1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,520 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Daniel and Jorge from Daniel and Jorge 2 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Explained the Universe. We interrupt this podcast for a special announcement. 3 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:11,119 Speaker 1: This Friday March We're having our first ever Daniel and 4 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:14,560 Speaker 1: Jorge Explained the Universe live stream event. So join us 5 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: as we record an episode in real time and take 6 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: questions from listeners like you. You can submit your questions 7 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: live on air, or send them to us ahead of 8 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: time at questions at Daniel and Jorghead dot com. To 9 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: tune in, just go to YouTube dot com slash PhD 10 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: Comics this Friday March at ten am Pacific. That's one 11 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:37,159 Speaker 1: pm Eastern, six pm Europe. That's two am in Tokyo 12 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: and four am in Australia. What time it's out of Mars, Daniel, 13 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: You know in case aliens want to tune in? Do 14 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 1: you think aliens want to ask us questions? Um? May not, 15 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:50,519 Speaker 1: you may they might have engineering questions. You know, well 16 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,160 Speaker 1: I got questions for them. So tune in this Friday, 17 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: March twenty seven at ten am Pacific at YouTube dot 18 00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:10,479 Speaker 1: com slash PhD Comics and bring your question about the universe. Hey, Daniel, 19 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: are you a fan of virtual reality? I'm still trying 20 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: to get my head around this reality? What do I 21 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: need another one for? You know you can? You can 22 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:20,479 Speaker 1: use it to walk on the surface of the Moon 23 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 1: without ever leaving your couch. That does actually sound pretty good. 24 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,559 Speaker 1: But isn't it expensive? Here? It's virtually free. I think 25 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 1: that means it's expensive. Actually, I think it is. Can 26 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:33,840 Speaker 1: I can I borrow some cash from you? Yeah? Sure, 27 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 1: I'll send you some virtual money. I am or had 28 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: any cartoon is and the creator of PhD comments, Hi, 29 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 1: I'm Daniel. I'm a particle physicist, and I'm the co 30 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: author of our book, We Have No Idea, A Guide 31 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: to the Unknown Universe. It's available in paperback, hardcover and 32 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:10,079 Speaker 1: also virtual reality. You can put on goggles and experience 33 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:15,520 Speaker 1: being inside our minds. Oh man, that sounds terrifying. Is 34 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: that a horror show? But welcome to our podcast Daniel 35 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:21,119 Speaker 1: and Jorge Explain the Universe, a production of I Heart 36 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: Radio in which we take mental tours all over the 37 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: universe and talk about the biggest things, the smallest things, 38 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: the fastest things, the craziest things in the universe and 39 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: explain all of them to you in a way we 40 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:36,400 Speaker 1: hope you find educational and entertaining. Yeah, that's hard. We 41 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: talked about all the real things out there in the 42 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: universe and the cosmos and the furthest reaches of the 43 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:44,839 Speaker 1: galaxies and galaxy clusters, but we also like to talk 44 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: about things dad don't yet exist or may not even exists. 45 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 1: That's right. We want to take you inside the minds 46 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 1: of scientists and tell you how they think about the universe, 47 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: what models are going on in their head, and can 48 00:02:57,639 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: we distill those in a way that makes sense to you, 49 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,360 Speaker 1: because we want you to understand sort of the forefront 50 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:06,799 Speaker 1: of human thinking about how the universe works. Yeah, because 51 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: there are the things that are around us that we 52 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: can see and touch and feel and hold in our hands, 53 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,360 Speaker 1: but there's sort of another universe out there that we 54 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:20,519 Speaker 1: can't see, and that is maybe not quite as real 55 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 1: as you might imagine. Yeah. Well, we're always sort of 56 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:26,359 Speaker 1: building a universe in our minds to map what's going 57 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 1: on outside. Like we can do experiments, we can make measurements, 58 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: We can see things, and then we try to understand them, 59 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: and that understanding requires building a model in our head 60 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: of what we think is happening. And some of those 61 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: things we can experience some of those things we wonder 62 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:44,080 Speaker 1: are they real or are they just our imagination? Yeah, 63 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: So Daniel and I we wrote a book Daniel called 64 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: you know, We Have No Idea. I don't know if 65 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:50,440 Speaker 1: you know we wrote a book by the way, I 66 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: had no Idea? Is that right? Yeah? Yeah, it's called 67 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: We Have No Idea? And uh. And then we talk 68 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: about all the things we don't know about the universe, 69 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: all the unanswered questions out there. Um of those of 70 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: you listening, please check it out if you are interested. 