06:27: In the case of particle position, probability of adding to 1 just means that the particle is definitely somewhere.
  • 03:30: For example, what if many different configurations of particles in the present could converge on a single configuration of particles in the future?
  • 06:34: And as time goes on, a particle's properties will continue to have possible values.

2018-05-16: Noether's Theorem and The Symmetries of Reality

  • 07:45: ... by any amount, and the observable properties of that field, like its particles, don't ...
  • 08:08: They predict a rich family of conserved charges that govern the interactions of the particles of the standard model.
  • 08:22: The entire standard model of particle physics is what we call a gauge theory.
  • 08:30: ... what these symmetries really are and how they lead to the family of particles and interactions that make up our ...
  • 08:22: The entire standard model of particle physics is what we call a gauge theory.
  • 07:45: ... by any amount, and the observable properties of that field, like its particles, don't ...
  • 08:08: They predict a rich family of conserved charges that govern the interactions of the particles of the standard model.
  • 08:30: ... what these symmetries really are and how they lead to the family of particles and interactions that make up our ...
  • 07:45: ... by any amount, and the observable properties of that field, like its particles, don't ...

2018-04-11: The Physics of Life (ft. It's Okay to be Smart & PBS Eons!)

  • 01:07: The particles that make up any system all have some degree of random motion.
  • 01:13: That random motion tends to drive the system towards the most common arrangement of particles.
  • 01:40: So entropy is sort of a measure of the boringness of a system, the commonness of the arrangement of particles.
  • 09:15: ... than the turbulent flow because there are fewer ways to rearrange the particles in the former while preserving its global ...
  • 10:57: Last week, we talked about the mysterious Unruh effect, in which accelerating observers find themselves bathed in a sea of particles.
  • 11:07: ... out that from the point of view of an inertial observer, an accelerating particle detector emits particles instead of absorbing ...
  • 11:23: ... in short, the inertial observer sees the accelerating particle detector click as though it registered a particle, but the excitation ...
  • 12:05: The answer is that the accelerating observer perceives themselves to be plowing through a bath of Unruh particles, and these produce the drag.
  • 12:18: Ultimately, that's the source of energy for whatever effects those Unruh particles cause, whether or not you actually see the Unruh particles.
  • 11:07: ... out that from the point of view of an inertial observer, an accelerating particle detector emits particles instead of absorbing ...
  • 11:23: ... in short, the inertial observer sees the accelerating particle detector click as though it registered a particle, but the excitation behind that ...
  • 11:07: ... out that from the point of view of an inertial observer, an accelerating particle detector emits particles instead of absorbing ...
  • 11:23: ... a particle, but the excitation behind that click is seen to be due to particle emission by the detector rather than the absorption of an Unruh ...
  • 01:07: The particles that make up any system all have some degree of random motion.
  • 01:13: That random motion tends to drive the system towards the most common arrangement of particles.
  • 01:40: So entropy is sort of a measure of the boringness of a system, the commonness of the arrangement of particles.
  • 09:15: ... than the turbulent flow because there are fewer ways to rearrange the particles in the former while preserving its global ...
  • 10:57: Last week, we talked about the mysterious Unruh effect, in which accelerating observers find themselves bathed in a sea of particles.
  • 11:07: ... of view of an inertial observer, an accelerating particle detector emits particles instead of absorbing ...
  • 12:05: The answer is that the accelerating observer perceives themselves to be plowing through a bath of Unruh particles, and these produce the drag.
  • 12:18: Ultimately, that's the source of energy for whatever effects those Unruh particles cause, whether or not you actually see the Unruh particles.

2018-04-04: The Unruh Effect

  • 01:00: As we saw in our episode on horizon radiation, the presence of horizons distorts the quantum vacuum in a way that can create particles.
  • 01:14: It tells us that accelerating observers find themselves in a warm bath of particles.
  • 01:53: A particle not moving at all has a vertical world line.
  • 06:20: ... in the accelerating frame of reference, which leads to the creation of particles in that accelerating ...
  • 06:31: Those particles should have the same type of spectrum as Hawking radiation, a thermal spectrum.
  • 07:33: Where does that energy appear to come from if not from particles?
  • 07:37: A little less gruesomely, imagine the Rindler observer has a particle detector.
  • 07:41: Every time an Unruh particle hits the detector, it would click.
  • 07:45: And the inertial observer would agree that it clicked, but they wouldn't see the particle that triggered it.
  • 07:59: This is a fancy name for a particle in a box.
  • 08:02: This particle is coupled to the quantum field of interest, meaning it can exchange energy with that field.
  • 08:08: That means the particle can be excited into a higher energy quantum state when it encounters a particle associated with that field.
  • 08:15: So as the detector accelerates, Unruh particles appear.
  • 08:19: The detector particle gets excited by an Unruh particle, causing the detector to click.
  • 08:36: ... field theory calculation to understand the coupling between the detector particle and the field, they get that there's a sort of drag or friction turn ...
  • 08:51: That causes energy to be dumped into the detector particle.
  • 08:58: The upshot is that the very existence of particles is observer-dependent.
  • 09:06: A charged particle accelerating in a magnetic field emits radiation, bremsstrahlung radiation.
  • 09:13: An inertial observer sees the charged particle itself radiating, its energy extracted from the magnetic field.
  • 09:19: But an observer accelerating with that charged particle sees it absorbing Unruh particles and then spitting them out again.
  • 09:46: ... difficult to directly observe Unruh particles, although analogies have been observed even in classical systems, like ...
  • 10:29: ... the relationship between the Unruh particle seen by someone hovering at the event horizon and the particles of ...
  • 09:06: A charged particle accelerating in a magnetic field emits radiation, bremsstrahlung radiation.
  • 08:19: The detector particle gets excited by an Unruh particle, causing the detector to click.
  • 07:37: A little less gruesomely, imagine the Rindler observer has a particle detector.
  • 07:41: Every time an Unruh particle hits the detector, it would click.
  • 09:19: But an observer accelerating with that charged particle sees it absorbing Unruh particles and then spitting them out again.
  • 01:00: As we saw in our episode on horizon radiation, the presence of horizons distorts the quantum vacuum in a way that can create particles.
  • 01:14: It tells us that accelerating observers find themselves in a warm bath of particles.
  • 06:20: ... in the accelerating frame of reference, which leads to the creation of particles in that accelerating ...
  • 06:31: Those particles should have the same type of spectrum as Hawking radiation, a thermal spectrum.
  • 07:33: Where does that energy appear to come from if not from particles?
  • 08:15: So as the detector accelerates, Unruh particles appear.
  • 08:58: The upshot is that the very existence of particles is observer-dependent.
  • 09:19: But an observer accelerating with that charged particle sees it absorbing Unruh particles and then spitting them out again.
  • 09:46: ... difficult to directly observe Unruh particles, although analogies have been observed even in classical systems, like ...
  • 10:29: ... the Unruh particle seen by someone hovering at the event horizon and the particles of Hawking radiation seen by a distant ...

2018-03-28: The Andromeda-Milky Way Collision

  • 05:06: They used simulations of the gravitational interactions of millions of particles representing groups of stars and dark matter.
  • 07:22: ... Marel, et al's, simulation follows several candidate suns, simulation particles with similar orbits and masses to our sun, and they track their final ...
  • 10:17: That's very fair, Patrick, but I would say that the evidence is converging on dark matter being some sort of particle or at least a stuff.
  • 05:06: They used simulations of the gravitational interactions of millions of particles representing groups of stars and dark matter.
  • 07:22: ... Marel, et al's, simulation follows several candidate suns, simulation particles with similar orbits and masses to our sun, and they track their final ...
  • 05:06: They used simulations of the gravitational interactions of millions of particles representing groups of stars and dark matter.

2018-03-15: Hawking Radiation

  • 01:54: ... pairs of virtual particles, matter and antimatter, spontaneously appear and then annihilate each ...
  • 03:01: A particle is like a note on the string.
  • 03:04: And just like a real guitar note, real particles tend to be comprised of many vibrational modes.
  • 03:09: Those underlying vibrational modes are still present in the absence of real particles.
  • 03:17: And those fluctuations give us what we think of as virtual particles.
  • 03:21: Now don't take the existence of virtual particles too seriously.
  • 03:51: ... can crudely think of as a balance between virtual matter and antimatter particles. ...
  • 04:03: These all virtually annihilate or cancel out so that no real particles exist.
  • 05:37: By the time this trajectory has found its way back out into flat space again, those fluctuations look like real particles.
  • 05:54: ... the black hole, regions where the nature of vacuums, quantum fields, and particles are perfectly well ...
  • 07:10: That distorted vacuum looks like it's full of particles.
  • 07:29: It produces particles that also have wavelengths about as large as the event horizon.
  • 08:19: It's fair to interpret this mixing as the promotion of what were once virtual particles into reality.
  • 08:57: Well, these are the de Broglie wavelengths of created particles.
  • 09:00: And they tell us that there is an enormous quantum uncertainty in the location of these particles.
  • 09:28: When you turn on your jet pack and hover a fixed distance above the horizon, then you do see particles.
  • 09:39: By the way, Hawking radiation is mostly going to be photons and other massless particles.
  • 09:44: To produce particles with mass, the energy of the radiation has to be high enough to cover the rest mass of the particle.
  • 10:17: ... got the same thermal spectrum for Hawking radiation by thinking about particles escaping from beneath the event horizon through quantum ...
  • 10:32: ... example, uncertainty in position or momentum can lead to particle pairs that we'll want in the same location or modes that we'll want on ...
  • 10:43: Alternatively, uncertainty in energy can lead to particle creation.
  • 10:48: Whichever way you interpret it, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that black holes emit particles.
  • 11:23: For example, what happens to the particles or modes trapped by the black hole?
  • 10:43: Alternatively, uncertainty in energy can lead to particle creation.
  • 10:32: ... example, uncertainty in position or momentum can lead to particle pairs that we'll want in the same location or modes that we'll want on the ...
  • 08:07: OK, so what about the whole picture of particle/antiparticle pairs being pulled apart by the event horizon?
  • 01:54: ... pairs of virtual particles, matter and antimatter, spontaneously appear and then annihilate each ...
  • 03:04: And just like a real guitar note, real particles tend to be comprised of many vibrational modes.
  • 03:09: Those underlying vibrational modes are still present in the absence of real particles.
  • 03:17: And those fluctuations give us what we think of as virtual particles.
  • 03:21: Now don't take the existence of virtual particles too seriously.
  • 03:51: ... can crudely think of as a balance between virtual matter and antimatter particles. ...
  • 04:03: These all virtually annihilate or cancel out so that no real particles exist.
  • 05:37: By the time this trajectory has found its way back out into flat space again, those fluctuations look like real particles.
  • 05:54: ... the black hole, regions where the nature of vacuums, quantum fields, and particles are perfectly well ...
  • 07:10: That distorted vacuum looks like it's full of particles.
  • 07:29: It produces particles that also have wavelengths about as large as the event horizon.
  • 08:19: It's fair to interpret this mixing as the promotion of what were once virtual particles into reality.
  • 08:57: Well, these are the de Broglie wavelengths of created particles.
  • 09:00: And they tell us that there is an enormous quantum uncertainty in the location of these particles.
  • 09:28: When you turn on your jet pack and hover a fixed distance above the horizon, then you do see particles.
  • 09:39: By the way, Hawking radiation is mostly going to be photons and other massless particles.
  • 09:44: To produce particles with mass, the energy of the radiation has to be high enough to cover the rest mass of the particle.
  • 10:17: ... got the same thermal spectrum for Hawking radiation by thinking about particles escaping from beneath the event horizon through quantum ...
  • 10:48: Whichever way you interpret it, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that black holes emit particles.
  • 11:23: For example, what happens to the particles or modes trapped by the black hole?
  • 10:17: ... got the same thermal spectrum for Hawking radiation by thinking about particles escaping from beneath the event horizon through quantum ...
  • 04:03: These all virtually annihilate or cancel out so that no real particles exist.
  • 01:54: ... pairs of virtual particles, matter and antimatter, spontaneously appear and then annihilate each other, ...
  • 03:04: And just like a real guitar note, real particles tend to be comprised of many vibrational modes.

2018-02-28: The Trebuchet Challenge

  • 02:14: ... motion and potential for motion, remains constant, and not just for one particle, but for any system of any number of interacting ...
  • 02:27: After all, the interactions between particles are ultimately due to fundamental forces, which are always conservative.
  • 02:14: ... just for one particle, but for any system of any number of interacting particles. ...
  • 02:27: After all, the interactions between particles are ultimately due to fundamental forces, which are always conservative.

2018-02-21: The Death of the Sun

  • 09:44: ... asked whether the combination of two particles has a different mass when those particles are close together versus when ...
  • 10:59: It represents the energy exchange that would result from a particle or system moving between two points under the action of a conservative force.
  • 09:44: ... asked whether the combination of two particles has a different mass when those particles are close together versus when ...

2018-02-14: What is Energy?

  • 01:15: He realized that the sum of mass times velocity squared for a system of particles bouncing around on a flat surface is conserved.
  • 01:22: It adds up to the same number, even though the speeds of individual particles changes, at least assuming there's no friction and perfect bounciness.
  • 05:45: But ultimately, all fundamental forces are conservative, as long as you consider all of the particles involved.
  • 05:52: For example, the molecules causing air resistance are just tiny particles.
  • 05:57: They exchange kinetic energy with perfect efficiency with the particles comprising the ball.
  • 06:02: If we account for every particle and field involved, then the transaction between kinetic and potential energy is a zero sum game.
  • 06:20: In the case of air resistance, the kinetic energy transfer to the air particles ends up as heat.
  • 06:35: ... to account for the potential energy in the forces that bind subatomic particles together, the energy of mass, which we talk about in earlier ...
  • 07:14: But try to describe the behavior of the countless particles in, say, a stream of water or a universe, and it's pretty hopeless.
  • 07:22: Such systems contain an impossibly large number of particles.
  • 07:26: But there are also an impossibly large number of ways those particles can move from one spot to another.
  • 07:32: Energy doesn't care what the individual particles are doing.
  • 07:53: It ignores the individual particles in the fluid.
  • 08:25: ... equation describes the motion of individual particles but can also describe the evolution of extremely complex systems, for ...
  • 08:50: ... system and allows us to describe anything from the motion of a single particle in Schrodinger's equation to complex interactions of particles and ...
  • 09:26: And the Lagrangian quantum field theory is the basis for high-energy particle physics.
  • 01:15: He realized that the sum of mass times velocity squared for a system of particles bouncing around on a flat surface is conserved.
  • 01:22: It adds up to the same number, even though the speeds of individual particles changes, at least assuming there's no friction and perfect bounciness.
  • 05:45: But ultimately, all fundamental forces are conservative, as long as you consider all of the particles involved.
  • 05:52: For example, the molecules causing air resistance are just tiny particles.
  • 05:57: They exchange kinetic energy with perfect efficiency with the particles comprising the ball.
  • 06:20: In the case of air resistance, the kinetic energy transfer to the air particles ends up as heat.
  • 06:35: ... to account for the potential energy in the forces that bind subatomic particles together, the energy of mass, which we talk about in earlier ...
  • 07:14: But try to describe the behavior of the countless particles in, say, a stream of water or a universe, and it's pretty hopeless.
  • 07:22: Such systems contain an impossibly large number of particles.
  • 07:26: But there are also an impossibly large number of ways those particles can move from one spot to another.
  • 07:32: Energy doesn't care what the individual particles are doing.
  • 07:53: It ignores the individual particles in the fluid.
  • 08:25: ... equation describes the motion of individual particles but can also describe the evolution of extremely complex systems, for ...
  • 08:50: ... a single particle in Schrodinger's equation to complex interactions of particles and fields in quantum field ...
  • 01:15: He realized that the sum of mass times velocity squared for a system of particles bouncing around on a flat surface is conserved.
  • 05:57: They exchange kinetic energy with perfect efficiency with the particles comprising the ball.
  • 06:20: In the case of air resistance, the kinetic energy transfer to the air particles ends up as heat.
  • 05:45: But ultimately, all fundamental forces are conservative, as long as you consider all of the particles involved.

2018-01-24: The End of the Habitable Zone

  • 11:00: Existenceisillusion asked about the nature of the thermal particles produced in horizon radiation.
  • 11:20: ... means the thermal bath of particles should include all particles and their energy distribution should be the ...
  • 11:31: Actually, now that I think about it, that might mean that you would only see particles whose rest masses are less than the allowed energy.
  • 12:13: In fact, as far as I know, there is no derivation of Hawking radiation that invokes the splitting of particle-antiparticle pairs.
  • 11:00: Existenceisillusion asked about the nature of the thermal particles produced in horizon radiation.
  • 11:20: ... means the thermal bath of particles should include all particles and their energy distribution should be the ...
  • 11:31: Actually, now that I think about it, that might mean that you would only see particles whose rest masses are less than the allowed energy.
  • 11:00: Existenceisillusion asked about the nature of the thermal particles produced in horizon radiation.

