Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains The Weirdness of Quantum Physics

[Music] quantum mechanics is the area of physics that   deals with the behavior of atoms and  the particles on microscopic scales since its inception the many counter-intuitive  aspects and results of quantum mechanics   have provoked strong philosophical  debates and many interpretations the 1920s was the birth of quantum physics   you can't get crazier than quantum physics oh  my gosh particles pop in and out of existence   you try to measure it and it's not there  anymore but you saw it there a moment ago   and it was intriguing once again it was the  physicist following you know the bouncing ball   weird crazy things were going on inside the  atom that was basic science which at the time   surely there were people who say what  are you doing i don't understand it   why but we had people who were curious about the  nature of the world and they pursued it and they   were allowed to 50 years later we would see the  birth of the information technology revolution the word quantum derives from the latin word for  how much in a nutshell it looks at objects in   terms of probability as opposed to certainty  in quantum mechanics there is no such thing   as absolute certainty when looking for something  this phenomenon is known as uncertainty principle   and was introduced first in 1927 by  the german physicist werner heisenberg [Music] you ever i don't this still happened a  quarter spills out of your pants pocket in the   back seat of a car and it's there in the wedge  between the bottom and the back seat and so you   try to reach in to get it and the act of reaching  for the coin makes the coin move farther away from   you the act of reaching for it just slides down  even further that's not your mind making that   happen it's the act of the measurement that is  affecting what it is you're trying to measure   and this was discovered in quantum physics and to  the point where that's actually it's a heisenberg   uncertainty principle it's one of the basic  foundations of all of quantum physics heisenberg   realized that one implication of quantum physics  is that the active measurement always disturbs the   object measured the uncertainty principle states  that there is some inherent limit on how precisely   we can simultaneously measure a particle's  velocity and its position if the uncertainty   on position is small then the uncertainty  on momentum is large and vice versa what   we observe in the world around us is not always  what it seems classical physics which dominates   our current understanding treats phenomena as  spread out in time and space real-life examples   of quantum physics have expanded the horizons  of modern science as tyson emphasizes the whole   computer world is based on the principle of  quantum physics we are able to manipulate the   electrical properties of silicon only because we  can study the wave nature of electrons [Music] that's information moving that requires quantum  physics no part of the modern economy isn't   touched because information technology  requires quantum physics in the design   in the creation of data in the acquisition the  storage the dissemination of information that's   why it's the i.t revolution it's not a computer  revolution computers is there it's all about what   we're doing with information it's no longer  on a printed page here's the information no let's look at some additional examples  of quantum mechanics in everyday life   lasers and telecommunications the operation of a  laser is based on the quantum mechanical process   of stimulated emission anytime you use a laser  whether indirectly by making a phone call or   directly by scanning a label on your groceries  you're making practical use of quantum physics   the principles of quantum mechanics have also  found their application in cryptography which   allows secure transmission of information from one  place to another without being intercepted quantum   communication is another key technology that can  guarantee the information security of the next   global communication networks the recent rapid  growth of satellite constellation has provided   impetus for the development of high-capacity  laser communication in space the work carried   out by researchers at the national institute  of information and communications technology   in japan have demonstrated laser communications  between a micro satellite and a ground station   while using the quantum nature of photons  to secure the data being transmitted another   satellite technology that derives from the use of  quantum mechanics is the global positioning system   gps gps is able to tell you exactly where you  are thanks to the atomic clocks aboard satellites   orbiting earth which are set by ground control  stations and synchronize themselves through   signals every satellite is equipped with an atomic  clock some other examples of using the underlying   principles of quantum physics include fluorescent  light magnetic resonance imaging and your toaster our daily routines are often governed by  technology that is directly related to   quantum physics thus our lives rest upon  these fundamental scientific discoveries   however it is worth noting that humans are not  the only species that utilize quantum mechanics   a wide range of biological