71 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: But I was sort of surprised to get today's topic 72 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: in an email for me this morning, because I don't 73 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: think we covered this topic in that book. No, this 74 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: is a really tricky topic, and it really has to 75 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: do with how physicists think about particles, what they mean, 76 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:18,719 Speaker 1: and are they real? How do they talk to each other, 77 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 1: what happens when one electron pushes against another electron, and 78 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 1: how does that end? What happens inside the mind of 79 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: a physicist when she thinks about that. So this topic 80 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:31,280 Speaker 1: that we're going to talk about today, was it just 81 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:33,600 Speaker 1: too maybe extreme for our book? What did you think? What? 82 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:36,839 Speaker 1: Why didn't we talk about it in our fun and 83 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: interesting book? Now? Available for purchase what we totally could have. 84 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: And you know, in the book, we have to make 85 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: some pretty hard choices about what topics to cover. We 86 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:47,720 Speaker 1: talked about what is space and what is time? And 87 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: what is matter? And how will the universe end? And 88 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:52,600 Speaker 1: we could have gone on forever and talked about all 89 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 1: the things we don't understand about the universe. It's a 90 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,160 Speaker 1: pretty long list, but we had to make some choices. 91 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:01,480 Speaker 1: I see, the book wasn't called we have lots of 92 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: no ideas. We have absolutely zero ideas about a lot 93 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: of things. But anyway, so today's talpic. It's pretty interesting 94 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: because I think everyone has heard of particles. I mean, 95 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 1: we all know that we are made out of molecules 96 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,160 Speaker 1: and atoms, and atoms are made out of particles, and 97 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:22,040 Speaker 1: they form the basis of for matter in all of 98 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: the universe. But I think maybe not not a lot 99 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:28,039 Speaker 1: of people have heard about this particular type of particle. Yeah, 100 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: this is a concept that people talk about when they 101 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: think about you know, empty space and particles popping in 102 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: and out of the vacuum. And it's a topic that's 103 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 1: really important for thinking about forces and how things push 104 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: and pull against each other and how that actually works 105 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:46,600 Speaker 1: at the microscopic level. So it's a really important concept 106 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:48,960 Speaker 1: in particle physics, but it's sort of slipper and you 107 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:51,720 Speaker 1: get your head around. But recently some listeners wrote in 108 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 1: and asked us to explain this to be on the podcast, 109 00:05:54,000 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 1: we'll be asking the question what is a virtual particle? 110 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: Is it a particle wearing virtual reality goggles? Is it 111 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,239 Speaker 1: one particle imagining another particle? Is it a virtuous particle 112 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: who has a Stanza for its principles? These particles all 113 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,159 Speaker 1: follow rules. Actually, that's a really good point because there's 114 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: a lot of sort of pop science misinformation about virtual particles. 115 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: People say, oh, virtual particles don't follow the laws of physics, 116 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: But they do. They follow the laws of physics absolutely, 117 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:29,839 Speaker 1: just like all the other particles and as far as 118 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,560 Speaker 1: we know, everything in our real universe. Interesting. I like 119 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: how you associate virtue with following the rules. Some deep 120 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 1: psychological things going on there. Daniel today on the podcast 121 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: Therapy of Daniel, How are you feeling steep virtually good? 122 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: Particularly virtual particular? Well, so it's an interesting topic. I 123 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:56,719 Speaker 1: have to say, I've never heard of these virtual particles. 124 00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,840 Speaker 1: I guess because they're virtual. Is that part of what 125 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about today. Yeah, a little bit. They're 126 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:06,159 Speaker 1: not real, Are they not real? Well, they are real, 127 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: they're just not really particles. There are a thing that's 128 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: out there in the universe. They're responsible for important physical 129 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: effects that we can see, but we can never see 130 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: them directly. So one way to think about them is 131 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 1: that they're sort of a calculational tool in our minds, 132 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 1: a way that we think about what's happening out there 133 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: in the universe, but not something that we can have 134 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: ever observed directly, sort of like we think about quantum 135 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: mechanical wave functions. We never observe the wave function itself. 136 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 1: We only observe its consequences, it's influence on things. But 137 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: it's important for us to predict those those experiments, to 138 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: predict those consequences, that we can use that in our calculations. 139 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,119 Speaker 1: All right, well let's get let's get into it here today. 140 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: But first we were wondering, as usual, how many people 141 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: out there and you what a virtual particle was. So 142 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: I walked around campus that you see Irvine, and I 143 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: asked people this kind of crazy as a terror question. 144 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:58,840 Speaker 1: So before you hear these answers, think about it for 145 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 1: a second. If someone asked you on this treet, what 146 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 1: is a virtual particle? What would you answer? Here's what 147 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:08,679 Speaker 1: people had to say, not in the slowest an imaginary particle, 148 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 1: Houston light theories or something like that. Virtual state is 149 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:18,040 Speaker 1: a state, kind of a transitory state where if you're 150 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: going to do like a two photon excitation, it's that 151 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: state in the middle that is a virtual state where 152 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 1: it's not really you can't describe I can't describe it 153 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: very well. I'm not into physics, but that's that's the 154 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: best I can do on that one. It's a particle 155 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: of matter. I don't know, something that's made up based 156 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 1: on technology. Maybe all right? Virtually no one said yes, 157 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: there was some creative answer, though. I really like the 158 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: person that said something that's made up based on technology. 