2018-01-17: Horizon Radiation

  • 00:12: This theory tells us that particles can be created and destroyed during interactions.
  • 00:17: Even so, every observer agrees on whether a particle exists or not, right?
  • 01:45: As it turns out, what gives is the nature of the vacuum, and in fact, the notion of what a particle is becomes observer dependent.
  • 02:22: ... get at this idea of observer dependent particles and vacua, we're going to need some quantum field theory, and we're ...
  • 02:33: In QFT, we think about each particle type as having its own quantum field that exists at all locations in space.
  • 02:40: If the field vibrates with a single quantum of energy, we see a particle.
  • 02:45: That oscillation can be distributed over some region of space, representing the possible positions of the particle.
  • 02:51: The properties of the particles are encoded in the properties of the fields.
  • 02:56: The laws of physics, as we know them, are the rules defining how particles interact.
  • 03:26: That means everyone has to agree on the fundamental nature of the quantum fields that describe these particles and the way they interact.
  • 04:08: To see how this happens, we need to think about how particles, interactions, and vacuums are described in quantum field theory.
  • 04:35: A particle perfectly localized in space-- a single spring or a single point on the drum skin.
  • 04:47: And we interpret each quantum of energy as representing a single particle.
  • 05:03: This coupling allows the oscillation-- the particle to evolve through space.
  • 05:56: So let's take our spatial quantum field-- our drum skin, with its single, localized particle, and transform to momentum space.
  • 06:04: That momentum field also has infinite oscillators, but now each one represents a different possible momentum for the particle.
  • 06:31: ... cancel out everywhere except at the spatial location of the original particle. ...
  • 06:40: The superposition of infinite universe size momentum oscillators-- momentum particles can represent a single spatial oscillator.
  • 06:51: One particle at one point in the universe.
  • 07:06: If we were to make an excitation at a particular spot-- make a particle, we hit that spot with a drumstick and set the oscillation going.
  • 08:12: However, changing the momentum modes does affect the superposition-- the sum of all oscillations, for example, by creating or destroying particles.
  • 08:22: OK, so a single particle can be described as many oscillations in momentum space.
  • 08:28: ... oscillations can be reconfigured with our infinite drumstick to add new particles or remove old ones, for example, to describe a particle interaction like ...
  • 08:51: ... and an annihilation operator that can raise or lower the number of particles, one at a time, by changing the number of particles or oscillations in ...
  • 09:22: As discussed in a previous episode, we can think of the vacuum as a sea of virtual particles.
  • 09:35: Infinite spatially undefined particles with defined momenta, and these just happen to cancel each other out, leaving 0 particles or a vacuum.
  • 10:06: ... we want to make the same particle as before, we need to strike the remaining part of the skin in a very ...
  • 10:26: ... our infinite drumstick, in order to create and annihilate the same particles as we had in an infinite, horizonless ...
  • 11:01: What was once a vacuum now has particles.
  • 11:23: It appears to be bathed in thermal particles-- particles that don't exist for an observer who doesn't see that horizon.
  • 11:31: In some cases, changing the boundaries of space time actually reduces the number of particles, for example, in the Casimir effect.
  • 12:07: It's hard to be sure of anything in this relative universe, whether it's the existence of a particle or funds for a YouTube show.
  • 00:17: Even so, every observer agrees on whether a particle exists or not, right?
  • 08:28: ... to add new particles or remove old ones, for example, to describe a particle interaction like those two photons annihilating into an electron, positron ...
  • 04:35: A particle perfectly localized in space-- a single spring or a single point on the drum skin.
  • 02:33: In QFT, we think about each particle type as having its own quantum field that exists at all locations in space.
  • 00:12: This theory tells us that particles can be created and destroyed during interactions.
  • 02:22: ... get at this idea of observer dependent particles and vacua, we're going to need some quantum field theory, and we're ...
  • 02:51: The properties of the particles are encoded in the properties of the fields.
  • 02:56: The laws of physics, as we know them, are the rules defining how particles interact.
  • 03:26: That means everyone has to agree on the fundamental nature of the quantum fields that describe these particles and the way they interact.
  • 04:08: To see how this happens, we need to think about how particles, interactions, and vacuums are described in quantum field theory.
  • 06:40: The superposition of infinite universe size momentum oscillators-- momentum particles can represent a single spatial oscillator.
  • 08:12: However, changing the momentum modes does affect the superposition-- the sum of all oscillations, for example, by creating or destroying particles.
  • 08:28: ... oscillations can be reconfigured with our infinite drumstick to add new particles or remove old ones, for example, to describe a particle interaction like ...
  • 08:51: ... and an annihilation operator that can raise or lower the number of particles, one at a time, by changing the number of particles or oscillations in ...
  • 09:22: As discussed in a previous episode, we can think of the vacuum as a sea of virtual particles.
  • 09:35: Infinite spatially undefined particles with defined momenta, and these just happen to cancel each other out, leaving 0 particles or a vacuum.
  • 10:26: ... our infinite drumstick, in order to create and annihilate the same particles as we had in an infinite, horizonless ...
  • 11:01: What was once a vacuum now has particles.
  • 11:23: It appears to be bathed in thermal particles-- particles that don't exist for an observer who doesn't see that horizon.
  • 11:31: In some cases, changing the boundaries of space time actually reduces the number of particles, for example, in the Casimir effect.
  • 02:56: The laws of physics, as we know them, are the rules defining how particles interact.
  • 04:08: To see how this happens, we need to think about how particles, interactions, and vacuums are described in quantum field theory.
  • 11:23: It appears to be bathed in thermal particles-- particles that don't exist for an observer who doesn't see that horizon.

2018-01-10: What Do Stars Sound Like?

  • 12:39: In fact, the magnetic field of a gamma ray burst focuses charged particles-- electrons and the nuclei of the exploding star.
  • 12:48: Those particles can then fire photons in our direction in a couple of different possible ways.
  • 12:56: The charged particles spiral around the axial magnetic fields and emit photons as they do.
  • 13:05: ... Particles in the jet bump into existing photons, perhaps synchrotron photons, and ...
  • 13:17: ... the light emitted in the same direction as the near light speed charged particles of the ...
  • 12:39: In fact, the magnetic field of a gamma ray burst focuses charged particles-- electrons and the nuclei of the exploding star.
  • 12:48: Those particles can then fire photons in our direction in a couple of different possible ways.
  • 12:56: The charged particles spiral around the axial magnetic fields and emit photons as they do.
  • 13:05: ... Particles in the jet bump into existing photons, perhaps synchrotron photons, and ...
  • 13:17: ... the light emitted in the same direction as the near light speed charged particles of the ...
  • 12:39: In fact, the magnetic field of a gamma ray burst focuses charged particles-- electrons and the nuclei of the exploding star.
  • 12:56: The charged particles spiral around the axial magnetic fields and emit photons as they do.

2017-12-20: Extinction by Gamma-Ray Burst

  • 02:46: ... light, so ultraviolet, x-rays, gamma rays, and near-light-speed particles-- so cosmic rays-- into the surrounding interstellar ...

2017-12-13: The Origin of 'Oumuamua, Our First Interstellar Visitor

  • 09:50: [INAUDIBLE] Leonard asks whether a particle can have momentum higher than its mass times the speed of light.

2017-12-06: Understanding the Uncertainty Principle with Quantum Fourier Series

  • 00:58: ... universe we experience seems to be constructed of singular particles with well-defined properties, but this intuitive, mechanical reality is ...
  • 01:19: The vacuum itself can be thought of as constructed from the sum of infinite possible particles.
  • 01:51: Try to perfectly nail down a particle's position, and we have complete uncertainty about its momentum.
  • 01:59: And it's not just because our measurement of position requires us to interact with the particle, therefore changing its momentum, no.
  • 06:58: ... De Broglie extended this idea to particles, and his De Broglie relation generalizes the relationship between ...
  • 07:21: So any particle, any wave function, can be represented as a combination of many locations in space, with accompanying intensities.
  • 07:29: ... of it as the particle being smeared over possible positions or as a combination of many ...
  • 07:50: But what does it even mean for a particle to be comprised of waves of many different positions or momenta?
  • 08:06: The magnitude of the wave function squared is the probability distribution for the particle.
  • 08:12: ... then applying the Born rule tells us how likely we are to find the particle at any given point when we make a ...
  • 08:22: Or put another way, the range of positions in which the particle is likely to be located were we to look.
  • 08:30: If we apply the Born rule to the momentum function, then we learn the range of momenta the particle is likely to have.
  • 08:38: So if we measure a particle's position, then from our point of view, it's wave function is highly localized in space.
  • 08:45: We know where the particle is.
  • 08:48: ... resulting particle wave packet, now constrained in position, can only be described as a ...
  • 09:22: ... we increase our certainty of the position of a particle by narrowing the slit, we also increase the uncertainty of its momentum ...
  • 09:50: It's an unavoidable outcome of describing particles as the superposition of waves.
  • 10:26: ... a single particle, a quantum field vibration, perfectly localized at one spot in space, can ...
  • 10:39: But each of these oscillations in momentum space are equivalent to particles with highly specific momenta.
  • 10:51: So a perfectly specially localized particle is equally an infinite number of momentum particles that themselves occupy all locations in the universe.
  • 11:01: ... strange momentum space, by adding and removing these spatially infinite particles, that we can describe how the quantum vacuum changes to give us phenomena ...
  • 08:48: ... resulting particle wave packet, now constrained in position, can only be described as a ...
  • 00:58: ... universe we experience seems to be constructed of singular particles with well-defined properties, but this intuitive, mechanical reality is ...
  • 01:19: The vacuum itself can be thought of as constructed from the sum of infinite possible particles.
  • 01:51: Try to perfectly nail down a particle's position, and we have complete uncertainty about its momentum.
  • 06:58: ... De Broglie extended this idea to particles, and his De Broglie relation generalizes the relationship between ...
  • 08:38: So if we measure a particle's position, then from our point of view, it's wave function is highly localized in space.
  • 09:50: It's an unavoidable outcome of describing particles as the superposition of waves.
  • 10:39: But each of these oscillations in momentum space are equivalent to particles with highly specific momenta.
  • 10:51: So a perfectly specially localized particle is equally an infinite number of momentum particles that themselves occupy all locations in the universe.
  • 11:01: ... strange momentum space, by adding and removing these spatially infinite particles, that we can describe how the quantum vacuum changes to give us phenomena ...
  • 01:51: Try to perfectly nail down a particle's position, and we have complete uncertainty about its momentum.
  • 08:38: So if we measure a particle's position, then from our point of view, it's wave function is highly localized in space.

2017-11-29: Citizen Science + Zero-Point Challenge Answer

  • 08:42: ... wavelengths shorter than 0.1 millimeters definitely exist, and we see particle interactions that require the exchange of much shorter wavelength ...

2017-11-22: Suicide Space Robots

  • 12:46: Hawking radiation is related to this whole vacuum energy virtual particle thing.

2017-11-08: Zero-Point Energy Demystified

  • 02:18: Entropy can be thought of as a measure of the specialness of the arrangement of a system of particles.
  • 02:59: It's a special unusual configuration of particles.
  • 04:22: If you bring a pair of conducting plates very close together, a proportion of the virtual particles will be excluded from between them.
  • 06:02: The fact is, any acceleration of a real particle involves a transfer of momentum between real particles via virtual particles.
  • 06:10: Virtual particles, and hence, the quantum vacuum, mediate all forces.
  • 06:15: However, it's not possible to transfer momentum from a particle to the vacuum without getting another real particle out the other end.
  • 06:23: That momentum must be given up by the vacuum to produce real particles again.
  • 06:28: Those particles would become the propellant carrying momentum away.
  • 06:41: ... particles are somehow extracting momentum from the resonant cavity, then they're ...
  • 06:02: The fact is, any acceleration of a real particle involves a transfer of momentum between real particles via virtual particles.
  • 02:18: Entropy can be thought of as a measure of the specialness of the arrangement of a system of particles.
  • 02:59: It's a special unusual configuration of particles.
  • 04:22: If you bring a pair of conducting plates very close together, a proportion of the virtual particles will be excluded from between them.
  • 06:02: The fact is, any acceleration of a real particle involves a transfer of momentum between real particles via virtual particles.
  • 06:10: Virtual particles, and hence, the quantum vacuum, mediate all forces.
  • 06:23: That momentum must be given up by the vacuum to produce real particles again.
  • 06:28: Those particles would become the propellant carrying momentum away.
  • 06:41: ... particles are somehow extracting momentum from the resonant cavity, then they're ...

2017-11-02: The Vacuum Catastrophe

  • 00:35: Virtual particles appear and vanish from nowhere in seeming violation of our intuitions about the conservation of mass and energy.
  • 00:51: ... zero point energy in the quantum fields that can briefly manifest as particles. ...
  • 01:30: From the perspective of quantum field theory, every point in space is represented by a quantum oscillator, one for each elementary particle type.
  • 01:40: Higher energy oscillations represent the presence of real particles.
  • 01:45: However, even the lowest possible energy oscillation, the one corresponding to the absence of particles, the so-called vacuum state, has some energy.
  • 04:12: In fact, in both quantum mechanics and classical mechanics, a particle's equations of motion depend only on changes in energy.
  • 06:19: An extension to the standard model of particle physics called supersymmetry may partially allow this.
  • 06:25: It gives particles a supersymmetric counterpart that may precisely cancel out their vacuum energy.
  • 10:23: This means it doesn't take much energy to accelerate the particles to very high speeds.
  • 10:28: Temperature is just a measure of the average kinetic energy per particle, so a little bit of energy leads to very high temperatures.
  • 10:43: And how do the particles stay hot?
  • 10:47: As particles essentially never encounter each other, then they aren't bumping around, and that makes it hard to radiate away their heat.
  • 06:19: An extension to the standard model of particle physics called supersymmetry may partially allow this.
  • 01:30: From the perspective of quantum field theory, every point in space is represented by a quantum oscillator, one for each elementary particle type.
  • 00:35: Virtual particles appear and vanish from nowhere in seeming violation of our intuitions about the conservation of mass and energy.
  • 00:51: ... zero point energy in the quantum fields that can briefly manifest as particles. ...
  • 01:40: Higher energy oscillations represent the presence of real particles.
  • 01:45: However, even the lowest possible energy oscillation, the one corresponding to the absence of particles, the so-called vacuum state, has some energy.
  • 04:12: In fact, in both quantum mechanics and classical mechanics, a particle's equations of motion depend only on changes in energy.
  • 06:25: It gives particles a supersymmetric counterpart that may precisely cancel out their vacuum energy.
  • 10:23: This means it doesn't take much energy to accelerate the particles to very high speeds.
  • 10:43: And how do the particles stay hot?
  • 10:47: As particles essentially never encounter each other, then they aren't bumping around, and that makes it hard to radiate away their heat.
  • 04:12: In fact, in both quantum mechanics and classical mechanics, a particle's equations of motion depend only on changes in energy.
  • 10:47: As particles essentially never encounter each other, then they aren't bumping around, and that makes it hard to radiate away their heat.
  • 10:43: And how do the particles stay hot?

2017-10-25: The Missing Mass Mystery

  • 02:30: By the way, a baryon is a 3-quark particle like a proton or a neutron.
  • 11:02: Last week, we talked about virtual particles, zero point energies and the nature of nothing.
  • 11:59: ... Zambelli asked whether the annihilation of virtual matter anti-matter particles would introduce energy into the universe and therefore violate the law ...
  • 12:16: On particle annihilation, it's given back without producing a real photon.
  • 12:21: ... also asks, if virtual particles control faster than the speed of light, can't they escape the event ...
  • 12:16: On particle annihilation, it's given back without producing a real photon.
  • 11:02: Last week, we talked about virtual particles, zero point energies and the nature of nothing.
  • 11:59: ... Zambelli asked whether the annihilation of virtual matter anti-matter particles would introduce energy into the universe and therefore violate the law ...
  • 12:21: ... also asks, if virtual particles control faster than the speed of light, can't they escape the event ...