processes rely on  quantum physics to operate a perplexing property   of quantum mechanics could be allowing birds to  see and navigate the planet's magnetic fields   one-fifth of the earth's ten thousand  bird species migrate over great distances   crossing seemingly insurmountable obstacles as  they follow the seasons from one place to another   classic physics suggest that navigating such long  distances should be impossible for any organism   with the feet made doubly difficult by the earth's  turbulent magnetic fields that threatened to throw   a bird off course a team of physicists at the  university of california have discovered that   several species of bird may be able to see the  earth's magnetic field due to quantum entanglement   quantum entanglement is a hard concept to  understand because it is a counterintuitive   physical phenomenon einstein referred to it as  spooky action at a distance it occurs when a   pair of particles is generated interact or share  spatial proximity in a way such that the quantum   state of each particle of the pair or group  cannot be described independently of the state   of the others so it is true and this bothered  einstein one of the many reasons you didn't buy   quantum mechanics because of this spooky action  at the distance it is true that i can do what's   called entanglement i can entangle two particles  like two electrons or two photons create them in   a very special quantum mechanical state and then  i can separate them from here to alpha centauri   and then let's say i take two electrons and i  create segment state so one is spin up and when   it's been down actually they have opposite spins  it turns out they're spinning in all directions   at the same time now i measure this one and i find  that it's spinning over here it immediately makes   this one spin that way or at least that one will  be measured to be spinning that way immediately   so isn't that information traveling faster than  light i mean it's not it's instantaneous i do   this measurement here instantaneously that  other one collapses into that state before i   made the measurement they were both spinning in  all directions at the same time i measure this   one suddenly boom i find it in that direction that  makes this one go in that direction well it sounds   like information fast tonight but it turns out  it's not no information is transferred in them quantum effects are not only confined to the  atomic scale for more than 25 years physicists   have used an exotic state of matter made from  ultra cold atoms to probe quantum behavior at   the macroscopic scale some examples of macroscopic  quantum effects are superconductivity superfluity   and bose-einstein condensates superconductivity  is the phenomenon in which certain materials   conduct electricity with zero resistance and  expel magnetic fields superconductors have an   interesting property that the resistance drops  abruptly to zero when the material is cooled   below a characteristic temperature this weird  aspect of the total resistance going to zero   we it took 50 years for this to be understood more  than 50 years almost and it's a weird property of   quantum mechanics the property is that somehow  it turns out in in certain materials electrons   which normally repel in certain materials because  of the property materials they actually attract   and they bind together and they collapse  into a single quantum mechanical state   if you put a magnet above a superconductor the  magnet will flow why is that well it turns out   magnetic fields can't permeate a superconductor  so they they cancel that magnetic field they   repel that magnetic field superfluity is another  quantum mechanical phenomenon in which a liquid   loses all viscosity and flows with absolutely no  friction and without any loss of kinetic energy   bose einstein condensates also called the fifth  state of matter is typically formed when a gas of   bosons at low densities is cooled to temperatures  very close to absolute zero under such conditions   a large fraction of bosons could occupy the lowest  quantum state at which point microscopic quantum   mechanical phenomena particularly wave function  interference become apparent macroscopically   physicists behind nasa's cold atom lab which  began operating in the international space   station in 2018 have shown that the laboratory  can successfully exploit the microgravity of space   in ways that allow scientists to create phenomena  that would be impossible on earth the facility is   on track to become the coldest place known in the  universe although the first quantum phenomena were   observed more than a century ago scientists are  still learning about this realm of our universe   more on that in another video thanks  for watching did you like this video   then show your support by liking subscribing and  ringing the bell to never miss videos like this you

Channel: Science Time

Views: 1,418,643

Keywords: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Neil Tyson, Neil Tyson on quantum physics, neil degrasse tyson quantum physics, neil degrasse tyson on quantum mechanics, quantum physics, quantum mechanics, Uncertainty Principle, Atoms, Universe, Lawrence Krauss, Science, Science Time

Id: SDxzZHSBhw0

Length: 10min 24sec (624 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 13 2021