159 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: That sounds pretty good. Like I was, I could use 160 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,720 Speaker 1: technology to create new particles. That's sort of my job, 161 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: isn't that what you do? Did you create new particles? 162 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:03,360 Speaker 1: That's what I'm supposed to be doing, and I'm using 163 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: a lot of technology and spending a lot of government money, 164 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:09,520 Speaker 1: but instead you're here recording a podcast. Don't tell anybody 165 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: that's right, nobody knows about this, Daniel, don't worry. But 166 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,680 Speaker 1: you know, an attempt only a few thousand people listen. 167 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 1: In my twenty years of searching for new particles, I've 168 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: never really found one. So I'm using technology to try 169 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:26,440 Speaker 1: to find new particles. I just haven't been successful yet. 170 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: You're like, forget particles. I'm just gonna have a party. 171 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 1: It's a virtually easier But you know, this wasn't too surprising. 172 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:37,599 Speaker 1: It's a sort of esoteric topic, and I think a 173 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: lot of people know why virtual particles are important without 174 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:43,959 Speaker 1: knowing the concept itself. So I think you'll find that 175 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:46,960 Speaker 1: the things we talk about the role virtual particles play 176 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 1: will be familiar to a lot more people than actually 177 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:53,160 Speaker 1: know what virtual particles are and can explain. It's not 178 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: a crazy concept. It's just maybe kind of a naming 179 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,080 Speaker 1: convention or sort of like how this is to see 180 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: some of these particles? Yeah, precisely. All right, Well let's 181 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: gett into it, Daniel. What is a virtual particle and 182 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 1: why is it called virtual? And is it not real? Well? 183 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:11,120 Speaker 1: I think first let's get a clear picture for like 184 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 1: what is what do we mean by a particle in 185 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 1: a real particle? Because as you talked about earlier, like 186 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,000 Speaker 1: we're made of stuff. I made of stuff, You're made 187 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 1: of stuff. We think when we are real, like I 188 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,600 Speaker 1: imagine I'm real, and we think that we're made of particles, 189 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 1: and those particles have an existence. They're like stick around, 190 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:29,319 Speaker 1: they have persistence, that can move through space, all this 191 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,880 Speaker 1: kind of stuff, and we feel substantial, and so you 192 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: and I we are made of real particles. But those particles, 193 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:38,520 Speaker 1: they're not like a little ball of stuff, and they're 194 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 1: not like a tiny dot, right, It's not like we're 195 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: built out of little tinker toys. As we've talked about 196 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 1: in the podcast several times, each of these particles should 197 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: be seen as like a ripple in a quantum field. 198 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:52,319 Speaker 1: It's like you have this field that feels space and 199 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: at some points that has energy and it's vibrating, and 200 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:57,559 Speaker 1: that's what each of these particles are. It's like a 201 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:01,120 Speaker 1: little perturbation in in reality. Kind of yes, it's a 202 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 1: little perturbation in reality. And the key thing to know 203 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:07,559 Speaker 1: is that real particles are special perturbations. There's not like 204 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:10,599 Speaker 1: any perturbation in the quantum field is a part is 205 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 1: a real particle there if that perturbation follows certain rules 206 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:18,400 Speaker 1: and has certain behaviors and has and obeys certain equations. 207 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:22,880 Speaker 1: Then it's a real particle. You're saying, there are perturbations 208 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:26,160 Speaker 1: that are not particles that or that don't form particles. 209 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:29,760 Speaker 1: There aren't quantum fields. Yes, And that's uh, you just 210 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:32,600 Speaker 1: gave away the ghosts. Because some perturbations are real particles 211 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:37,720 Speaker 1: and some perturbations are virtual particles. So some small fraction 212 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,560 Speaker 1: of the perturbations and quantum fields are what make up 213 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:42,679 Speaker 1: real particles. That are you and me. I guess my 214 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:46,000 Speaker 1: question is what makes a real particle real? What makes 215 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 1: that proturbation real? Well, it can do various things, Like 216 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:53,920 Speaker 1: it can travel forever. Right, you shoot a real particle 217 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:56,319 Speaker 1: through space, it will just keep going until it bounces 218 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 1: into something. It has this sort of self sustaining nature 219 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: to it. It doesn't just like spread out into nothing 220 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 1: or cancel itself out and and and it's propagating right 221 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:08,719 Speaker 1: through the field. It's not like it's moving. It's like 222 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:12,559 Speaker 1: it's I'm a perturbation here, and then I'm proturbing the 223 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,319 Speaker 1: space next to me, and that's what we call moving. 224 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:17,439 Speaker 1: That's right, And you need to keep two pictures in 225 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 1: your head. At once. One is sort of the quantum 226 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:22,439 Speaker 1: field theory view, like think about the whole universe is 227 00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:25,320 Speaker 1: just space filled with quantum fields, and as you say, 228 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 1: a particle moving through them. Is the wiggle in the 229 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:30,600 Speaker 1: field is here, and then the wiggle in the field 230 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:33,120 Speaker 1: is there, So that wiggle is the thing that's propagating. 