2017-10-19: The Nature of Nothing

  • 00:30: There's also the ambient electromagnetic buzz from the surrounding city and a stream of exotic particles from the surrounding cosmos.
  • 01:03: Zero kelvin means no motion whatsoever in a substances constituent particles.
  • 01:09: ... that perfect stillness implies that a particle's position and momentum are simultaneously perfectly defined, and this is ...
  • 01:21: Fix a particle's position, and its momentum, and so its motion, becomes a quantum blur of many possible momenta.
  • 01:42: But hypothetically, what would perfectly empty space look like, far from the nearest particle of matter or radiation?
  • 02:08: In short, space itself is comprised of fundamental quantum fields, one for each elementary particle.
  • 02:41: In each quantum state, so each combination of particle properties, there is a ladder of energy levels, a bit like electron orbitals in an atom.
  • 02:50: Each new rung of the ladder represents the existence of one additional particle in that quantum state.
  • 02:57: In fact, the math of quantum field theory is all about going up and down this particle ladder, using so-called creation and annihilation operators.
  • 03:12: ... to these quantum oscillators having no energy, which means there are no particles in a given quantum ...
  • 04:13: But sometimes the field finds itself with enough energy to create a particle, seemingly out of nothing.
  • 04:20: ... call these virtual particles, and they seem to be the machinery under the hood of all particle ...
  • 04:33: For example, QFT describes the electromagnetic force as the exchange of virtual photons between charged particles.
  • 04:41: Virtual particles are the links governing all particle interactions in the famous Feynman diagrams.
  • 04:48: But to properly calculate an interaction of real particles, every imaginable behavior of the connecting virtual particles must be accounted for.
  • 05:01: For example, in QFT, virtual particles can have any mass and any speed, including speeds faster than light, and can even travel backwards in time.
  • 05:16: The ambiguous realness of virtual particles seems to grant them some surreal freedoms, but there are restrictions.
  • 05:24: For example, quantum conservation laws must be obeyed, so most virtual particles are created in particle-antiparticle pairs.
  • 05:33: But the ultimate price is that virtual particles can exist only for the instant allowed by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
  • 05:41: And the higher the energy of the particle, the less time it can exist.
  • 06:23: ... can be argued that virtual particles are just a mathematical tool to describe the behavior of a dynamic ...
  • 06:45: Real or not, the calculations of QFT, which hinge on these particles, are stunningly accurate.
  • 06:57: They live in the interval between measurements of real particles.
  • 07:10: ... first hint of the existence of virtual particles came in 1947, when Willis Lamb and Robert Rutherford noticed a tiny ...
  • 08:15: Another way to hunt for virtual particles is through their bulk effect on the vacuum.
  • 08:20: ... if quantum fields are abuzz with particles popping into and out of existence, then the so-called zero point energy ...
  • 10:53: ... field theory, with its dependence on virtual particles and vacuum fluctuations, is one of the most successful theories in all ...
  • 13:26: Any particle with integer spin is a boson.
  • 13:32: ... we typically think of meta particles as fermions because the elementary particles that form atoms are all ...
  • 14:26: ... normal positive temperatures, particle kinetic energies span a large range, but always have a distribution ...
  • 14:38: But at negative temperatures, most particles are excited towards the highest possible energy states.
  • 15:11: But when you stack particles towards the highest energy states, that's a special arrangement, making it low entropy.
  • 15:20: Add more energy, and more particles reach the highest energy state, which decreases entropy further.
  • 04:20: ... particles, and they seem to be the machinery under the hood of all particle interactions in the universe, at least as described by quantum field ...
  • 04:41: Virtual particles are the links governing all particle interactions in the famous Feynman diagrams.
  • 14:26: ... normal positive temperatures, particle kinetic energies span a large range, but always have a distribution ...
  • 02:57: In fact, the math of quantum field theory is all about going up and down this particle ladder, using so-called creation and annihilation operators.
  • 02:41: In each quantum state, so each combination of particle properties, there is a ladder of energy levels, a bit like electron orbitals in an atom.
  • 04:13: But sometimes the field finds itself with enough energy to create a particle, seemingly out of nothing.
  • 05:24: For example, quantum conservation laws must be obeyed, so most virtual particles are created in particle-antiparticle pairs.
  • 07:50: Virtual particle-antiparticle pairs in the space between the orbitals and the nucleus align themselves with the electric field.
  • 05:24: For example, quantum conservation laws must be obeyed, so most virtual particles are created in particle-antiparticle pairs.
  • 07:50: Virtual particle-antiparticle pairs in the space between the orbitals and the nucleus align themselves with the electric field.
  • 05:24: For example, quantum conservation laws must be obeyed, so most virtual particles are created in particle-antiparticle pairs.
  • 07:50: Virtual particle-antiparticle pairs in the space between the orbitals and the nucleus align themselves with the electric field.
  • 00:30: There's also the ambient electromagnetic buzz from the surrounding city and a stream of exotic particles from the surrounding cosmos.
  • 01:03: Zero kelvin means no motion whatsoever in a substances constituent particles.
  • 01:09: ... that perfect stillness implies that a particle's position and momentum are simultaneously perfectly defined, and this is ...
  • 01:21: Fix a particle's position, and its momentum, and so its motion, becomes a quantum blur of many possible momenta.
  • 03:12: ... to these quantum oscillators having no energy, which means there are no particles in a given quantum ...
  • 04:20: ... call these virtual particles, and they seem to be the machinery under the hood of all particle ...
  • 04:33: For example, QFT describes the electromagnetic force as the exchange of virtual photons between charged particles.
  • 04:41: Virtual particles are the links governing all particle interactions in the famous Feynman diagrams.
  • 04:48: But to properly calculate an interaction of real particles, every imaginable behavior of the connecting virtual particles must be accounted for.
  • 05:01: For example, in QFT, virtual particles can have any mass and any speed, including speeds faster than light, and can even travel backwards in time.
  • 05:16: The ambiguous realness of virtual particles seems to grant them some surreal freedoms, but there are restrictions.
  • 05:24: For example, quantum conservation laws must be obeyed, so most virtual particles are created in particle-antiparticle pairs.
  • 05:33: But the ultimate price is that virtual particles can exist only for the instant allowed by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
  • 06:23: ... can be argued that virtual particles are just a mathematical tool to describe the behavior of a dynamic ...
  • 06:45: Real or not, the calculations of QFT, which hinge on these particles, are stunningly accurate.
  • 06:57: They live in the interval between measurements of real particles.
  • 07:10: ... first hint of the existence of virtual particles came in 1947, when Willis Lamb and Robert Rutherford noticed a tiny ...
  • 08:15: Another way to hunt for virtual particles is through their bulk effect on the vacuum.
  • 08:20: ... if quantum fields are abuzz with particles popping into and out of existence, then the so-called zero point energy ...
  • 10:53: ... field theory, with its dependence on virtual particles and vacuum fluctuations, is one of the most successful theories in all ...
  • 13:32: ... we typically think of meta particles as fermions because the elementary particles that form atoms are all ...
  • 14:38: But at negative temperatures, most particles are excited towards the highest possible energy states.
  • 15:11: But when you stack particles towards the highest energy states, that's a special arrangement, making it low entropy.
  • 15:20: Add more energy, and more particles reach the highest energy state, which decreases entropy further.
  • 08:20: ... if quantum fields are abuzz with particles popping into and out of existence, then the so-called zero point energy of those ...
  • 01:09: ... that perfect stillness implies that a particle's position and momentum are simultaneously perfectly defined, and this is ...
  • 01:21: Fix a particle's position, and its momentum, and so its motion, becomes a quantum blur of many possible momenta.
  • 15:20: Add more energy, and more particles reach the highest energy state, which decreases entropy further.

2017-10-11: Absolute Cold

  • 00:16: [MUSIC PLAYING] The mystical-seeming quality of heat is nothing more than the motion of a substance component particles.
  • 00:37: But what if we reduce temperatures so much that all particle motion ceases?
  • 01:45: In these states of matter, particles have an enormous range of individual energies, some moving or vibrating fast, some slow.
  • 01:52: Temperature just represents the average kinetic energy of the countless particles.
  • 01:57: And while a substance can theoretically have any temperature above absolute zero, its component particles cannot.
  • 02:05: Those particles are quantum creatures.
  • 02:15: This quantum nature is revealed when we look at the spectrum of light produced as those particles hop between energy levels.
  • 02:46: As we sap energy out of certain substances, its particles drop into the lowest possible energy state.
  • 02:53: Once nearly all particles occupy that one quantum state, they share a single, coherent wave function.
  • 03:08: Individual particles can no longer be bumped or jostled out of that lower state.
  • 04:00: Helium 4 has a total spin of 0, which makes it a boson so a particle with integer spin.
  • 04:40: In theory, absolute zero temperature means no thermal energy so no internal motion of particles whatsoever.
  • 04:49: But what does it mean for a particle to be completely still?
  • 05:11: For example, the more precisely a quantum particle's position is defined, the less defined is its momentum.
  • 05:20: A particle with a perfectly defined position has a perfectly undefined momentum.
  • 05:26: So try to fix a particle's position perfectly, try to hold it still, and its momentum enters a state of quantum haziness.
  • 05:38: At the lowest temperatures, particle motion acquires a sort of quantum buzz.
  • 06:00: For a group of particles that make up any form of matter, that zero-point energy isn't actually zero.
  • 00:37: But what if we reduce temperatures so much that all particle motion ceases?
  • 05:38: At the lowest temperatures, particle motion acquires a sort of quantum buzz.
  • 00:37: But what if we reduce temperatures so much that all particle motion ceases?
  • 00:16: [MUSIC PLAYING] The mystical-seeming quality of heat is nothing more than the motion of a substance component particles.
  • 01:45: In these states of matter, particles have an enormous range of individual energies, some moving or vibrating fast, some slow.
  • 01:52: Temperature just represents the average kinetic energy of the countless particles.
  • 01:57: And while a substance can theoretically have any temperature above absolute zero, its component particles cannot.
  • 02:05: Those particles are quantum creatures.
  • 02:15: This quantum nature is revealed when we look at the spectrum of light produced as those particles hop between energy levels.
  • 02:46: As we sap energy out of certain substances, its particles drop into the lowest possible energy state.
  • 02:53: Once nearly all particles occupy that one quantum state, they share a single, coherent wave function.
  • 03:08: Individual particles can no longer be bumped or jostled out of that lower state.
  • 04:40: In theory, absolute zero temperature means no thermal energy so no internal motion of particles whatsoever.
  • 05:11: For example, the more precisely a quantum particle's position is defined, the less defined is its momentum.
  • 05:26: So try to fix a particle's position perfectly, try to hold it still, and its momentum enters a state of quantum haziness.
  • 06:00: For a group of particles that make up any form of matter, that zero-point energy isn't actually zero.
  • 02:46: As we sap energy out of certain substances, its particles drop into the lowest possible energy state.
  • 02:15: This quantum nature is revealed when we look at the spectrum of light produced as those particles hop between energy levels.
  • 02:53: Once nearly all particles occupy that one quantum state, they share a single, coherent wave function.
  • 05:11: For example, the more precisely a quantum particle's position is defined, the less defined is its momentum.
  • 05:26: So try to fix a particle's position perfectly, try to hold it still, and its momentum enters a state of quantum haziness.
  • 04:40: In theory, absolute zero temperature means no thermal energy so no internal motion of particles whatsoever.

2017-10-04: When Quasars Collide STJC

  • 05:02: That field can accelerate narrow streams of high-energy particles away from the black hole.
  • 11:06: The standard model of particle physics contains 26 independent parameters, things like the coupling constants and the masses of each particle type.
  • 05:02: That field can accelerate narrow streams of high-energy particles away from the black hole.

2017-09-28: Are the Fundamental Constants Changing?

  • 00:30: [MUSIC PLAYING] The laws of physics are the relationships we observe between space and time, and the fields and particles that occupy it.
  • 00:50: ... example, the standard model of particle physics is comprised of equations that predict the existence and ...
  • 00:30: [MUSIC PLAYING] The laws of physics are the relationships we observe between space and time, and the fields and particles that occupy it.

2017-09-20: The Future of Space Telescopes

  • 08:46: ... proposed we use photon pressure to suspend a cloud of tiny reflective particles in Earth's ...
  • 09:01: ... particles would be fractions of a millimeter in size, small enough that commercial ...
  • 08:46: ... proposed we use photon pressure to suspend a cloud of tiny reflective particles in Earth's ...
  • 09:01: ... particles would be fractions of a millimeter in size, small enough that commercial ...

2017-09-13: Neutron Stars Collide in New LIGO Signal?

  • 02:39: ... have enormous magnetic fields that result in jets of near light speed particles that sweep through space like a ...

2017-08-16: Extraterrestrial Superstorms

  • 12:11: ... natural extension would be that every elementary particle along with its anti-particle counterpart is the same particle bouncing ...

2017-08-10: The One-Electron Universe

  • 02:34: It exists as a line traced by its passage through space and time, rather than as a point-like particle at one instant in time.
  • 03:45: Well, moving charged particles also produce a current-- an electric currents.
  • 04:36: But reversing a particle's motion is mathematically the same as watching it in reverse time.
  • 04:43: ... goes backwards, just that if you reverse the ticking of the clock in the particles coordinate frame, its direction of motion appears reversed, which has ...
  • 04:58: In a quantum field theory that's consistent with Einstein's special relativity, all particles must be symmetric under what we call CPT transformation.
  • 05:21: P is parity inversion, which can be thought of as reflecting the particle like in a mirror.
  • 05:27: ... at the same time-- flip the charge, invert the parity, reverse time-- a particle should end up back where it ...
  • 05:56: But a charge flip just turns a particle into its anti-matter counterpart.
  • 06:49: That virtual particle in the middle may be an electron traveling forwards or backwards in time.
  • 07:11: Similarly, the creation of a particle pair is the electron being scattered in time.
  • 08:45: ... that every electron-- indeed every particle in our bodies, in everyone's bodies-- is the same particle separated ...
  • 10:05: As long as the incoming and outgoing particles have the same momenta, these two are part of the same overall interaction.
  • 07:11: Similarly, the creation of a particle pair is the electron being scattered in time.
  • 08:45: ... indeed every particle in our bodies, in everyone's bodies-- is the same particle separated from itself by countless passages across the cosmos and across all of ...
  • 03:45: Well, moving charged particles also produce a current-- an electric currents.
  • 04:36: But reversing a particle's motion is mathematically the same as watching it in reverse time.
  • 04:43: ... goes backwards, just that if you reverse the ticking of the clock in the particles coordinate frame, its direction of motion appears reversed, which has ...
  • 04:58: In a quantum field theory that's consistent with Einstein's special relativity, all particles must be symmetric under what we call CPT transformation.
  • 10:05: As long as the incoming and outgoing particles have the same momenta, these two are part of the same overall interaction.
  • 04:43: ... goes backwards, just that if you reverse the ticking of the clock in the particles coordinate frame, its direction of motion appears reversed, which has the same ...
  • 04:36: But reversing a particle's motion is mathematically the same as watching it in reverse time.

2017-08-02: Dark Flow

  • 10:30: Incoming and outgoing particles must obey energy and momentum conservation.
  • 10:53: Well, actually, the spatial positions and even directions of motions of particles in the diagrams don't mean much at all.
  • 11:01: Each incoming and outgoing particle is identified with a numerical position and momentum.
  • 11:27: The answer is that the states of the outgoing particles are also entangled with that other electron.
  • 11:34: Upon measurement of the properties of the outgoing particles, weed entanglement correlations can still occur.
  • 10:30: Incoming and outgoing particles must obey energy and momentum conservation.
  • 10:53: Well, actually, the spatial positions and even directions of motions of particles in the diagrams don't mean much at all.
  • 11:27: The answer is that the states of the outgoing particles are also entangled with that other electron.
  • 11:34: Upon measurement of the properties of the outgoing particles, weed entanglement correlations can still occur.

2017-07-26: The Secrets of Feynman Diagrams

  • 00:03: ... Feynman diagrams revolutionized particle physics by providing a simple system to sort out the infinite ...
  • 00:19: ... path integral shows us that to properly calculate the probability of a particle traveling between two points, we need to add up the contributions from ...
  • 02:47: None of these particles are doing anything worth calculating.
  • 02:59: Particle/field interactions are represented as a vertex, a point where the lines representing the different particles come together.
  • 03:31: ... represents an initial electron that emits a photon, after which, both particles move off in opposite ...
  • 04:35: ... of conservation laws-- energy and momentum conservation requires that particles not just vanish or appear from nothing, which guarantees that if ...
  • 05:11: ... are other more complex ways in which ingoing and outgoing particles can balance charge, but as we'll see, all of these can be built up from ...
  • 05:25: The overall interaction described by a set of Feynman diagrams is defined by the particles going in and the particles going out.
  • 05:34: These are the particles that we actually measure.
  • 05:45: We say that these particles are on the mass shell, or just on shell.
  • 06:06: Each possible diagram that results in the same ingoing and outgoing particles is a valid part of the possibility space for that interaction.
  • 06:15: The particles that have their entire existence between vertices within the diagram but don't enter or leave are called virtual particles.
  • 06:25: Their correspondence to anything resembling real particles is debatable.
  • 06:33: Otherwise, they'd be one of our ingoing or going particles.
  • 06:37: These particles do not obey mass-energy equivalence.
  • 06:44: These particles aren't even limited by the speed of light or the direction of time, which leads to all sorts of fun.
  • 07:47: To start with, each of the particle paths are actually infinite paths.
  • 07:51: As well as infinite possibilities for particle momenta, we have to consider even impossible faster than light paths.
  • 08:01: For any particle besides the going and outgoing on shell particles, any energy, speed, and even direction in time is possible.
  • 08:56: ... that intermediate stage between vertices, the electron is a virtual particle, which means we include all possible paths it might take, as long as they ...
  • 09:20: The same particles go in and out, but now, the interactions look very different.
  • 07:51: As well as infinite possibilities for particle momenta, we have to consider even impossible faster than light paths.
  • 07:47: To start with, each of the particle paths are actually infinite paths.
  • 00:03: ... Feynman diagrams revolutionized particle physics by providing a simple system to sort out the infinite possibilities when ...
  • 00:19: ... path integral shows us that to properly calculate the probability of a particle traveling between two points, we need to add up the contributions from all ...
  • 02:59: Particle/field interactions are represented as a vertex, a point where the lines representing the different particles come together.
  • 00:03: ... a simple system to sort out the infinite possibilities when elementary particles ...
  • 02:47: None of these particles are doing anything worth calculating.
  • 02:59: Particle/field interactions are represented as a vertex, a point where the lines representing the different particles come together.
  • 03:31: ... represents an initial electron that emits a photon, after which, both particles move off in opposite ...
  • 04:35: ... of conservation laws-- energy and momentum conservation requires that particles not just vanish or appear from nothing, which guarantees that if ...
  • 05:11: ... are other more complex ways in which ingoing and outgoing particles can balance charge, but as we'll see, all of these can be built up from ...
  • 05:25: The overall interaction described by a set of Feynman diagrams is defined by the particles going in and the particles going out.
  • 05:34: These are the particles that we actually measure.
  • 05:45: We say that these particles are on the mass shell, or just on shell.
  • 06:06: Each possible diagram that results in the same ingoing and outgoing particles is a valid part of the possibility space for that interaction.
  • 06:15: The particles that have their entire existence between vertices within the diagram but don't enter or leave are called virtual particles.
  • 06:25: Their correspondence to anything resembling real particles is debatable.
  • 06:33: Otherwise, they'd be one of our ingoing or going particles.
  • 06:37: These particles do not obey mass-energy equivalence.
  • 06:44: These particles aren't even limited by the speed of light or the direction of time, which leads to all sorts of fun.
  • 08:01: For any particle besides the going and outgoing on shell particles, any energy, speed, and even direction in time is possible.
  • 09:20: The same particles go in and out, but now, the interactions look very different.
  • 00:03: ... a simple system to sort out the infinite possibilities when elementary particles interact. ...