231 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:35,520 Speaker 1: Is the energy moving At the same time, you like 232 00:12:35,679 --> 00:12:38,000 Speaker 1: to associate that will with a particle. You have maybe 233 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:40,440 Speaker 1: this image in your head of like a little ball 234 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,080 Speaker 1: that's moving from here to there. And in fact, if 235 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 1: you shoot an electron out of an electron gun, that's 236 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:49,679 Speaker 1: sort of what you imagine. The most mathematically accurate way 237 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:52,079 Speaker 1: to think about it is in terms of a little 238 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 1: ripple in the field that's moving through the field. But 239 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:58,200 Speaker 1: you like to associate that with a real electron because 240 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:01,440 Speaker 1: it has properties like mass and it can fly forever 241 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 1: um if it doesn't touch anything and that and that's 242 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:08,679 Speaker 1: a real particle because it satisfies various rules like it 243 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:12,199 Speaker 1: has a specific mass and it's kinetic energy. Makes sense, 244 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: you know, you can interpret that ripple as a particle. 245 00:13:15,559 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 1: Did you have to do with like the shape of 246 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:21,360 Speaker 1: it or yes, it has What makes it special is 247 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: it just like a set of conditions that made it 248 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 1: is special, or there's something about the combination of things 249 00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:31,720 Speaker 1: that went into it that caused ripple to be special. 250 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,199 Speaker 1: In a like the shape of it. It has a 251 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:35,920 Speaker 1: lot to do with how it was made. And you 252 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: can imagine, for example, a guitar string. Take your guitar string. 253 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: If you plug it carefully, it has various modes that 254 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: it likes to wiggle at, right, and those are the 255 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:46,800 Speaker 1: various notes of the guitar string. And you can, you know, 256 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:49,319 Speaker 1: make the string shorter or longer to change those modes. 257 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:51,920 Speaker 1: But just for like an open string, you play it, 258 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 1: it makes it. It likes to play it a certain 259 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 1: a certain frequency. But you could also do other things 260 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:00,240 Speaker 1: on that string that aren't like a nice awcole shan. 261 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:02,360 Speaker 1: You know, if your toddler comes in the room and 262 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:05,199 Speaker 1: hits your guitar with with something crazy, it doesn't make 263 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:07,959 Speaker 1: a nice sound. So you can imagine the difference between 264 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: like a careful, clean plucking of the string that sends 265 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:15,199 Speaker 1: one well behaved wave propagating down the string, and a 266 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: sort of chaotic tumble of ripples that don't that can't 267 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: be interpreted the same way and because you're saying quantum 268 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:26,320 Speaker 1: fields can be disturbed in any number of ways, but 269 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:28,760 Speaker 1: like if you disturb it just right, it'll create this 270 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:34,360 Speaker 1: kind of like perfect self sustaining um, you know, bumping it, yes, 271 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,320 Speaker 1: and precisely. And the thing that it has it has 272 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 1: a definite mass. So an electron always has an electron's mass, 273 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:44,040 Speaker 1: and it moves through the universe always having the same mass. 274 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:47,800 Speaker 1: And so a real particle something that has a definite mass, 275 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 1: that has that stuff to it. That's the thing that 276 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 1: makes it real that it has a specific mass, and 277 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:56,000 Speaker 1: you can interpret things about it that we're familiar with. Right, 278 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:59,480 Speaker 1: You like to think, well, things have energy, like kinetic energy. 279 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:03,360 Speaker 1: Are particle has a positive kinetic energy? That makes sense. 280 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:06,240 Speaker 1: Later and we talk about virtual particles, you'll see that 281 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: they don't obey these same rules. They can't be interpreted 282 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 1: in the same way. There's still ribbles in the quantum field, 283 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 1: but they're not nice, clean ripples that follow these rules. 284 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: They're not that virtuous judgment. I'm a particle physicists. All 285 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 1: particles are welcome in my mind, except they want that 286 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 1: break rules. Apparently, well, they don't break. They don't break 287 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 1: the rules. It's a category, right, These are these that 288 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:33,640 Speaker 1: you know satisfy some restrictions we call those. Really they 289 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: do certain things. It's just a label in our minds. 290 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:38,640 Speaker 1: It's a distinction in our head Some of them have 291 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:41,640 Speaker 1: a mass that sticks around forever and and and you know, 292 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:44,960 Speaker 1: and follow these um these I guess they are rules. Yes, 293 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 1: I'm trying to I'm always saying that, But you're right, 294 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: m I do like rules for it. We'd be nothing 295 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 1: without rules. All right, Well, let's get into then, what 296 00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:00,360 Speaker 1: are virtual particles and whether or not they're real or 297 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: whether you can only see them on a VR headset. 298 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:20,080 Speaker 1: But first let's take a quick break. All right, Daniel, 299 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:22,600 Speaker 1: we're talking about virtual particles, and you're saying, a real 300 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 1: particle is like a perturbation in a quantum field which 301 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:30,680 Speaker 1: surrounds us all around. And but it's like a perfect perturbation. 302 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:32,840 Speaker 1: That's what a real particle is. It's like something that 303 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: somehow the field really likes and doesn't just kind of 304 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:40,560 Speaker 1: like destroys or dissipates. Yeah, there are lots of different 305 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:44,920 Speaker 1: kinds of perturbations, and some of them satisfy additional constraints. 306 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:48,240 Speaker 1: Some of them satisfy a subset of them also satisfy 307 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:51,640 Speaker 1: some equations, some wave equations that tell us about how 308 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:54,240 Speaker 1: they move, and those real part of universe likes them. 309 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:56,960 Speaker 1: They're like, hey, I like this sound, I like this note. 310 00:16:57,400 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: I'm just gonna let it keep on going. You're speaking 311 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:01,920 Speaker 1: for the U niverse, now, do that's a bit presumptuous. 312 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 1: Maybe the universe likes the other kind of particles. It 313 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:07,400 Speaker 1: thinks the real particles are like boring rule followers. Oh, 314 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:11,720 Speaker 1: I see, well, somehow it allows the real particles to 315 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,399 Speaker 1: to be a special right, yes, sort of like them. Well, 316 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:19,119 Speaker 1: the real particles, real particles can do something that virtual 317 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:21,640 Speaker 1: particles can't. But virtual particles can do lots of things 318 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 1: real particles can't. So what can real particles do that 319 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:29,119 Speaker 1: virtuals can't. Well, real particles can propagate across the universe. 320 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:31,320 Speaker 1: They have a fixed mass, and that carries them sort 321 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 1: of through space. You're saying forever nothing. They don't degrade. 322 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:37,359 Speaker 1: They don't degrade. Like you look up at the sky 323 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:40,560 Speaker 1: and a photon hit your I from a far away star. 324 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:43,920 Speaker 1: That's a real photon. It's propagated through space and it 325 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:46,640 Speaker 1: could have got another billion light years if your eye 326 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:49,560 Speaker 1: hadn't blocked it. So, yeah, these things can travel forever. 327 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:52,680 Speaker 1: But there are real particles also that don't last, like 328 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:54,399 Speaker 1: don't we Are you telling me that some of the 329 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:58,520 Speaker 1: higher energy particles, like the you know, some of these 330 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:02,919 Speaker 1: heavy cords, they at some point they break apart. Yes, um, 331 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: higher mass particles are unstable, but they're still real. They're 332 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:10,200 Speaker 1: real particles, but they can decay into lower mass particles. 333 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:13,119 Speaker 1: So not every particle has an infinite lifetime like an 334 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,200 Speaker 1: electron or a photon, but they are still real. You 335 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:17,679 Speaker 1: can interact with them, you can see them, they can 336 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:20,840 Speaker 1: propagate through space. All right. Well, then let's get into 337 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:23,760 Speaker 1: what a virtual particle is. So I guess it means 338 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 1: it's not a real particle. Yeah, it's not a not 339 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:29,440 Speaker 1: a clean ripple. It's like everything else, you know, it's 340 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:33,760 Speaker 1: any other kind of disturbance in the quantum field, right, 341 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: And it's like a transfer of energy from one place 342 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:38,520 Speaker 1: to another in the field. I mean, that's what the 343 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,160 Speaker 1: disturbance is. But it's not something you can coalesce together 344 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:43,800 Speaker 1: and say, oh, this is a nice little packet of 345 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:46,439 Speaker 1: energy that moves in a tight way through the field 346 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:49,119 Speaker 1: and we'll stay that way. It like diffuses out, it 347 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,960 Speaker 1: spreads out, it fades away pretty quickly. Wait, so it's 348 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:58,560 Speaker 1: possible for feels to be disturbed, not in particles. It's 349 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:00,760 Speaker 1: possible for people feel to be disturbed in a way 350 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:03,879 Speaker 1: that makes a real particle. It's also possible for fields 351 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:05,760 Speaker 1: to be disturbed in a way that doesn't make a 352 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:08,320 Speaker 1: real particle. What do we call that? We call that 353 00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:11,040 Speaker 1: a virtual particle. Do they break sort of the rule 354 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 1: of quantum mechanics, like the minimum amount of energy and 355 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: things like that, Like, is it possible to have a 356 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:18,600 Speaker 1: ripple that's smaller than an electron? For example, you have 357 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,160 Speaker 1: ripples in the electron field that don't have the mass 358 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:24,480 Speaker 1: of an electron. Yes, but they're not breaking any of 359 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:27,320 Speaker 1: the rules. This is a common misunderstanding. They follow the 360 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,480 Speaker 1: rules of physics, but you know those rules have fuzziness 361 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:32,639 Speaker 1: in them. So, for example, if you do something in 362 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:35,359 Speaker 1: a very short amount of time, then the energy these 363 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:39,160 Speaker 1: particles is very uncertain because there's an uncertainty relationship between 364 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:42,240 Speaker 1: time and energy, like there is between momentum and space, 365 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:44,800 Speaker 1: and so there are a lot of things they can 366 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:47,120 Speaker 1: do that seem like they're breaking the rules, but isn't 367 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:51,440 Speaker 1: actually Well, wait, so you can't have a ripple in 368 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:56,200 Speaker 1: that's smaller than an electron. Then you can have a 369 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:59,399 Speaker 1: ripple in the electron field that doesn't correspond to one 370 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,800 Speaker 1: wheel of drown it's smaller, it's a smaller ripple than 371 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:05,240 Speaker 1: one real electron. You might be thinking to hold on. 372 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:07,640 Speaker 1: The field is supposed to be quantized, and that's true, 373 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:10,880 Speaker 1: but that applies to real particles and in the case 374 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,919 Speaker 1: of virtual part and you just broke over my head, Daniel. 375 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,120 Speaker 1: All this time I thought it was like a fundamental 376 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:22,240 Speaker 1: rule of the universe that that quantum fields can't ripple 377 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:26,840 Speaker 1: with anything smaller than than than the quantum particles. But 378 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 1: you're saying they can't. They're just not real. Those are different, 379 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 1: not sustainable, they're not sustainable ripples. Yeah, and you know 380 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: the thing you're talking about are self sustaining. Real particles 381 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:39,000 Speaker 1: create one, you can create two, you can create three. 