2017-07-19: The Real Star Wars

  • 10:08: ... based lasers, which supposedly blinded some US spy satellites, and particle beams, actual death rays, which never really ...
  • 17:50: I think we have a particle physicist in the house.
  • 10:08: ... based lasers, which supposedly blinded some US spy satellites, and particle beams, actual death rays, which never really ...
  • 17:50: I think we have a particle physicist in the house.

2017-07-12: Solving the Impossible in Quantum Field Theory

  • 00:27: ... of quantum field theory allow us to calculate the behavior of subatomic particles by expressing them as vibrations in quantum ...
  • 02:55: There are other types of virtual particle whose existence is similarly ambiguous.
  • 11:08: ... diagrams successfully describe everything from particle scattering, self-energy interactions, matter-anti-media creation and ...
  • 11:41: The results led to the standard model of particle physics.
  • 13:41: In Schrodinger's equation, all of the particles are tracked according to one universal master clock.
  • 13:48: ... Feynman's approach, each particle is tracked according to its own proper time clock, which can vary in its ...
  • 14:10: [INAUDIBLE] points out that the final probability for a particle journey is the square of the length of the complex probability amplitude vector.
  • 15:03: Feynman didn't limit particle velocity to the speed of light.
  • 14:10: [INAUDIBLE] points out that the final probability for a particle journey is the square of the length of the complex probability amplitude vector.
  • 11:41: The results led to the standard model of particle physics.
  • 11:08: ... diagrams successfully describe everything from particle scattering, self-energy interactions, matter-anti-media creation and annihilation, ...
  • 15:03: Feynman didn't limit particle velocity to the speed of light.
  • 08:21: ... loop interactions, like when a photon momentarily becomes a virtual particle-anti-particle pair and then reverts to a photon again, or when a single electron emits ...
  • 10:27: ... for example, the infinite shielding of electric charge due to virtual particle-anti-particle pairs popping into and out of ...
  • 08:21: ... loop interactions, like when a photon momentarily becomes a virtual particle-anti-particle pair and then reverts to a photon again, or when a single electron emits ...
  • 10:27: ... for example, the infinite shielding of electric charge due to virtual particle-anti-particle pairs popping into and out of ...
  • 08:21: ... loop interactions, like when a photon momentarily becomes a virtual particle-anti-particle pair and then reverts to a photon again, or when a single electron emits and ...
  • 10:27: ... for example, the infinite shielding of electric charge due to virtual particle-anti-particle pairs popping into and out of ...
  • 00:27: ... of quantum field theory allow us to calculate the behavior of subatomic particles by expressing them as vibrations in quantum ...
  • 13:41: In Schrodinger's equation, all of the particles are tracked according to one universal master clock.

2017-07-07: Feynman's Infinite Quantum Paths

  • 00:44: Knowing a particle's location perfectly means its velocity is unknowable.
  • 01:10: ... the too long, didn't watch for the double-slit experiment is this-- a particle, say a photon or an electron, travels through a barrier containing two ...
  • 01:27: ... interference pattern produced by particles on the screen can only be explained if each of them travels through both ...
  • 01:52: ... prof showed how the locations of the particles on the screen can be calculated by adding the amplitude of a wave ...
  • 03:09: ... idea is essentially this-- to know the likelihood of a particle traveling between two points, A to B, we need to take into account all ...
  • 03:40: ... combine the infinite paths to give a very real finite probability of a particle reaching its final ...
  • 03:51: ... for the journey into small intervals and at each time step allow the particle to take any conceivable straight-line step in ...
  • 05:24: Feynman instead used quantum action to assign an importance, a weight, to each of the infinite paths that a single particle could take.
  • 05:33: ... from all of those infinite possible paths to find the probability of a particle making that simple journey from A to ...
  • 06:32: But to get the total probability that a particle travels from A to B, you connect the probability amplitude arrows for all possible paths end to end.
  • 07:51: ... a bit more work and help from others, like figuring out how to add particles with spin, the path integral approach is both mathematically equivalent ...
  • 08:10: This action quantity is a function of the particle's path through space-time.
  • 08:50: See, when I say there are lots of ways for a particle to travel from point A to B, I mean lots.
  • 08:56: It's not just that a particle can travel infinite physical paths.
  • 09:00: Also, infinite things can happen to the particle on the way.
  • 09:26: Let's not even get started with the complexity of two or more particles interacting.
  • 09:31: ... oscillating fields just as well as it can describe a universe of moving particles. ...
  • 09:44: Instead of adding up all possible paths that particles can take, you instead add up all possible histories of quantum fields.
  • 10:54: However, unlike the ridiculous infinite trajectories a particle can take, those infinite events don't cancel out nearly so neatly.
  • 14:06: ... points out that if matter and antimatter particles are always created in pairs, shouldn't there be just as much antimatter ...
  • 14:27: Almost all of the matter and antimatter annihilated each other, leaving only one in a billion particles of matter.
  • 15:07: Quantum field theory describes particles as a field vibration in 4D space-time.
  • 15:13: And each elementary particle has its own field.
  • 15:16: String theory states that all particles are different vibrational modes in one-dimensional objects called strings.
  • 05:33: ... from all of those infinite possible paths to find the probability of a particle making that simple journey from A to ...
  • 03:40: ... combine the infinite paths to give a very real finite probability of a particle reaching its final ...
  • 03:09: ... idea is essentially this-- to know the likelihood of a particle traveling between two points, A to B, we need to take into account all of the ...
  • 06:32: But to get the total probability that a particle travels from A to B, you connect the probability amplitude arrows for all possible paths end to end.
  • 09:17: And a traveling electron could emit and reabsorb a photon, which itself could make its own particle-antiparticle pair ad infinitum.
  • 00:44: Knowing a particle's location perfectly means its velocity is unknowable.
  • 01:27: ... interference pattern produced by particles on the screen can only be explained if each of them travels through both ...
  • 01:52: ... prof showed how the locations of the particles on the screen can be calculated by adding the amplitude of a wave ...
  • 07:51: ... a bit more work and help from others, like figuring out how to add particles with spin, the path integral approach is both mathematically equivalent ...
  • 08:10: This action quantity is a function of the particle's path through space-time.
  • 09:26: Let's not even get started with the complexity of two or more particles interacting.
  • 09:31: ... oscillating fields just as well as it can describe a universe of moving particles. ...
  • 09:44: Instead of adding up all possible paths that particles can take, you instead add up all possible histories of quantum fields.
  • 14:06: ... points out that if matter and antimatter particles are always created in pairs, shouldn't there be just as much antimatter ...
  • 14:27: Almost all of the matter and antimatter annihilated each other, leaving only one in a billion particles of matter.
  • 15:07: Quantum field theory describes particles as a field vibration in 4D space-time.
  • 15:16: String theory states that all particles are different vibrational modes in one-dimensional objects called strings.
  • 09:26: Let's not even get started with the complexity of two or more particles interacting.
  • 00:44: Knowing a particle's location perfectly means its velocity is unknowable.
  • 08:10: This action quantity is a function of the particle's path through space-time.

2017-06-28: The First Quantum Field Theory

  • 01:18: ... Field Theory, QFT, describes all elementary particles as vibrational modes in fundamental fields that exist at all points in ...
  • 05:48: It's terrible for many particle systems.
  • 05:52: It follows the changing position and momentum and generally the physical quantum state of every individual particle but that's extremely inefficient.
  • 06:02: See, two of the same type of elementary particle are indistinguishable from each other.
  • 06:15: ... the quantum state of every individual particle is like trying to do your finances by tagging and tracking the movement ...
  • 06:50: If you try to track individual particles, you're at risk of double-counting.
  • 06:55: You end up with multiple arrangements of particles that are actually the same arrangement due to the particles being identical to each other.
  • 07:12: Instead of quantizing particles' physical properties like position and momentum, as did Schrodinger, Dirac quantized the electromagnetic field itself.
  • 07:53: His mathematics, then, kept track of the number of particles, or quantum oscillations, in each of these states.
  • 08:26: He also coined the name second quantization for the process of counting the changing number of quantum oscillations, or particles per state.
  • 08:36: Schrodinger's approach of tracking the changing quantum state of each particle became the first quantization.
  • 08:50: See, Schrodinger's approach has no idea how to destroy a particle.
  • 08:56: All it can do is move particles around via their evolving wave functions.
  • 09:02: Yet, in particle interactions, particles are created and destroyed all the time.
  • 09:18: But the second quantization is all about creating and destroying particles.
  • 10:13: Spurred by its success in describing electromagnetism, physicists soon extended the second quantization approach to other elementary particles.
  • 10:26: ... or electron quark, et cetera, per quantum state, rather than infinite particles in the case of the ...
  • 10:39: Nonetheless, second quantization works for all elementary particles.
  • 10:55: So does this mean that all particles are also oscillations in fields?
  • 11:02: In fact, every base elementary particle has its own field.
  • 11:13: Fields are fundamental and particles and their antimatter counterparts are just ways in which that field vibrates.
  • 11:28: ... for every type of quark-antiquark pair, for every type of force-carrying particle-- so-called bosons, like photons and gluons-- and of course for the famous ...
  • 14:18: However, the Klein Gordon equation is actually the exactly right description for particles with no spin.
  • 09:02: Yet, in particle interactions, particles are created and destroyed all the time.
  • 11:28: ... for every type of quark-antiquark pair, for every type of force-carrying particle-- so-called bosons, like photons and gluons-- and of course for the famous Higgs ...
  • 05:48: It's terrible for many particle systems.
  • 01:18: ... Field Theory, QFT, describes all elementary particles as vibrational modes in fundamental fields that exist at all points in ...
  • 06:50: If you try to track individual particles, you're at risk of double-counting.
  • 06:55: You end up with multiple arrangements of particles that are actually the same arrangement due to the particles being identical to each other.
  • 07:12: Instead of quantizing particles' physical properties like position and momentum, as did Schrodinger, Dirac quantized the electromagnetic field itself.
  • 07:53: His mathematics, then, kept track of the number of particles, or quantum oscillations, in each of these states.
  • 08:26: He also coined the name second quantization for the process of counting the changing number of quantum oscillations, or particles per state.
  • 08:56: All it can do is move particles around via their evolving wave functions.
  • 09:02: Yet, in particle interactions, particles are created and destroyed all the time.
  • 09:18: But the second quantization is all about creating and destroying particles.
  • 10:13: Spurred by its success in describing electromagnetism, physicists soon extended the second quantization approach to other elementary particles.
  • 10:26: ... or electron quark, et cetera, per quantum state, rather than infinite particles in the case of the ...
  • 10:39: Nonetheless, second quantization works for all elementary particles.
  • 10:55: So does this mean that all particles are also oscillations in fields?
  • 11:13: Fields are fundamental and particles and their antimatter counterparts are just ways in which that field vibrates.
  • 14:18: However, the Klein Gordon equation is actually the exactly right description for particles with no spin.
  • 07:12: Instead of quantizing particles' physical properties like position and momentum, as did Schrodinger, Dirac quantized the electromagnetic field itself.

2017-06-21: Anti-Matter and Quantum Relativity

  • 00:50: By the late 1920s, Einstein and Planck had already shown that light is a particle, as well as a wave.
  • 01:01: Bohr, Heisenberg, Born, Pauli, and others pieced together a mathematical description for the weird nature of subatomic particles.
  • 01:56: ... the Schrodinger equation tracks the evolution of a particle's wave function according to one and only one clock, typically the clock ...
  • 02:17: Subatomic particles are often moving at close to the speed of light.
  • 02:21: ... other problem with the Schrodinger equation is that it describes particles as simple wave functions, distributions of possible positions and ...
  • 02:33: Yet, we now know that many elementary particles have an internal property called spin.
  • 03:20: In fact, it applies to all particles called fermions.
  • 07:45: That hole should act like a particle all by itself.
  • 08:38: We now know that every elementary particle has an associated field, that fills all of space.
  • 08:53: And the elementary particles that we know and love are just regions where a field has a bit more energy.
  • 10:20: So all elementary particles have a quantum field and all have an anti-matter counterpart.
  • 10:27: Just as with the holes in the Dirac sea, anti-matter particles have the same mass as their counterparts, but opposite charge.
  • 11:03: ... and quantum field theory and the development of the standard model of particle physics, which have become our best description of the underlying ...
  • 14:38: ... to fill that universe, fundamentally changing the way its elementary particles ...
  • 11:03: ... and quantum field theory and the development of the standard model of particle physics, which have become our best description of the underlying workings of ...
  • 01:01: Bohr, Heisenberg, Born, Pauli, and others pieced together a mathematical description for the weird nature of subatomic particles.
  • 01:56: ... the Schrodinger equation tracks the evolution of a particle's wave function according to one and only one clock, typically the clock ...
  • 02:17: Subatomic particles are often moving at close to the speed of light.
  • 02:21: ... other problem with the Schrodinger equation is that it describes particles as simple wave functions, distributions of possible positions and ...
  • 02:33: Yet, we now know that many elementary particles have an internal property called spin.
  • 03:20: In fact, it applies to all particles called fermions.
  • 08:53: And the elementary particles that we know and love are just regions where a field has a bit more energy.
  • 10:20: So all elementary particles have a quantum field and all have an anti-matter counterpart.
  • 10:27: Just as with the holes in the Dirac sea, anti-matter particles have the same mass as their counterparts, but opposite charge.
  • 14:38: ... to fill that universe, fundamentally changing the way its elementary particles ...
  • 03:20: In fact, it applies to all particles called fermions.
  • 01:56: ... the Schrodinger equation tracks the evolution of a particle's wave function according to one and only one clock, typically the clock in the ...
  • 05:45: The resulting Dirac equation describes the spacetime evolution of this weird four-component particle-wave function, represented by the symbol psi.

2017-05-17: Martian Evolution

  • 07:15: Even more dangerous than the UV are high-energy cosmic rays and solar particles.

2017-05-03: Are We Living in an Ancestor Simulation? ft. Neil deGrasse Tyson

  • 08:01: ... is that in an infinite multiverse, it should be vastly more common for particles to randomly assemble into a brain that is having exactly your current ...
  • 13:06: So today we're going to talk about both the oh my god particle and Boltzmann brains.
  • 13:12: So OxFFF1 wants to know what would happen to the unlucky sap struck in the head by an OMG particle.
  • 13:19: Well, these particles are usually single atomic nuclei.
  • 13:24: The particle may pass straight through your body, only depositing a bit of ultraviolet drink of radiation.
  • 13:34: However, the particle might also hit a molecule.
  • 13:52: ... the Boltzmann brain thought experiment fails because it assumes random particle motion, and that particle motion is actually ...
  • 14:02: Well, particle motion may be purely deterministic.
  • 14:36: ... true that particles all converging on one spot in a room is resisted by more than just the ...
  • 14:58: Particles can start out in a high density configuration, say, in the corner of a room, and then expand.
  • 15:06: ... principle, if you were to take such an expanded cloud of particles and exactly reverse their velocities, then they would all end up back in ...
  • 15:17: That perfect time reversal would include the reverse of every particle interaction that happened in the original expansion.
  • 15:26: Now it's those same particle interactions that gives rise to pressure.
  • 15:33: Interactions can drive particles either outwards or inwards.
  • 15:37: Because particles can be pushed beyond the edge of the cloud, there end up being somewhat more interactions driving particles outwards than inwards.
  • 15:57: ... principle, a perfect set of particle positions and velocities could be found such that the subsequent series ...
  • 15:17: That perfect time reversal would include the reverse of every particle interaction that happened in the original expansion.
  • 15:26: Now it's those same particle interactions that gives rise to pressure.
  • 13:52: ... the Boltzmann brain thought experiment fails because it assumes random particle motion, and that particle motion is actually ...
  • 14:02: Well, particle motion may be purely deterministic.
  • 15:57: ... principle, a perfect set of particle positions and velocities could be found such that the subsequent series of ...
  • 08:01: ... is that in an infinite multiverse, it should be vastly more common for particles to randomly assemble into a brain that is having exactly your current ...
  • 13:19: Well, these particles are usually single atomic nuclei.
  • 14:36: ... true that particles all converging on one spot in a room is resisted by more than just the ...
  • 14:58: Particles can start out in a high density configuration, say, in the corner of a room, and then expand.
  • 15:06: ... principle, if you were to take such an expanded cloud of particles and exactly reverse their velocities, then they would all end up back in ...
  • 15:33: Interactions can drive particles either outwards or inwards.
  • 15:37: Because particles can be pushed beyond the edge of the cloud, there end up being somewhat more interactions driving particles outwards than inwards.