382 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:42,200 Speaker 1: You can't contain two and a half. Right, there's there's 383 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,119 Speaker 1: no self sustaining mode. They can do that. But if 384 00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:47,680 Speaker 1: you're gonna have chaotic fluctuations of the field, then you 385 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 1: can have all sorts of crazy stuff. And so yeah, 386 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:53,560 Speaker 1: that releases you from a lot of those requirements. Okay, 387 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:55,840 Speaker 1: and these ripples you're saying, they don't propagate, or they 388 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,639 Speaker 1: do propagate. They propagate, but they don't propagate as far. 389 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:00,439 Speaker 1: They don't hold themselves to get other and so they 390 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:02,720 Speaker 1: don't sustain themselves. They sort of just like spread out 391 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: and diffuse and eventually they sort of cancel themselves out. 392 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:10,520 Speaker 1: When you mean what happens to them, They they like separate, 393 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:14,480 Speaker 1: they become you know, inquirent or well, they're very short lived, 394 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:17,360 Speaker 1: they're transient. And so for example, a virtual particle might 395 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:20,440 Speaker 1: be like a little blob of energy that one electron 396 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:23,400 Speaker 1: sends to another electron to push it away, Like two 397 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:27,160 Speaker 1: electrons they push each other apart. Right, how does that happen, Well, 398 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: it happens through ripples in the electromagnetic field. And you 399 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: can that's not really a photon, Like it's not a 400 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,960 Speaker 1: flash of light that goes between the electrons to push 401 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:39,399 Speaker 1: them apart. But there is a transfer of energy, a 402 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:42,800 Speaker 1: transfer of momentum, and that you can associate with a particle. 403 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:46,240 Speaker 1: You say, oh, that's like a virtual photon. Wait, you're 404 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:49,680 Speaker 1: saying that when an electron pushes another electron because they're 405 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 1: both negative charge. They I thought they always use photons. 406 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:55,680 Speaker 1: You're saying that doesn't happen through photons. They do, but 407 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:59,120 Speaker 1: it's a virtual photon. It's not a real photon. It's 408 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: not a photon that could like see you with your eye. 409 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:04,200 Speaker 1: It's a virtual, short lived photon, not a photon that 410 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:08,280 Speaker 1: could propagate across the universe and hit another star. That's 411 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:12,400 Speaker 1: a special photon. But there's non special photons. Yes, real 412 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 1: photons are special photons. And Jorges universe though, I love 413 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,400 Speaker 1: all particles equally, but there are two kinds of particles. 414 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:22,680 Speaker 1: There's a real particles that can probably through the universe 415 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:26,480 Speaker 1: forever without interacting, and then there are these transient, short 416 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:29,760 Speaker 1: lived virtual particles that don't that you know, we could 417 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:32,520 Speaker 1: argue about whether they really are particles, but we call 418 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 1: them virtual particles. I feel like it's be like telling 419 00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:38,800 Speaker 1: you your two kids. I think one of you is real, 420 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:41,160 Speaker 1: one of you is not, but I think you're both 421 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:45,680 Speaker 1: special to me. If one of your kids only lasts 422 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:47,480 Speaker 1: or ten to the mine is twenty three seconds, you're 423 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:52,359 Speaker 1: not even gonna be able to finish that sentence. Well, um, okay, 424 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:56,000 Speaker 1: So so when an electron pushes another electron, they're not 425 00:22:56,600 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 1: interchanging photons. They're interchanging choosing the field that are like photons, 426 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:06,480 Speaker 1: but not photons. They're not real photons. They are virtual photons. 427 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:09,960 Speaker 1: And when we draw a little Feynman diagrams to describe 428 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,119 Speaker 1: this between physicists, we draw a wiggly line just like 429 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:17,160 Speaker 1: a photon. But that photon, you know, it is created 430 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:20,720 Speaker 1: inside the interaction. It's emitted and then absorbed. It's never 431 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:23,960 Speaker 1: seen externally, like you never see that. Nobody says, oh, look, 432 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,760 Speaker 1: I will soft flash of light that only exists between 433 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 1: the two electrons. And so these virtual particles are not 434 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 1: ever directly observed. They just sort of used in our 435 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:37,719 Speaker 1: calculation and inferred. Oh I see, But could someone intercept them? 436 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:40,119 Speaker 1: Could you know, like let's say, when an electron is 437 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 1: pushing another electronic and suddenly another electron sweeps in in between, 438 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:46,959 Speaker 1: would they be able to catch that photone and say, yes, 439 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: there was a photon here. Yeah, but that's going to 440 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:51,879 Speaker 1: blow your mind because then the photon becomes real. Then 441 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:54,199 Speaker 1: it becomes real. Then it becomes real, and you might ask, well, 442 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:57,880 Speaker 1: how does it know? Right? Well, remembering quantum mechanics, there's 443 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 1: no like propagation. It's not like this is a thing 444 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:05,080 Speaker 1: which goes somewhere. It goes from here to there. If 445 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:08,640 Speaker 1: if you have an initial state and a final state, 446 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:11,000 Speaker 1: your initial state is like an electron is flying off 447 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:15,000 Speaker 1: and the final state is um some some photon from 448 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 1: that electron is now observed by your camera. All the 449 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,160 Speaker 1: possible things that could explain that sort of can happen 450 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:25,440 Speaker 1: all at once, right, and and only some of them survive. 