2017-04-26: Are You a Boltzmann Brain?

  • 00:14: Your memory of your entire life also just came into being through a chance arrangement of particles.
  • 00:44: He showed that the laws of thermodynamics can be explained by thinking of gas as a collection of microscopic particles in constant, random motion.
  • 02:14: Entropy is just a measure of the specialness, or the degree of order, in the current arrangement of positions and velocities of a system's particles.
  • 03:06: If you count up all the possible arrangements of particles, only a tiny proportion do weird, highly ordered stuff like that.
  • 03:18: Entropy increases because particle positions and velocities get randomized over time.
  • 03:37: For example, tiny, localized dips in entropy happen all the time, when you get a chance convergence of a few particles in one corner of the room.
  • 03:52: ... an incredibly tiny chance that all of the particles in a room of gas will happen to all end up in one corner of the room, ...
  • 04:26: ... Particles will occasionally converge into a dense environment like a black hole or ...
  • 04:42: However, there's one arrangement that those particles could randomly fall into that would be even less probable than all of the above.
  • 04:50: All the particles in a region much larger than our universe could randomly end up in almost the exact same location.
  • 07:12: For example, why collapse a whole universe worth of particles?
  • 07:28: ... not just have particles converge directly into a single human brain, in exactly the right ...
  • 03:18: Entropy increases because particle positions and velocities get randomized over time.
  • 00:14: Your memory of your entire life also just came into being through a chance arrangement of particles.
  • 00:44: He showed that the laws of thermodynamics can be explained by thinking of gas as a collection of microscopic particles in constant, random motion.
  • 02:14: Entropy is just a measure of the specialness, or the degree of order, in the current arrangement of positions and velocities of a system's particles.
  • 03:06: If you count up all the possible arrangements of particles, only a tiny proportion do weird, highly ordered stuff like that.
  • 03:37: For example, tiny, localized dips in entropy happen all the time, when you get a chance convergence of a few particles in one corner of the room.
  • 03:52: ... an incredibly tiny chance that all of the particles in a room of gas will happen to all end up in one corner of the room, ...
  • 04:26: ... Particles will occasionally converge into a dense environment like a black hole or ...
  • 04:42: However, there's one arrangement that those particles could randomly fall into that would be even less probable than all of the above.
  • 04:50: All the particles in a region much larger than our universe could randomly end up in almost the exact same location.
  • 07:12: For example, why collapse a whole universe worth of particles?
  • 07:28: ... not just have particles converge directly into a single human brain, in exactly the right ...

2017-04-19: The Oh My God Particle

  • 00:00: ... PLAYING] Long before the God particle, there is the Oh-My-God particle, a cosmic ray vastly more energetic than ...
  • 00:46: The nucleus quickly disintegrated into a shower of subatomic particles and lights.
  • 01:30: The particle was dubbed the Oh-My-God particle.
  • 01:48: High energy particles, electrons, and small atomic nuclei, as well as gamma rays, are ejected when heavier radioactive elements decay.
  • 02:35: And that meant there had to be a source of these high-energy particles somewhere above.
  • 02:44: ... ride, and even following the Fly's Eye detection of the Oh-My-God particle, we've come a long way in the art of catching cosmic ...
  • 03:40: The result is a cascade of subatomic particles, the debris of the collision, that can spread itself out over several kilometers.
  • 03:48: These cascades are called air showers, streams of charged particles cause the air to fluoresce, a glow that can be seen by specialized telescopes.
  • 03:58: Many of the debris particles also reach the ground and can be detected there.
  • 04:25: ... giant tanks of water designed to see Cherenkov radiation when air shower particles pass through them, as well as telescopes to spot fluorescence in the air ...
  • 04:51: ... simple slabs of acrylic between metal plates designed to stop air shower particles and detect the light produced as they smack into nuclei within the ...
  • 05:16: We also see gamma rays and even anti-matter particles.
  • 05:19: ... crazy 10 to the power of 20 electron volts or higher, like the Oh-My-God particle. ...
  • 05:33: At the lowest energies, the cosmos flings one particle every second per square meter of the Earth's surface.
  • 05:39: At energies up near that of the OMG particle, they are incredibly rare.
  • 05:54: To accelerate a particle to the energies of cosmic rays, you need a particle accelerator.
  • 06:05: It turns out that the universe is full of natural particle accelerators.
  • 06:24: It can trap particles and accelerate them until they're energetic enough to escape the shock.
  • 06:47: The most ridiculous cosmic rays, like the Oh-My-God particle, shouldn't exist at all.
  • 06:53: See, the universe is basically opaque to particles with such high energies.
  • 07:27: For years, it was thought that no cosmic ray could exceed it, except that the OMG particle was six times more energetic.
  • 07:36: Only a very small number of these extreme energy cosmic rays have been seen since the OMG particle.
  • 08:22: For cosmic ray astrophysicists, there's a giant invisible particle accelerating elephant in the room.
  • 08:39: ... from cosmic rays passing through their eye's vitreous humor, or from the particles hitting their optic ...
  • 09:07: ... we figure out the origins of these particles, cosmic ray astronomy is becoming an increasingly powerful tool for ...
  • 09:16: But even now, these particles are extremely useful.
  • 09:20: ... highest energy cosmic rays, like the Oh-My-God particle, generate collisions far more energetic than our largest particle ...
  • 08:22: For cosmic ray astrophysicists, there's a giant invisible particle accelerating elephant in the room.
  • 05:54: To accelerate a particle to the energies of cosmic rays, you need a particle accelerator.
  • 09:20: ... particle, generate collisions far more energetic than our largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron ...
  • 06:05: It turns out that the universe is full of natural particle accelerators.
  • 09:20: ... highest energy cosmic rays, like the Oh-My-God particle, generate collisions far more energetic than our largest particle accelerator, the ...
  • 06:47: The most ridiculous cosmic rays, like the Oh-My-God particle, shouldn't exist at all.
  • 02:44: ... ride, and even following the Fly's Eye detection of the Oh-My-God particle, we've come a long way in the art of catching cosmic ...
  • 00:46: The nucleus quickly disintegrated into a shower of subatomic particles and lights.
  • 01:48: High energy particles, electrons, and small atomic nuclei, as well as gamma rays, are ejected when heavier radioactive elements decay.
  • 02:35: And that meant there had to be a source of these high-energy particles somewhere above.
  • 03:40: The result is a cascade of subatomic particles, the debris of the collision, that can spread itself out over several kilometers.
  • 03:48: These cascades are called air showers, streams of charged particles cause the air to fluoresce, a glow that can be seen by specialized telescopes.
  • 03:58: Many of the debris particles also reach the ground and can be detected there.
  • 04:25: ... giant tanks of water designed to see Cherenkov radiation when air shower particles pass through them, as well as telescopes to spot fluorescence in the air ...
  • 04:51: ... simple slabs of acrylic between metal plates designed to stop air shower particles and detect the light produced as they smack into nuclei within the ...
  • 05:16: We also see gamma rays and even anti-matter particles.
  • 06:24: It can trap particles and accelerate them until they're energetic enough to escape the shock.
  • 06:53: See, the universe is basically opaque to particles with such high energies.
  • 08:39: ... from cosmic rays passing through their eye's vitreous humor, or from the particles hitting their optic ...
  • 09:07: ... we figure out the origins of these particles, cosmic ray astronomy is becoming an increasingly powerful tool for ...
  • 09:16: But even now, these particles are extremely useful.
  • 09:07: ... we figure out the origins of these particles, cosmic ray astronomy is becoming an increasingly powerful tool for ...
  • 01:48: High energy particles, electrons, and small atomic nuclei, as well as gamma rays, are ejected when heavier radioactive elements decay.
  • 08:39: ... from cosmic rays passing through their eye's vitreous humor, or from the particles hitting their optic ...
  • 04:25: ... giant tanks of water designed to see Cherenkov radiation when air shower particles pass through them, as well as telescopes to spot fluorescence in the air ...

2017-04-05: Telescopes on the Moon

  • 05:17: Hit by sunlight, tiny regolith particles build up electric charge, and so repel each other into dust fountains in the low lunar gravity.
  • 11:54: You'd also expect that surface to contain a vast amount of energetic particles converted from infalling material.
  • 05:17: Hit by sunlight, tiny regolith particles build up electric charge, and so repel each other into dust fountains in the low lunar gravity.
  • 11:54: You'd also expect that surface to contain a vast amount of energetic particles converted from infalling material.
  • 05:17: Hit by sunlight, tiny regolith particles build up electric charge, and so repel each other into dust fountains in the low lunar gravity.
  • 11:54: You'd also expect that surface to contain a vast amount of energetic particles converted from infalling material.

2017-03-22: Superluminal Time Travel + Time Warp Challenge Answer

  • 00:53: ... using tachyons, hypothetical faster-than-light or superluminal particles, it's possible to receive and reply to a message before the message is ...

2017-03-15: Time Crystals!

  • 02:01: Wilczek came up with a simple model in which charged particles in a superconducting ring break what we call continuous time translational symmetry.

2017-02-15: Telescopes of Tomorrow

  • 03:08: It can scatter off a dust grain, like a particle.

2017-02-02: The Geometry of Causality

  • 08:50: From the point of view of a particle communicating some causal influence, those points are equivalent.
  • 12:07: ... at the center of black holes is with string theory, which proposes that particles that we see in regular 4D spacetime result from oscillations within many ...
  • 08:50: From the point of view of a particle communicating some causal influence, those points are equivalent.
  • 12:07: ... at the center of black holes is with string theory, which proposes that particles that we see in regular 4D spacetime result from oscillations within many ...

2017-01-25: Why Quasars are so Awesome

  • 01:19: Sometimes they even have jets of near light speed particles filling the surrounding universe with giant radio plumes.

2017-01-11: The EM Drive: Fact or Fantasy?

  • 07:28: To exchange momentum with virtual particles over a distance longer than a Planck length, those particles need to become real.
  • 07:36: Photons would need to give up their energy, producing particle anti-particle pairs.
  • 07:45: If it were, those particles would also be trapped in the cavity.
  • 07:36: Photons would need to give up their energy, producing particle anti-particle pairs.
  • 07:28: To exchange momentum with virtual particles over a distance longer than a Planck length, those particles need to become real.
  • 07:45: If it were, those particles would also be trapped in the cavity.

2016-12-08: What Happens at the Event Horizon?

  • 14:50: ... asks how it can be that pilot wave theory predicts different particle trajectories, given that the particles supposedly all start at exactly ...
  • 15:02: Well, the simple answer is that the particles don't start at exactly the same points.
  • 15:11: ... pilot wave theory states that the particle riding the wave does have a definite position at all times and that ...
  • 15:30: However, you can't perfectly measure a particle position without changing it slightly in ways that themselves aren't perfectly predictable.
  • 15:38: As a result, you never know exactly where a particle is.
  • 16:05: ... knowledge and that the universe itself knows exactly where all these particles ...
  • 16:16: Vacuum Diagrams correctly points out that to know the future trajectory of a particle, you only need position, not velocity, as I had stated.
  • 18:01: In fact, De Broglie was never a huge fan even of his own simplistic particle carried by a wave idea.
  • 18:08: ... be a much more intricate double solution theory in which the so-called particle was actually a matter wave itself embedded in and carried by the sine ...
  • 18:25: ... Solvay Conference, and so derived the simpler description in which the particle is ...
  • 18:01: In fact, De Broglie was never a huge fan even of his own simplistic particle carried by a wave idea.
  • 15:30: However, you can't perfectly measure a particle position without changing it slightly in ways that themselves aren't perfectly predictable.
  • 15:11: ... pilot wave theory states that the particle riding the wave does have a definite position at all times and that position ...
  • 14:50: ... asks how it can be that pilot wave theory predicts different particle trajectories, given that the particles supposedly all start at exactly the same ...
  • 15:02: Well, the simple answer is that the particles don't start at exactly the same points.
  • 16:05: ... knowledge and that the universe itself knows exactly where all these particles ...
  • 15:02: Well, the simple answer is that the particles don't start at exactly the same points.
  • 14:50: ... wave theory predicts different particle trajectories, given that the particles supposedly all start at exactly the same ...

2016-11-30: Pilot Wave Theory and Quantum Realism

  • 00:55: ... explanations claim stuff like things are both waves and particles at the same time, the act of observation defines reality, cats are both ...
  • 02:36: ... fundamental randomness determines the properties of, say, the particle that would emerge from its wave ...
  • 03:36: De Broglie's theory reasoned that there was no need for quantum objects to transition in a mystical way between non-real waves and real particles.
  • 03:46: Why not just have real waves that push around real particles?
  • 03:59: This wave guides the motion of a real point-like particle that has a definite location at all times.
  • 04:37: Because particles follow the paths etched out by the wave, it'll end up landing according to that pattern.
  • 04:45: The wave defines a set of possible trajectories and the particle takes one of those trajectories.
  • 04:51: ... the choice of path isn't random-- if you know the exact particle position and velocity at any point, you could figure out its entire ...
  • 07:05: ... function how to change, it also has a guiding equation that tells the particle how to move within that wave ...
  • 07:44: Bohmian mechanics has so-called hidden variables, details about the state of the particle that are not described by the wave function.
  • 09:07: The entire wave function knows the location, velocity, and spin of each particle.
  • 09:18: Not only does the entire wave function know the properties of the particle, but the entire wave function can be effected instantaneously.
  • 09:30: This can therefore affect the trajectories and properties of particles carried by that wave, potentially very far away.
  • 09:47: Again, we've gone into the non-locality of entangled particles in detail before.
  • 11:05: Quantum field theory pretty explicitly requires that all possible particle trajectories be considered equally real.
  • 11:13: Pilot-wave theory postulates that the particle really takes a single actual trajectory, the Bohm trajectory.
  • 11:41: Also, we can't ignore the fact that the initial motivation behind pilot-wave theory was to preserve the idea of real particles.
  • 14:00: And the resulting particles are called strangelets.
  • 14:37: That might seem a problem for an object made up of neutral particles like a neutron star.
  • 04:51: ... the choice of path isn't random-- if you know the exact particle position and velocity at any point, you could figure out its entire future ...
  • 04:45: The wave defines a set of possible trajectories and the particle takes one of those trajectories.
  • 11:05: Quantum field theory pretty explicitly requires that all possible particle trajectories be considered equally real.
  • 02:59: This required an almost mystical duality between the wave and particle-like nature of matter.
  • 03:11: ... full theory that described how a quantum object could show both wave and particle-like behavior at the same time without being fundamentally ...
  • 02:59: This required an almost mystical duality between the wave and particle-like nature of matter.
  • 03:11: ... full theory that described how a quantum object could show both wave and particle-like behavior at the same time without being fundamentally ...
  • 02:59: This required an almost mystical duality between the wave and particle-like nature of matter.
  • 00:55: ... explanations claim stuff like things are both waves and particles at the same time, the act of observation defines reality, cats are both ...
  • 03:36: De Broglie's theory reasoned that there was no need for quantum objects to transition in a mystical way between non-real waves and real particles.
  • 03:46: Why not just have real waves that push around real particles?
  • 04:37: Because particles follow the paths etched out by the wave, it'll end up landing according to that pattern.
  • 09:30: This can therefore affect the trajectories and properties of particles carried by that wave, potentially very far away.
  • 09:47: Again, we've gone into the non-locality of entangled particles in detail before.
  • 11:41: Also, we can't ignore the fact that the initial motivation behind pilot-wave theory was to preserve the idea of real particles.
  • 14:00: And the resulting particles are called strangelets.
  • 14:37: That might seem a problem for an object made up of neutral particles like a neutron star.
  • 09:30: This can therefore affect the trajectories and properties of particles carried by that wave, potentially very far away.
  • 04:37: Because particles follow the paths etched out by the wave, it'll end up landing according to that pattern.

2016-11-16: Strange Stars

  • 03:19: Degenerate matter is so compressed that particles can't get any closer together without occupying the same quantum states.
  • 03:27: The Pauli exclusion principle states that this is forbidden for fermions, the family of particles that neutrons belong to.
  • 04:17: And we have good reason to think that, because we can actually make this stuff in our largest particle accelerators.
  • 04:25: Minuscule flecks of quark-gluon plasma exist for tiny fractions of a second after very high-speed particle collisions.
  • 04:33: We can study its nature based on the particles that decay from it.
  • 05:40: It has three quark types instead of two, and that means more particles can occupy the lowest quantum energy states.
  • 04:17: And we have good reason to think that, because we can actually make this stuff in our largest particle accelerators.
  • 04:25: Minuscule flecks of quark-gluon plasma exist for tiny fractions of a second after very high-speed particle collisions.
  • 03:19: Degenerate matter is so compressed that particles can't get any closer together without occupying the same quantum states.
  • 03:27: The Pauli exclusion principle states that this is forbidden for fermions, the family of particles that neutrons belong to.
  • 04:33: We can study its nature based on the particles that decay from it.
  • 05:40: It has three quark types instead of two, and that means more particles can occupy the lowest quantum energy states.