451 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,200 Speaker 1: And so if there's a camera there to observe it, 452 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:32,320 Speaker 1: then the virtual options disappear. They can't exist anymore. But 453 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:34,639 Speaker 1: if there's not a camera there to observe it, then 454 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:37,840 Speaker 1: they can interact and sort of it's unobserved state with 455 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,840 Speaker 1: other electrons and push them along and stay a virtual particle. 456 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:47,880 Speaker 1: I totally understood that. Virtually my VR heads in here, 457 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,639 Speaker 1: all right. It sort of sounds like, um, it's one 458 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,440 Speaker 1: of these quantum mechanical things where there's sort of virtual 459 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,960 Speaker 1: until you open the box. Kind Of, yes, they're virtual 460 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:00,680 Speaker 1: until you open the box. And if you open the 461 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,520 Speaker 1: box and interact with them, then only real particles can 462 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,560 Speaker 1: satisfy that set of constraints since and then the virtual 463 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 1: particles sort of never happened. And if you're worried about 464 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:13,560 Speaker 1: like you know causality there, you know, the whole interaction 465 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:17,360 Speaker 1: is not like a flowing in time in that same way. 466 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,879 Speaker 1: The whole interaction sort of understood is one thing. You know, 467 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:24,639 Speaker 1: like there's this emission and absorption, and we're understanding this 468 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:28,399 Speaker 1: whole sort of process in terms of one calculation, and 469 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:31,159 Speaker 1: we think about all the ways that it can happen simultaneously. 470 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:34,240 Speaker 1: Only some of those survive based on what the constraints 471 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,480 Speaker 1: are when you open the box. When you open the box, Yeah, 472 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 1: all right, Well tell me you're saying that virtual particles 473 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:42,760 Speaker 1: break rules. So what are some of the rules that 474 00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:46,359 Speaker 1: virtual particles can break? Right, So they don't violate like 475 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 1: deep laws of physics, but they can do things that 476 00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:51,960 Speaker 1: real particles can't do. For example, if you try to 477 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:56,080 Speaker 1: interpret these wiggles in the quantum fields as a particle, 478 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:58,920 Speaker 1: you get weird answers. Like you do the calculations to 479 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:01,200 Speaker 1: get what's the kinetic energy of this thing? Well, it 480 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:05,000 Speaker 1: can be negative negative kinetic energy. Negative kinetic energy, and 481 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:07,160 Speaker 1: that's weird if you're used to think about kinetic energy 482 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,480 Speaker 1: is like energy of motion, because like energy of motion, 483 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,399 Speaker 1: no matter which direction you're going, is always positive, right, 484 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,840 Speaker 1: there's a V squared in there, so any velocity gives 485 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:21,200 Speaker 1: you positive energy. But in physics we calculate this energy, 486 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:25,320 Speaker 1: you know, as a relationship between mass and momentum, and 487 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,640 Speaker 1: it gets wonky because it's not like an individual, localized 488 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:31,560 Speaker 1: little particle that's moving through space and the way you're 489 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:34,480 Speaker 1: familiar with. It's like this weird disturbance and you're trying 490 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:37,080 Speaker 1: to force this sort of particle view onto it and 491 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:40,920 Speaker 1: doesn't quiet work. It's like a little void of energy almost. 492 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:43,159 Speaker 1: It's sort of like you're asking an inappropriate question and 493 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:45,600 Speaker 1: so you get a nonsense answer. Oh, I see, it's 494 00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:47,960 Speaker 1: like a it's like a wiggle, you know, and that 495 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:52,879 Speaker 1: wiggle and can give you weird, weird answers when you 496 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:55,560 Speaker 1: try to measure it. Yeah, and you're not measuring the energy. 497 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:57,879 Speaker 1: You're like, well, here's the wiggle. If I sort of 498 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:00,440 Speaker 1: trying to squeeze this into the particle a work, and 499 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:02,760 Speaker 1: then ask what would be the energy if this was 500 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:06,119 Speaker 1: a particle. You get sort of a nonsense answer, you know, 501 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:08,800 Speaker 1: like if you asked how popular would Daniel be if 502 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:10,520 Speaker 1: he was a famous movie star. But you're like, well, 503 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:12,720 Speaker 1: that's nonsense. There's no way he'd be a famous movie star, 504 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:15,320 Speaker 1: so he'd be like negative popular or something. And the 505 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:18,480 Speaker 1: other thing is that these virtual particles aren't restricted to 506 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 1: have the same mass as the particles you're familiar with. 507 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 1: Like you know, the photon is no mass. Photons that 508 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:27,119 Speaker 1: hate your eye from stars very very far away, they 509 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 1: have no mass because those are real photons. But virtual 510 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:35,959 Speaker 1: photons can have mass. A special disturbance in the electromagnetic 511 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:39,960 Speaker 1: field can have mass. Yes, yes, it can carry some 512 00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: mass with it. And where does it carry it that 513 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:47,240 Speaker 1: the other photons done? In its back pocket? Of course, 514 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:49,200 Speaker 1: I mean where do you carry your masks? That's where 515 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: all minds these ago. It's sort of just another way 516 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:54,280 Speaker 1: to interpret this in the light of a particle. It 517 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:56,280 Speaker 1: sort of breaks one of those rules. And that's actually 518 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:59,800 Speaker 1: the thing that distinguishes a virtual particle from a real particle. 519 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:02,440 Speaker 1: A real particle is a little packet of energy that 520 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:06,120 Speaker 1: has definite mass and propagates forever, and the virtual particle 521 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:08,840 Speaker 1: doesn't have that definite mass. It can have high mass, 522 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:11,480 Speaker 1: it can have low mass um for a photon, it 523 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:14,159 Speaker 1: can have nonzero mass. You can do that mean that 524 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 1: the photon is going slower than the speed of light. 