2016-11-02: Quantum Vortices and Superconductivity + Drake Equation Challenge Answers

  • 00:36: ... a liquid to a solid as temperature drops, and the motion of individual particles in the material gets slower and ...
  • 01:33: ... extremely low temperatures, the spins of a material's particles tend to line up, but you get these little twists at certain points: a ...
  • 01:45: These vortices occur in pairs and have some amazing behaviors that resemble the behavior of elementary particles.
  • 00:36: ... a liquid to a solid as temperature drops, and the motion of individual particles in the material gets slower and ...
  • 01:33: ... extremely low temperatures, the spins of a material's particles tend to line up, but you get these little twists at certain points: a ...
  • 01:45: These vortices occur in pairs and have some amazing behaviors that resemble the behavior of elementary particles.
  • 01:33: ... extremely low temperatures, the spins of a material's particles tend to line up, but you get these little twists at certain points: a vortex ...

2016-10-26: The Many Worlds of the Quantum Multiverse

  • 00:53: Mathematically, this is encapsulated in the wave function of a quantum particle or system of particles.
  • 01:17: These particles arrive at the screen distributed like the interference pattern you would expect from a simple wave.
  • 01:24: Quantum mechanics very successfully predicts this result by describing each particle's journey as a superposition of all possible trajectories.
  • 01:33: In other words, the particle simultaneously takes all possible paths, which means it passes through both slits.
  • 04:27: Instead, it chooses an end result-- say, particle location on a screen or cat alive or deadness-- based on those histories.
  • 06:20: ... Copenhagen interpretation tells us that the superposition of particle trajectories, of histories, merges into the single timeline of the ...
  • 07:07: ... states diverge into different possibilities-- for example, at every particle interaction everywhere in the ...
  • 04:27: Instead, it chooses an end result-- say, particle location on a screen or cat alive or deadness-- based on those histories.
  • 01:33: In other words, the particle simultaneously takes all possible paths, which means it passes through both slits.
  • 06:20: ... Copenhagen interpretation tells us that the superposition of particle trajectories, of histories, merges into the single timeline of the observer's ...
  • 00:53: Mathematically, this is encapsulated in the wave function of a quantum particle or system of particles.
  • 01:17: These particles arrive at the screen distributed like the interference pattern you would expect from a simple wave.
  • 01:24: Quantum mechanics very successfully predicts this result by describing each particle's journey as a superposition of all possible trajectories.
  • 01:17: These particles arrive at the screen distributed like the interference pattern you would expect from a simple wave.
  • 01:24: Quantum mechanics very successfully predicts this result by describing each particle's journey as a superposition of all possible trajectories.

2016-09-29: Life on Europa?

  • 09:45: ... couple of you asked what result you would get if you measured one particle with a vertically-aligned measurement device and a second particle with ...
  • 09:57: ... theory versus pure quantum mechanics is if you measure the spins of both particles with the same measurement ...
  • 10:17: ... relationship of the chosen measurement axis with the hidden spins of the particle. ...
  • 10:29: ... other at 90 degrees, then the pure quantum prediction is that the second particle is aligned one way 50% of the time and the other way 50% of the ...
  • 10:54: ... contrast, a local hidden variable prediction is that the second particle doesn't care how the first was measured, so it aligns itself according ...
  • 11:30: Rather, observation may just mean any interaction that destroys quantum coherence between the entangled particles.
  • 11:37: ... is that this measurement interaction effectively entangles the measured particle and its partner with a macroscopic system so complex that we no longer ...
  • 12:47: ... no need for a faster-than-light signal to tell particle a what measurement has been carried out on particle B because the ...
  • 10:54: ... contrast, a local hidden variable prediction is that the second particle doesn't care how the first was measured, so it aligns itself according to its ...
  • 09:57: ... theory versus pure quantum mechanics is if you measure the spins of both particles with the same measurement ...
  • 11:30: Rather, observation may just mean any interaction that destroys quantum coherence between the entangled particles.

2016-09-21: Quantum Entanglement and the Great Bohr-Einstein Debate

  • 03:24: Two particles interact briefly.
  • 03:36: ... mechanics requires that we describe the particle pair with a single combined wave function that encompasses all possible ...
  • 03:45: We call such particles an entangled pair.
  • 03:49: ... according to the Copenhagen interpretation, any measurement of one particle automatically collapses the entire entangled wave function, and so ...
  • 04:45: When spontaneously created from a photon, these particles will always be spinning in opposite directions to each other.
  • 05:04: Measurement of the spin of one of these particles tells us the spin of the other, no matter how large the distance between them.
  • 05:48: Measurement forces the alignment of the measured particle.
  • 06:00: ... one, if Einstein was right, imagine the response of each particle to all possible spin measurements is encoded in each particle at the ...
  • 06:16: Nothing we do later to one particle will then affect the other.
  • 06:20: When we later measure the spins of both particles, there will be a correlation in the results because the particles were once connected.
  • 06:43: In that case, measurement of one particle spin should cause the entire wave function to collapse, to take on defined values.
  • 06:51: Both particles should then manifest opposite spins along whichever axis we choose for one of the particles.
  • 06:59: That should lead to a correlation between our choice of measurement axis for the first particle and the spin direction then measured for the second.
  • 09:34: Non-locality requires that entangled particles affect each other instantaneously.
  • 09:57: But none of these entanglement experiments allow any real information to be transmitted between particles.
  • 10:41: ... example, entangled particles may be dimensionally connected by Einstein-Rosen bridges, wormholes that ...
  • 03:49: ... according to the Copenhagen interpretation, any measurement of one particle automatically collapses the entire entangled wave function, and so affects the results ...
  • 03:36: ... mechanics requires that we describe the particle pair with a single combined wave function that encompasses all possible ...
  • 06:43: In that case, measurement of one particle spin should cause the entire wave function to collapse, to take on defined values.
  • 03:24: Two particles interact briefly.
  • 03:36: ... combined wave function that encompasses all possible states of both particles. ...
  • 03:45: We call such particles an entangled pair.
  • 04:45: When spontaneously created from a photon, these particles will always be spinning in opposite directions to each other.
  • 05:04: Measurement of the spin of one of these particles tells us the spin of the other, no matter how large the distance between them.
  • 06:20: When we later measure the spins of both particles, there will be a correlation in the results because the particles were once connected.
  • 06:51: Both particles should then manifest opposite spins along whichever axis we choose for one of the particles.
  • 09:34: Non-locality requires that entangled particles affect each other instantaneously.
  • 09:57: But none of these entanglement experiments allow any real information to be transmitted between particles.
  • 10:41: ... example, entangled particles may be dimensionally connected by Einstein-Rosen bridges, wormholes that ...
  • 09:34: Non-locality requires that entangled particles affect each other instantaneously.
  • 03:24: Two particles interact briefly.
  • 05:04: Measurement of the spin of one of these particles tells us the spin of the other, no matter how large the distance between them.

2016-09-07: Is There a Fifth Fundamental Force? + Quantum Eraser Answer

  • 00:21: ... that told physicists that for a tiny fraction of a second an unknown particle may have ...
  • 00:45: And when they settle down again, they give off that energy as photons, but also sometimes as a particle or a particle-antiparticle pair.
  • 01:09: It's as though something with a mass energy equivalence of 17 MEV was decaying into those particles.
  • 01:29: Just recently a new very slow excess of the LHC was originally thought to be a new particle.
  • 01:52: But why do they think that the mysterious 17 MEV particle is a new type of fundamental force?
  • 02:20: Such a particle would be a mild extension of the standard model, not too crazy, but certainly brand new physics.
  • 02:49: Well, the standard wisdom for finding new particles is to create higher and higher energies; hence, the Large Hadron Collider.
  • 02:56: Any particle capable of existing at lower energies should have been spotted.
  • 03:01: But that's not true if the particle is a ninja.
  • 03:25: ... the decay product of such a transition is very weakly interacting, these particles could be everywhere and we wouldn't know it, like ninjas and like dark ...
  • 03:46: I mean that this new particle may have something to do with dark matter.
  • 02:56: Any particle capable of existing at lower energies should have been spotted.
  • 00:45: And when they settle down again, they give off that energy as photons, but also sometimes as a particle or a particle-antiparticle pair.
  • 01:09: It's as though something with a mass energy equivalence of 17 MEV was decaying into those particles.
  • 02:49: Well, the standard wisdom for finding new particles is to create higher and higher energies; hence, the Large Hadron Collider.
  • 03:25: ... the decay product of such a transition is very weakly interacting, these particles could be everywhere and we wouldn't know it, like ninjas and like dark ...

2016-08-17: Quantum Eraser Lottery Challenge

  • 01:38: They just land in a single pile as though they had traveled as particles through the entire experiment.

2016-08-10: How the Quantum Eraser Rewrites the Past

  • 00:20: We recently talked about the weird results of the single particle double slit experiment.
  • 00:51: ... the single particle double slit experiment suggests that things may not exist as ...
  • 01:03: There's a fuzzy space in which we don't know the particle's location or path.
  • 01:08: The Copenhagen interpretation would tell us that in this space, a particle is only its wave function, a distribution of possible properties.
  • 01:29: At that point, the Copenhagen interpretation tells us that a true transition happens between wave and particle.
  • 01:42: Does observation of the particle's location force the universe into settling down and deciding which particular reality we happen to be in?
  • 02:30: ... and so have tried very, very hard to peek to see which slit these particles actually travel through before they produce the famous interference ...
  • 02:44: Any experiment that determines unambiguously which slit the particle traverses destroys the interference pattern.
  • 02:52: Instead, particles land in simple clumps, one for each slit, as though they were traveling as simple particles the whole time.
  • 03:01: ... true if you place detectors on the far side of the slits after the wave particle thing should have already been interfering with itself, just like the ...
  • 03:20: Better pretend like you are particles that whole time.
  • 04:20: So they've come up with clever ways to measure which way the particle traveled while still preserving coherence.
  • 08:01: ... resolves itself into a set of known properties, say, the location of a particle on the double slit screen, somehow the entire wave function knows to do ...
  • 09:21: As we'll see in the future, entangled particles really are able to influence each other instantaneously.
  • 00:20: We recently talked about the weird results of the single particle double slit experiment.
  • 00:51: ... the single particle double slit experiment suggests that things may not exist as well-defined, even ...
  • 00:20: We recently talked about the weird results of the single particle double slit experiment.
  • 00:51: ... the single particle double slit experiment suggests that things may not exist as well-defined, even real ...
  • 03:01: ... true if you place detectors on the far side of the slits after the wave particle thing should have already been interfering with itself, just like the wave ...
  • 04:20: So they've come up with clever ways to measure which way the particle traveled while still preserving coherence.
  • 02:44: Any experiment that determines unambiguously which slit the particle traverses destroys the interference pattern.
  • 02:19: The great mystery of the experiment is that very particle-like things appear to traverse both slits simultaneously, like you might expect of a wave.
  • 00:51: ... experiment suggests that things may not exist as well-defined, even real particles, in that strange interim between creation and ...
  • 01:03: There's a fuzzy space in which we don't know the particle's location or path.
  • 01:42: Does observation of the particle's location force the universe into settling down and deciding which particular reality we happen to be in?
  • 02:30: ... and so have tried very, very hard to peek to see which slit these particles actually travel through before they produce the famous interference ...
  • 02:52: Instead, particles land in simple clumps, one for each slit, as though they were traveling as simple particles the whole time.
  • 03:20: Better pretend like you are particles that whole time.
  • 09:21: As we'll see in the future, entangled particles really are able to influence each other instantaneously.
  • 02:52: Instead, particles land in simple clumps, one for each slit, as though they were traveling as simple particles the whole time.
  • 01:03: There's a fuzzy space in which we don't know the particle's location or path.
  • 01:42: Does observation of the particle's location force the universe into settling down and deciding which particular reality we happen to be in?

2016-08-03: Can We Survive the Destruction of the Earth? ft. Neal Stephenson

  • 10:46: See you next time on "Space Time." Last week we talked about the spectacular weirdness of the single particle double-slit experiments.
  • 11:15: ... that when the wave function collapses, the properties of the resulting particle are picked randomly from that probability ...
  • 11:50: ... communication across the wave function, or between entangled particle pairs, in order to satisfy experimental ...
  • 12:21: Well, wave functions for macroscopic objects are incredibly complicated because they're comprised of countless quantum particles.
  • 13:03: Some of you wondered why we didn't talk about what happens when you try to measure which slit the particle went through or talk about quantum eraser.
  • 10:46: See you next time on "Space Time." Last week we talked about the spectacular weirdness of the single particle double-slit experiments.
  • 11:50: ... communication across the wave function, or between entangled particle pairs, in order to satisfy experimental ...
  • 12:21: Well, wave functions for macroscopic objects are incredibly complicated because they're comprised of countless quantum particles.

2016-07-27: The Quantum Experiment that Broke Reality

  • 00:06: One of the strangest experimental results ever observed has got to be that of the single particle double-slit experiment.
  • 03:25: ... their energy at a single spot and so they appear to be acting like particles of well-determined ...
  • 05:23: ... the peaks of that pattern are regions where there's more chance that the particle will find ...
  • 06:21: We know where the particle is at both ends.
  • 06:36: So the particle seems to be more particle-like at either end but wave-like in between.
  • 06:44: ... wave holds the information about all the possible final positions of the particle but also about its possible positions at every stage in the ...
  • 06:55: In fact, the wave must map out all possible paths that the particle could take.
  • 07:26: Within that mysterious span between the creation and the detection, is the particle anything more than a space of possibility?
  • 08:09: ... suggests that a particle traversing the double-slit experiment exists only as a wave of possible ...
  • 08:21: It's only when the particle is detected that a location and the path it took to get there are decided.
  • 08:27: ... tells us that prior to the collapse, it's meaningless to try to define a particle's ...
  • 09:54: ... field and quantum field theory tells us that all fundamental particles are waves in their own ...
  • 00:06: One of the strangest experimental results ever observed has got to be that of the single particle double-slit experiment.
  • 08:09: ... suggests that a particle traversing the double-slit experiment exists only as a wave of possible locations ...
  • 06:36: So the particle seems to be more particle-like at either end but wave-like in between.
  • 03:25: ... their energy at a single spot and so they appear to be acting like particles of well-determined ...
  • 08:27: ... tells us that prior to the collapse, it's meaningless to try to define a particle's ...
  • 09:54: ... field and quantum field theory tells us that all fundamental particles are waves in their own ...
  • 08:27: ... tells us that prior to the collapse, it's meaningless to try to define a particle's properties. ...

2016-07-20: The Future of Gravitational Waves

  • 05:41: ... question, we asked you to calculate the probability that an alpha particle-- so a package of two protons and two neutrons-- would tunnel out of the ...
  • 06:03: You needed to figure out how many times the alpha particle would encounter the walls of the nucleus in this time.
  • 06:16: To do this, you needed to assume that the alpha particle bounces back and forth between the walls of the nucleus with a constant velocity.
  • 06:32: ... get the alpha particle velocity from its kinetic energy, which I gave you, and you get the size ...
  • 06:41: You'll get that there's approximately a 10 to the power of minus 15 chance of the alpha particle tunneling on each encounter.
  • 06:57: And the extra credit question asked, what physical distance does the particle actually tunnel?
  • 07:03: ... the nuclear protons, reaches the 8.78 mega electron volts of the alpha particle's kinetic ...
  • 07:21: So how far did the alpha particle tunnel?
  • 06:16: To do this, you needed to assume that the alpha particle bounces back and forth between the walls of the nucleus with a constant velocity.
  • 07:21: So how far did the alpha particle tunnel?
  • 06:41: You'll get that there's approximately a 10 to the power of minus 15 chance of the alpha particle tunneling on each encounter.
  • 06:32: ... get the alpha particle velocity from its kinetic energy, which I gave you, and you get the size of the ...
  • 07:03: ... the nuclear protons, reaches the 8.78 mega electron volts of the alpha particle's kinetic ...

2016-06-29: Nuclear Physics Challenge

  • 00:19: But here's TL;DR. Particles of matter have wave-like properties.
  • 00:37: For example, a particle bound within an atomic nucleus may spontaneously find itself outside the nucleus, where the binding force no longer holds it.
  • 00:52: But don't literally take it, because it's one of the most radioactive elements known, and it decays as alpha particles tunnel out of its nucleus.
  • 01:02: It's so radioactive that it glows blue as these alpha particles ionize the air around it.
  • 01:34: The challenge for today is for you to figure out the tunneling probability for an alpha particle to escape from a polonium 212 nucleus.
  • 01:46: Picture an alpha particle as being trapped inside a box.
  • 01:57: The particle is bouncing between these force walls.
  • 02:19: A good first step might be to figure out how many times the alpha particle encounters the wall in that 0.3 microseconds.
  • 02:46: You'll also need the velocity of the alpha particle.
  • 02:49: The alpha particle ejected in the decay of polonium 212 has a kinetic energy of 8.78 MEV.
  • 02:56: And you can calculate the velocity using the equation for kinetic energy and the mass of the alpha particle.
  • 03:04: ... some basic algebra is enough to get you the probability that an alpha particle will tunnel out of the polonium 212 nucleus on any one encounter with ...
  • 03:19: And the extra credit question-- how far does the alpha particle teleport from the nucleus when it pulls off this tunneling trick?
  • 03:28: To successfully tunnel, the alpha particle needs to reach a lower energy state.
  • 03:34: That happens when the potential energy of the cooling force trying to drive it away from the nucleus is equal to the kinetic energy of the particle.
  • 00:37: For example, a particle bound within an atomic nucleus may spontaneously find itself outside the nucleus, where the binding force no longer holds it.
  • 02:49: The alpha particle ejected in the decay of polonium 212 has a kinetic energy of 8.78 MEV.
  • 02:19: A good first step might be to figure out how many times the alpha particle encounters the wall in that 0.3 microseconds.
  • 03:19: And the extra credit question-- how far does the alpha particle teleport from the nucleus when it pulls off this tunneling trick?
  • 00:19: But here's TL;DR. Particles of matter have wave-like properties.
  • 00:52: But don't literally take it, because it's one of the most radioactive elements known, and it decays as alpha particles tunnel out of its nucleus.
  • 01:02: It's so radioactive that it glows blue as these alpha particles ionize the air around it.
  • 00:52: But don't literally take it, because it's one of the most radioactive elements known, and it decays as alpha particles tunnel out of its nucleus.

2016-06-22: Planck's Constant and The Origin of Quantum Mechanics

  • 03:10: Heat is just the energy in the random motion of particles comprising an object.
  • 03:19: And so an object made of jiggling charged particles, like electrons and protons, glows.
  • 03:26: The hotter an object is, the faster its particles jiggle.
  • 03:30: And so the average frequency of the resulting particles of light, of photons, increases with temperature.
  • 05:12: It states that an object's heat energy will end up juggling all of its particles in all the ways that they can be jiggled.
  • 06:28: The Rayleigh-Jeans calculation allows particles to vibrate with any amount of energy, all the way down to infinitesimally tiny wiggles.
  • 07:26: He decided that those particles could only vibrate with energies that were a multiple of some minimum energy.
  • 07:38: He set this minimum energy to be the frequency of a particle's vibration times a very, very small number, a number that had yet to be measured.
  • 09:36: ... little vibrating particles do have quantized energies, but it's because they can only gain or lose ...
  • 09:52: ... needed to hypothesize the existence of the photon-- part wave, part particle, carrying a quantum of energy equal to the now familiar frequency of the ...
  • 03:10: Heat is just the energy in the random motion of particles comprising an object.
  • 03:19: And so an object made of jiggling charged particles, like electrons and protons, glows.
  • 03:26: The hotter an object is, the faster its particles jiggle.
  • 03:30: And so the average frequency of the resulting particles of light, of photons, increases with temperature.
  • 05:12: It states that an object's heat energy will end up juggling all of its particles in all the ways that they can be jiggled.
  • 06:28: The Rayleigh-Jeans calculation allows particles to vibrate with any amount of energy, all the way down to infinitesimally tiny wiggles.
  • 07:26: He decided that those particles could only vibrate with energies that were a multiple of some minimum energy.
  • 07:38: He set this minimum energy to be the frequency of a particle's vibration times a very, very small number, a number that had yet to be measured.
  • 09:36: ... little vibrating particles do have quantized energies, but it's because they can only gain or lose ...
  • 03:10: Heat is just the energy in the random motion of particles comprising an object.
  • 03:26: The hotter an object is, the faster its particles jiggle.
  • 07:38: He set this minimum energy to be the frequency of a particle's vibration times a very, very small number, a number that had yet to be measured.

2016-06-15: The Strange Universe of Gravitational Lensing

  • 10:18: Think about that alpha particle trying to tunnel through the potential energy wall of the strong nuclear force.
  • 10:29: The particle could find itself located anywhere that its wave function is non-zero.
  • 12:58: ... is another way of saying that a particle's wave function gets so hopelessly mixed with those of other particles ...

2016-06-08: New Fundamental Particle Discovered?? + Challenge Winners!

  • 00:00: ... CERN's Large Hadron Collider reported a hint of evidence of a brand new particle, one that does not fit anywhere within the standard model of particle ...
  • 00:18: ... the standard model is basically the periodic table of fundamental particles and forces that represents our entire current understanding of the ...
  • 00:30: Even the incredible discovery of the Higgs bosun in 2012 was a confirmation of the final particle of the standard model.
  • 00:50: Well, let's first think about how particle accelerators-- and especially the LHC-- work.
  • 01:34: Their energy is released and reshapes itself into new particles.
  • 01:39: Many, many weird particles come out of such a collision.
  • 01:51: We only know they ever existed because the resulting gamma radiation has an energy corresponding to the mass of the decayed particle.
  • 02:17: This suggests a new particle with a mass much larger than anything in the standard model.
  • 02:56: But particle physicists are completely losing their minds.
  • 03:14: There are theoretical ideas of particles that could cause a bump at this energy, and would also make pretty decent dark matter candidates.
  • 03:47: A highly speculative particle responsible for the transmission of the gravitational force.
  • 03:52: But it's not yet even known whether such a particle exists, or is needed to explain gravity.
  • 03:59: Or five-- it's a composite of other smaller particles.
  • 00:50: Well, let's first think about how particle accelerators-- and especially the LHC-- work.
  • 03:52: But it's not yet even known whether such a particle exists, or is needed to explain gravity.
  • 02:56: But particle physicists are completely losing their minds.
  • 00:00: ... particle, one that does not fit anywhere within the standard model of particle physics. ...
  • 03:47: A highly speculative particle responsible for the transmission of the gravitational force.
  • 00:18: ... the standard model is basically the periodic table of fundamental particles and forces that represents our entire current understanding of the ...
  • 01:34: Their energy is released and reshapes itself into new particles.
  • 01:39: Many, many weird particles come out of such a collision.
  • 03:14: There are theoretical ideas of particles that could cause a bump at this energy, and would also make pretty decent dark matter candidates.
  • 03:59: Or five-- it's a composite of other smaller particles.

2016-06-01: Is Quantum Tunneling Faster than Light?

  • 02:00: That's true of subatomic particles, and it's sort of true of anything.
  • 02:37: ... are made up of several tens of kilograms of thermal moving particles and have de Broglie wavelengths a couple of orders of magnitude smaller ...
  • 02:56: But what about something much smaller, say a tightly bound bundle of two protons and two neutrons that we call an alpha particle?
  • 03:13: There an alpha particle is snugly bound into the nucleus by the strong nuclear force.
  • 03:19: We can imagine an alpha particle as being like a ball trapped in a steep valley of potential energy.
  • 03:39: As an alpha particle approaches the force barrier of the nucleus, its wave packet is reflected backwards, usually.
  • 03:48: See, that wave packet describes a range of possible locations for the approaching particle.
  • 04:19: ... there is a very tiny chance that instead of bouncing off the wall, the particle will, at the last minute, resolve its position in that unlikely outside ...
  • 04:41: When it's an alpha particle escaping a nucleus, this is one of the most important mechanisms for radioactive decay.
  • 04:52: Protons, neutrons, electrons, and alpha particles can quantum tunnel into nuclei in various types of fusion and particle capture phenomena.
  • 05:14: But how quickly does the alpha particle move through this barrier?
  • 06:18: ... just like with the alpha particle, as the photon approaches the barrier the wave packet defining its ...
  • 08:20: A particle resolves its location anywhere within the vicinity of its de Broglie wavelength.
  • 03:39: As an alpha particle approaches the force barrier of the nucleus, its wave packet is reflected backwards, usually.
  • 04:52: Protons, neutrons, electrons, and alpha particles can quantum tunnel into nuclei in various types of fusion and particle capture phenomena.
  • 04:41: When it's an alpha particle escaping a nucleus, this is one of the most important mechanisms for radioactive decay.
  • 08:20: A particle resolves its location anywhere within the vicinity of its de Broglie wavelength.
  • 04:19: ... that unlikely outside bit of its possibility space that looks like the particle teleporting out of the ...
  • 02:00: That's true of subatomic particles, and it's sort of true of anything.
  • 02:37: ... are made up of several tens of kilograms of thermal moving particles and have de Broglie wavelengths a couple of orders of magnitude smaller ...
  • 04:52: Protons, neutrons, electrons, and alpha particles can quantum tunnel into nuclei in various types of fusion and particle capture phenomena.

2016-05-18: Anti-gravity and the True Nature of Dark Energy

  • 04:14: That's the pressure due to fast-moving particles and radiation.
  • 04:30: The internal gas pushes outwards as fast-moving particles collide with the walls.
  • 04:36: ... if fast-moving particles produce an outward push in pressure, then is this how dark energy is ...
  • 05:00: In order for the pressure of fast-moving particles to create an outward push, the region beyond them has to be an area of lower pressure.
  • 05:25: See, high pressure from regular matter and energy means very fast-moving particles.
  • 05:33: And the motion of these particles results in a combination of relativistic corrections.
  • 05:39: ... effect is that the massive of a region of the universe is higher if its particles are moving quickly compared to a region where the particles are moving ...
  • 09:38: Part of the problem is that negative pressure doesn't come from the motion of dark energy particles, whatever they might be.
  • 04:14: That's the pressure due to fast-moving particles and radiation.
  • 04:30: The internal gas pushes outwards as fast-moving particles collide with the walls.
  • 04:36: ... if fast-moving particles produce an outward push in pressure, then is this how dark energy is ...
  • 05:00: In order for the pressure of fast-moving particles to create an outward push, the region beyond them has to be an area of lower pressure.
  • 05:25: See, high pressure from regular matter and energy means very fast-moving particles.
  • 05:33: And the motion of these particles results in a combination of relativistic corrections.
  • 05:39: ... effect is that the massive of a region of the universe is higher if its particles are moving quickly compared to a region where the particles are moving ...
  • 09:38: Part of the problem is that negative pressure doesn't come from the motion of dark energy particles, whatever they might be.
  • 04:30: The internal gas pushes outwards as fast-moving particles collide with the walls.
  • 04:36: ... if fast-moving particles produce an outward push in pressure, then is this how dark energy is causing ...

2016-04-06: We Are Star Stuff

  • 00:39: ... blocks of matter, the elementary fields that fill our universe, and the particles that they manifest through their vibrations, these all lend themselves ...
  • 01:04: ... when those elementary particles start interacting to form nuclei, atoms, and molecules-- chemistry-- ...
  • 03:06: In fact, those protons will outlast almost every other nonelementary particle in the universe.
  • 03:46: Two protons, two neutrons, 12 quarks, a complicated but very stable marriage of particles.
  • 12:56: Well, we can sort of answer that for two particles at opposite sides of the currently observable part of the universe.
  • 00:39: ... blocks of matter, the elementary fields that fill our universe, and the particles that they manifest through their vibrations, these all lend themselves ...
  • 01:04: ... when those elementary particles start interacting to form nuclei, atoms, and molecules-- chemistry-- ...
  • 03:46: Two protons, two neutrons, 12 quarks, a complicated but very stable marriage of particles.
  • 12:56: Well, we can sort of answer that for two particles at opposite sides of the currently observable part of the universe.
  • 01:04: ... when those elementary particles start interacting to form nuclei, atoms, and molecules-- chemistry-- they ...

2016-03-30: Pulsar Starquakes Make Fast Radio Bursts? + Challenge Winners!

  • 04:21: ... and helium nuclei, the other common charged particles hanging around the universe at this time, have much smaller scattering ...

2016-03-02: What’s Wrong With the Big Bang Theory?

  • 01:40: In a previous episode, we talked about how the Higgs field gives particles mass.
  • 01:52: ... turns out that when you take this Higgs mass away from the particles that carry the weak nuclear force, they become just like the photon, ...
  • 07:05: Another way to say this is that those edges of the universe have always been beyond each other's particle horizons.
  • 01:40: In a previous episode, we talked about how the Higgs field gives particles mass.
  • 01:52: ... turns out that when you take this Higgs mass away from the particles that carry the weak nuclear force, they become just like the photon, ...
  • 01:40: In a previous episode, we talked about how the Higgs field gives particles mass.

2016-02-24: Why the Big Bang Definitely Happened

  • 01:15: ... and are supported by many experiments, from astronomical observations to particle collider experiments to supercomputer ...
  • 08:05: We've recreated those insane energies in our particle accelerators.
  • 01:15: ... and are supported by many experiments, from astronomical observations to particle collider experiments to supercomputer ...

2016-02-03: Will Mars or Venus Kill You First?

  • 01:35: ... has allowed the solar wind, the constant stream of energetic particles from the sun, to whittle away at Mars' ...
  • 05:27: This is when a magnetic storm on the sun's surface sends out a blast of extremely high energy particles, most notably protons and electrons.
  • 01:35: ... has allowed the solar wind, the constant stream of energetic particles from the sun, to whittle away at Mars' ...
  • 05:27: This is when a magnetic storm on the sun's surface sends out a blast of extremely high energy particles, most notably protons and electrons.

2016-01-27: The Origin of Matter and Time

  • 03:37: Now remember, a photon clock marks time with a particle of light bouncing between two mirrors.
  • 06:17: ... confined not by mirrored walls, but by interactions with other particles and force ...
  • 06:28: ... in which the familiar electrons and quarks are composites of massless particles confined by the Higgs ...
  • 06:50: At each interaction, particles exchange energy, charge, and other properties that result in change.
  • 06:56: In those particles, and in the configuration of the ensemble-- the object itself-- the internal machinery of the thing evolves.
  • 09:18: Kovacs asks, how can it be that if an elementary particle doesn't experience time, that they can still decay?
  • 09:26: ... any particle that can decay, or even oscillate between states, like the electron's ...
  • 09:44: In fact, these guys are really composite particles.
  • 09:58: So when I say that elementary particles don't feel time, that's what I'm talking about.
  • 10:04: ... the time that the electron or quark feels-- is felt by the composite particle, not by their ...
  • 09:18: Kovacs asks, how can it be that if an elementary particle doesn't experience time, that they can still decay?
  • 06:17: ... confined not by mirrored walls, but by interactions with other particles and force ...
  • 06:28: ... in which the familiar electrons and quarks are composites of massless particles confined by the Higgs ...
  • 06:50: At each interaction, particles exchange energy, charge, and other properties that result in change.
  • 06:56: In those particles, and in the configuration of the ensemble-- the object itself-- the internal machinery of the thing evolves.
  • 09:44: In fact, these guys are really composite particles.
  • 09:58: So when I say that elementary particles don't feel time, that's what I'm talking about.
  • 06:28: ... in which the familiar electrons and quarks are composites of massless particles confined by the Higgs ...
  • 09:58: So when I say that elementary particles don't feel time, that's what I'm talking about.
  • 06:50: At each interaction, particles exchange energy, charge, and other properties that result in change.

2016-01-13: When Time Breaks Down

  • 02:04: A particle moving at the speed of light experiences no time.
  • 02:17: And in a sense, the most elementary particles are intrinsically timeless.
  • 02:22: The familiar smooth flow of time only emerges as these particles are bundled into what we think of as matter.
  • 02:34: ... why time depends on motion, which in turn will show us why light speed particles are timeless, and why having mass and experiencing time are ...
  • 03:46: All observers, regardless of their own speed, will report seeing the same speed for any particle of light-- any photon.
  • 05:50: ... a fast moving photon box, we perceive that its internal particles have further to travel to bounce off the walls compared to an identical ...
  • 06:38: ... an atom, that ticking corresponds to interactions between its component particles and fields, in which the internal parts exchange energy, momentum, and ...
  • 07:14: So the confinement of light speed particles gives matter mass.
  • 07:24: But now it looks like this same bundling of light speed particles can also given matter time.
  • 02:04: A particle moving at the speed of light experiences no time.
  • 02:17: And in a sense, the most elementary particles are intrinsically timeless.
  • 02:22: The familiar smooth flow of time only emerges as these particles are bundled into what we think of as matter.
  • 02:34: ... why time depends on motion, which in turn will show us why light speed particles are timeless, and why having mass and experiencing time are ...
  • 05:50: ... a fast moving photon box, we perceive that its internal particles have further to travel to bounce off the walls compared to an identical ...
  • 06:38: ... an atom, that ticking corresponds to interactions between its component particles and fields, in which the internal parts exchange energy, momentum, and ...
  • 07:14: So the confinement of light speed particles gives matter mass.
  • 07:24: But now it looks like this same bundling of light speed particles can also given matter time.

2016-01-06: The True Nature of Matter and Mass

  • 05:31: Take away the Higgs field, and they are massless speed of light particles.
  • 05:36: ... mass is composed of a combination of intrinsically massless, light-speed particles that are prevented from streaming freely through the universe, as well ...
  • 05:52: Is it just the result of massless particles and fields bumping and sloshing around inside things resisting acceleration?
  • 07:39: So confined massless particles generate a very real gravitational field.
  • 07:44: OK, so mass is an emergent property of the interactions of massless particles.
  • 07:51: A single photon experiences no time, nor does any massless particle.
  • 08:18: ... of "Space Time," we talked about how the Higgs field gives elementary particles ...
  • 08:48: It doesn't act like friction, because friction slows down particles.
  • 08:53: The Higgs field doesn't slow particles down.
  • 09:37: It's really the composite particle that has mass.
  • 05:31: Take away the Higgs field, and they are massless speed of light particles.
  • 05:36: ... mass is composed of a combination of intrinsically massless, light-speed particles that are prevented from streaming freely through the universe, as well ...
  • 05:52: Is it just the result of massless particles and fields bumping and sloshing around inside things resisting acceleration?
  • 07:39: So confined massless particles generate a very real gravitational field.
  • 07:44: OK, so mass is an emergent property of the interactions of massless particles.
  • 08:18: ... of "Space Time," we talked about how the Higgs field gives elementary particles ...
  • 08:48: It doesn't act like friction, because friction slows down particles.
  • 08:53: The Higgs field doesn't slow particles down.
  • 07:39: So confined massless particles generate a very real gravitational field.
  • 08:18: ... of "Space Time," we talked about how the Higgs field gives elementary particles mass. ...

2015-12-16: The Higgs Mechanism Explained

  • 00:02: In 2012, a new particle was discovered by the Large Hadron Collider.
  • 00:14: ... that's made of atoms, doesn't come from the mass of the elementary particles. ...
  • 00:41: Now, today I want to talk about this so-called intrinsic mass of the elementary particles.
  • 01:08: Now, QFT describes the fundamental particles as excitations in fields, fields that fill our entire universe.
  • 01:43: ... elementary particle is a vibration in its own field, and these vibrations and fields ...
  • 02:19: As we'll see in the next couple of episodes, this masslessness means that particles should travel only at the speed of light and experience no time.
  • 02:29: But these particles are distinctly not timeless.
  • 04:09: It actually cares whether a particle has left or right-handed chirality.
  • 05:34: ... poor electron is bombarded by a flow of particles into and out of the Higgs field from all directions, giving and taking ...
  • 06:32: This particle actually has nothing to do with giving anything mass.
  • 06:36: However, if we observe the particle, then it means the field also exists.
  • 06:50: ... 2012, the LHC spotted the debris produced by the decay of an unknown particle, and those decay products are consistent with the disintegration of the ...
  • 00:14: ... that's made of atoms, doesn't come from the mass of the elementary particles. ...
  • 00:41: Now, today I want to talk about this so-called intrinsic mass of the elementary particles.
  • 01:08: Now, QFT describes the fundamental particles as excitations in fields, fields that fill our entire universe.
  • 01:43: ... each other, transferring energy, momentum, charge, et cetera, between particles and ...
  • 02:19: As we'll see in the next couple of episodes, this masslessness means that particles should travel only at the speed of light and experience no time.
  • 02:29: But these particles are distinctly not timeless.
  • 05:34: ... poor electron is bombarded by a flow of particles into and out of the Higgs field from all directions, giving and taking ...

2015-12-09: How to Build a Black Hole

  • 03:41: And by thing, I mean fermion, the particle type comprising all regular matter.
  • 04:32: ... the degeneracy pressure, resulting from particles not having anywhere else to collapse into, is incredibly strong-- strong ...
  • 05:25: Certain numerical properties that you can assign to a particle exist in a wave of varying degrees of maybe.
  • 05:46: Location remains a possibility cloud until the neutron interacts with another particle, at which point, its location is resolved.
  • 05:25: Certain numerical properties that you can assign to a particle exist in a wave of varying degrees of maybe.
  • 03:41: And by thing, I mean fermion, the particle type comprising all regular matter.
  • 04:32: ... the degeneracy pressure, resulting from particles not having anywhere else to collapse into, is incredibly strong-- strong ...

2015-11-05: Why Haven't We Found Alien Life?

  • 11:14: ... you'd see nothing unless it stopped, in which case all the photons and particles that are captured on its journey would blast you into ...

2015-10-15: 5 REAL Possibilities for Interstellar Travel

  • 04:50: When matter meets it's antimatter counterpart, both particles are annihilated, liberating most of the rest mass as energy.
  • 05:09: We can make in particle accelerators but it's slow and hellishly expensive.
  • 12:04: ... you collapse the way function of one entangled particle, your choice of measurement affects the state of its entangled partner ...
  • 05:09: We can make in particle accelerators but it's slow and hellishly expensive.
  • 04:50: When matter meets it's antimatter counterpart, both particles are annihilated, liberating most of the rest mass as energy.

2015-10-07: The Speed of Light is NOT About Light

  • 08:53: Because of this, it's the only speed that any massless particle can travel.
  • 09:56: There is only massless particles traveling at infinite speed.
  • 11:17: RedomaxRedomax asks what you would see if you traveled 18 times the distance to the particle horizon to come back to where you started.
  • 11:26: ... that number, 18 times the particle horizon, only applies if the universe has positive curvature, making it ...
  • 11:17: RedomaxRedomax asks what you would see if you traveled 18 times the distance to the particle horizon to come back to where you started.
  • 11:26: ... that number, 18 times the particle horizon, only applies if the universe has positive curvature, making it a ...
  • 09:56: There is only massless particles traveling at infinite speed.

2015-09-30: What Happens At The Edge Of The Universe?

  • 01:47: We call this the particle horizon of the universe.
  • 01:56: Anything inside the particle horizon is referred to as the known universe.
  • 02:33: To travel to the particle horizon, we need to move through expanding space.
  • 03:33: The event horizon of the universe is actually closer to us than the particle horizon.
  • 04:22: But for now, let's just assume we have a nice Alcubierre-class warp-ship and we burn the mass energy of entire stars to chase the particle horizon.
  • 04:36: Remember, the particle horizon is just defined by the limit of our current view.
  • 04:43: Wait a minute, and my particle horizon expands.
  • 04:46: Travel to the particle horizon instantaneously and you'll see the Milky Way as a cute baby CMB blob on your new particle horizon.
  • 05:37: So if it's true, what happens if you cross the particle horizon?
  • 06:46: ... you'd need to travel an absolute minimum of 18 times the distance to the particle horizon to get back to where you started, assuming expansion froze for ...
  • 09:16: ... informs us that upon winning a Nobel Prize for discovering dark matter particles, he or she would spend all of the prize money on Phoenix ...
  • 01:47: We call this the particle horizon of the universe.
  • 01:56: Anything inside the particle horizon is referred to as the known universe.
  • 02:33: To travel to the particle horizon, we need to move through expanding space.
  • 03:33: The event horizon of the universe is actually closer to us than the particle horizon.
  • 04:22: But for now, let's just assume we have a nice Alcubierre-class warp-ship and we burn the mass energy of entire stars to chase the particle horizon.
  • 04:36: Remember, the particle horizon is just defined by the limit of our current view.
  • 04:43: Wait a minute, and my particle horizon expands.
  • 04:46: Travel to the particle horizon instantaneously and you'll see the Milky Way as a cute baby CMB blob on your new particle horizon.
  • 05:37: So if it's true, what happens if you cross the particle horizon?
  • 06:46: ... you'd need to travel an absolute minimum of 18 times the distance to the particle horizon to get back to where you started, assuming expansion froze for the whole ...
  • 04:43: Wait a minute, and my particle horizon expands.
  • 04:46: Travel to the particle horizon instantaneously and you'll see the Milky Way as a cute baby CMB blob on your new particle horizon.
  • 09:16: ... informs us that upon winning a Nobel Prize for discovering dark matter particles, he or she would spend all of the prize money on Phoenix ...

2015-09-23: Does Dark Matter BREAK Physics?

  • 01:33: One, best case scenario, it comes from particles that we've already discovered, just in a form that's very difficult to detect.
  • 01:41: Two, not so great, dark matter is a type of particle that's beyond our current understanding of particle physics.
  • 02:02: The standard model of particle physics is basically the periodic table of known fundamental particles and fields.
  • 03:10: Either particle physics is wrong, or at least horribly incomplete, in that we're missing 80% to 90% of the mass in the universe, or Einstein is wrong.
  • 04:39: They either need some serious fine-tuning or you have to add back in some actual dark matter particles, which kind of defeats the purpose.
  • 05:08: ... if dark matter is an unseen particle, and it's the type of particle we think it might be, then that dark ...
  • 05:29: This tells us that matter is a real particle, not just broken gravity.
  • 05:35: Dark matter exists and it represents, if not broken, at least incomplete particle physics.
  • 06:23: And even then, galaxies could only have formed if dark matter particles are cold, massive, and weakly interacting.
  • 06:30: Weakly interacting massive particles, WIMPs, actually refers to a specific and popular contender for dark matter.
  • 06:37: WIMPs are a family of particles that may arise out of supersymmetry.
  • 06:41: This is a funky extension to the standard model of particle physics.
  • 06:46: ... the existence of a set of counterparts to the familiar standard model particles, but that are hundreds of times more ...
  • 07:10: But it's all mathematical fantasy until we detect the particle.
  • 07:14: ... fall-out between the unthinkably rare collisions between a dark matter particle and an atomic ...
  • 07:22: We also watch the heavens for the equally elusive gamma radiation produced when dark matter particles annihilate each other out in space.
  • 07:36: ... I'll report any previously undiscovered dark matter particles on the next episode of "SpaceTime." Last time on "SpaceTime," we talked ...
  • 01:41: Two, not so great, dark matter is a type of particle that's beyond our current understanding of particle physics.
  • 02:02: The standard model of particle physics is basically the periodic table of known fundamental particles and fields.
  • 03:10: Either particle physics is wrong, or at least horribly incomplete, in that we're missing 80% to 90% of the mass in the universe, or Einstein is wrong.
  • 05:35: Dark matter exists and it represents, if not broken, at least incomplete particle physics.
  • 06:41: This is a funky extension to the standard model of particle physics.
  • 01:33: One, best case scenario, it comes from particles that we've already discovered, just in a form that's very difficult to detect.
  • 02:02: The standard model of particle physics is basically the periodic table of known fundamental particles and fields.
  • 04:39: They either need some serious fine-tuning or you have to add back in some actual dark matter particles, which kind of defeats the purpose.
  • 06:23: And even then, galaxies could only have formed if dark matter particles are cold, massive, and weakly interacting.
  • 06:30: Weakly interacting massive particles, WIMPs, actually refers to a specific and popular contender for dark matter.
  • 06:37: WIMPs are a family of particles that may arise out of supersymmetry.
  • 06:46: ... the existence of a set of counterparts to the familiar standard model particles, but that are hundreds of times more ...
  • 07:22: We also watch the heavens for the equally elusive gamma radiation produced when dark matter particles annihilate each other out in space.
  • 07:36: ... I'll report any previously undiscovered dark matter particles on the next episode of "SpaceTime." Last time on "SpaceTime," we talked ...
  • 07:22: We also watch the heavens for the equally elusive gamma radiation produced when dark matter particles annihilate each other out in space.
  • 06:30: Weakly interacting massive particles, WIMPs, actually refers to a specific and popular contender for dark matter.

2015-08-27: Watch THIS! (New Host + Challenge Winners)

  • 00:03: Which of two particles, one orbiting around the outside of a planet and one going straight through the middle, reaches the other side first?
  • 00:15: ... challenge was getting an expression for the gravitational force on the particle that's falling through the planet when it's a distance r from the center ...
  • 00:30: Now there's another force that comes up in elementary physics that's also proportional to the distance of a particle from an equilibrium point.
  • 00:50: ... and figure out an expression for the period of oscillation of a particle falling through a ...
  • 01:09: ... said, you can also work out an expression for the orbital period of a particle moving under the planet's gravity in a circular orbit right at the ...
  • 01:18: ... to the expression that you get for the oscillatory period of a particle going through the center, you find that algebraically, they're ...
  • 01:32: But nonetheless, it means that the half periods are also the same, and it turns out that the particles tie.
  • 00:50: ... and figure out an expression for the period of oscillation of a particle falling through a ...
  • 01:09: ... said, you can also work out an expression for the orbital period of a particle moving under the planet's gravity in a circular orbit right at the ...
  • 00:03: Which of two particles, one orbiting around the outside of a planet and one going straight through the middle, reaches the other side first?
  • 01:32: But nonetheless, it means that the half periods are also the same, and it turns out that the particles tie.

2015-08-19: Do Events Inside Black Holes Happen?

  • 04:13: ... the way, for every particle that enters the black hole, some event on its world line is always the ...

2015-08-12: Challenge: Which Particle Wins This Race?

  • 00:46: Suppose that a particle is orbiting the planet right at the surface.
  • 00:59: ... gravity, you can work out an expression for the orbital speed of this particle in terms of the mass and radius of the planet, or in terms of the ...
  • 01:12: ... that in mind, and now imagine a second particle that we release from rest at the planet's surface and that we allow to ...
  • 01:26: But I think it's easier to pretend that the planet is a uniformly dense fluid, and that this particle can pass through that fluid without friction.
  • 01:37: At the same time that the orbiting particle passes this point, let's release the second particle from rest from exactly the same height.
  • 01:56: When the second particle is inside the planet, how do you calculate the gravitational force on it?
  • 02:15: ... any given location inside the planet, the particle will feel only the gravitational force from whatever mass is closer to ...
  • 02:26: ... you should be able to get a formula for the gravitational force on the particle when it's a distance little r from the center of the ...
  • 02:40: ... expression for the gravitational force on the second particle when it's inside the planet should algebraically resemble a familiar ...
  • 02:50: ... is actually the key to figuring out the travel time of the second particle without using ...
  • 03:04: The answer to which particle wins the race comes out the same regardless of the mass and radius of the planet, or of the masses of the two particles.
  • 04:13: ... if the particles depart simultaneously as measured by the clock at one end of the planet, ...
  • 01:37: At the same time that the orbiting particle passes this point, let's release the second particle from rest from exactly the same height.
  • 03:04: The answer to which particle wins the race comes out the same regardless of the mass and radius of the planet, or of the masses of the two particles.
  • 04:13: ... if the particles depart simultaneously as measured by the clock at one end of the planet, ...

2015-08-05: What Physics Teachers Get Wrong About Tides!

  • 10:09: ... field theory, forces are described as being mediated by some kind of particle like electromagnetism by the photons, strong nuclear forces by the ...

2015-05-20: The Real Meaning of E=mc²

  • 04:10: All the energy in sunlight came at the expense of other energy, kinetic and potential energy, of the particles that make up the sun.
  • 04:25: Those 4 billion kilograms that the sun loses every second is really a reduction in the kinetic and potential energies of its constituent particles.
  • 04:32: What we've been weighing is the energies of the particles in objects all along.
  • 06:33: They're made of particles called quarks, whose combine mass is about 2,000 to 3,000 times smaller than a proton's or neutron's mass.
  • 06:57: At least in the standard model of particle physics, they're not made up of smaller parts, so where does their mass come from?
  • 04:10: All the energy in sunlight came at the expense of other energy, kinetic and potential energy, of the particles that make up the sun.
  • 04:25: Those 4 billion kilograms that the sun loses every second is really a reduction in the kinetic and potential energies of its constituent particles.
  • 04:32: What we've been weighing is the energies of the particles in objects all along.
  • 06:33: They're made of particles called quarks, whose combine mass is about 2,000 to 3,000 times smaller than a proton's or neutron's mass.

2015-04-22: Are Space and Time An Illusion?

  • 01:01: Suppose two observers are moving relative to each other, and particles count as observers.

2015-04-09: How to Weigh a Fart

  • 00:20: ... the mass of the fart once you know the average molecular mass of a fart particle. ...

2015-04-08: Could You Fart Your Way to the Moon?

  • 01:21: ... its temperature and causing it to expand until it becomes a gas of particles bouncing off the walls of the combustion ...
  • 01:31: Particles strike the lateral sides equally often, so there's no net push sideways.
  • 01:35: ... along the longitudinal axis, there's only one wall to strike, and the particles push the rocket forward as they ricochet and escape out the open ...
  • 01:21: ... its temperature and causing it to expand until it becomes a gas of particles bouncing off the walls of the combustion ...
  • 01:31: Particles strike the lateral sides equally often, so there's no net push sideways.
  • 01:35: ... along the longitudinal axis, there's only one wall to strike, and the particles push the rocket forward as they ricochet and escape out the open ...
  • 01:21: ... its temperature and causing it to expand until it becomes a gas of particles bouncing off the walls of the combustion ...
  • 01:35: ... along the longitudinal axis, there's only one wall to strike, and the particles push the rocket forward as they ricochet and escape out the open ...
  • 01:31: Particles strike the lateral sides equally often, so there's no net push sideways.

2015-03-25: Cosmic Microwave Background Explained

  • 02:12: In fact, it's called a thermal spectrum because the light is generated by the random motions of particles in the material.
  • 03:00: During that era, a supercharged particle with a temperature of several thousand degrees permeated all of space.
  • 02:12: In fact, it's called a thermal spectrum because the light is generated by the random motions of particles in the material.

2015-03-18: Can A Starfox Barrel Roll Work In Space?

  • 08:10: Physicists have considered this possibility, and if it were likely, it probably would have occurred in particle accelerators already.
243 result(s) shown.