525 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:19,840 Speaker 1: So virtual particles can go slower than the speed of light. Well, 526 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 1: all the information transfer in the electromagnetic field always happens 527 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 1: at the speed of light. But when you talk about 528 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:28,479 Speaker 1: the speed of a particle, you usually want to define 529 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:31,280 Speaker 1: in terms of like how fast is this packet moving, 530 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:34,360 Speaker 1: And in terms of the virtual particle, it's like it's 531 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:37,560 Speaker 1: more diffused, it's like spreading out everywhere, and so I'm 532 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:39,960 Speaker 1: not even sure it makes sense to define the speed 533 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:42,080 Speaker 1: of a virtual particle. Yeah, I feel I feel like 534 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:45,280 Speaker 1: it's getting to this weird quantum realm. Yeah, And that's 535 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:48,560 Speaker 1: exactly the problem is that we want to interpret things 536 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,240 Speaker 1: happening on the microscopic scale in terms of things were 537 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:53,520 Speaker 1: familiar with, in terms of things we know, and so 538 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:56,160 Speaker 1: we ask these questions like what is its mass? What 539 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:58,960 Speaker 1: is its kinetic energy? But those don't those are not 540 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 1: always appropriate questions, just like if you ask where is 541 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:04,760 Speaker 1: the electron and where is it going? You know that 542 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 1: doesn't really always have a satisfactory answer, and so virtual 543 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:12,520 Speaker 1: particles are less satisfactory than real particles. They have like 544 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:15,280 Speaker 1: a fewer answers to cough up. All right, let's get 545 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:18,880 Speaker 1: into then the question of whether or not they're actually real. 546 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:21,720 Speaker 1: Can something be virtual and real at the same time? 547 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:37,800 Speaker 1: But first, let's take a quick break, all right, Daniel, 548 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:41,120 Speaker 1: So we we've defined virtual particles as being the wiggle 549 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:45,080 Speaker 1: non particle wiggles in the quantum fields of the universe. 550 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:47,920 Speaker 1: But are they actually real? Can we say that they're real? 551 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:50,840 Speaker 1: If if it sounds like you're you're saying they're not real, 552 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:54,120 Speaker 1: that's that's why you call them virtual. Yeah, Well, they're 553 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:56,320 Speaker 1: not real in the sense that we define them, right. 554 00:29:56,400 --> 00:30:00,120 Speaker 1: Particle physicists have a very specific definition of what real is. 555 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:02,880 Speaker 1: You know, when you say really, you mean like it 556 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:06,040 Speaker 1: actually exists, is out there in that sense. Absolutely, virtual 557 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:08,680 Speaker 1: particles are real. But you know, we took this word 558 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:11,200 Speaker 1: real and we redefined it to mean it has a 559 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:15,360 Speaker 1: specific mass, it can propagate infinitely through this quantum field. Oh, 560 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:18,600 Speaker 1: I see, they exist, But they're just not real particles. 561 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:21,800 Speaker 1: It's like a you have to keep the two words together. Yeah, 562 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:24,760 Speaker 1: they're not really the capital R, I guess or if 563 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:27,560 Speaker 1: they're not physics real you know, or like real or 564 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:29,520 Speaker 1: whatever you would call it. But they but they have 565 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:32,440 Speaker 1: real but they have actual effects on the universe. You know, 566 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:36,440 Speaker 1: we talk about empty space, but we know that space 567 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:40,000 Speaker 1: has energy in it, and that energy can be converted 568 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:44,360 Speaker 1: into short lived virtual particles. You have energy. It's kind 569 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:46,800 Speaker 1: of like saying like, um, it would be different if 570 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:49,280 Speaker 1: I say Daniely is not real. Then if I said 571 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:53,480 Speaker 1: Daniel is not a real movie star, that's kind of 572 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:58,040 Speaker 1: perfect psychology. Daniel exists, but he's not a real movie star, 573 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:02,160 Speaker 1: just like these wiggles exist, but they're not real particles. 574 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:05,040 Speaker 1: That works perfectly, except I'm not even a virtual movie star, 575 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:09,440 Speaker 1: so you can that's the whole point of virtual reality. 576 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:11,680 Speaker 1: Then I'm gonna pop into your movie and then pop 577 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:16,480 Speaker 1: right back out again. All right, So the um, they're 578 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:18,640 Speaker 1: they're real, but they're not particles, And so why even 579 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:21,120 Speaker 1: call them particles? Why even have they? Why why not 580 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:26,440 Speaker 1: just call them, you know, squigglies or or ripples. Because 581 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:28,720 Speaker 1: we like to categorize things, and we like to find 582 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:31,760 Speaker 1: connections between things, and so we like to sort of say, 583 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:35,200 Speaker 1: these real particles and the virtual particles are sort of 584 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:37,640 Speaker 1: two sides of the same coin. And they are. You know, 585 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:41,440 Speaker 1: real particles are very closely related to virtual particles. It's 586 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:44,640 Speaker 1: not like a um, a hard wall you can put 587 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:48,160 Speaker 1: between them. And say they're totally different. Real particles are 588 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:50,760 Speaker 1: like a special case of virtual particles, and so we 589 00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:53,720 Speaker 1: call them particles because hey, we're particle busicists. Everything is 590 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:55,960 Speaker 1: a particle and we just short sort of try to 591 00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:59,680 Speaker 1: categorize them together. M when when you have a hammer, 592 00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:04,800 Speaker 1: when have a sixteen dollar hammer, everything, let's take a particle. 593 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:07,720 Speaker 1: Everything looks like a particle. And you know, we even 594 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:11,440 Speaker 1: describe forces in terms of particles. We like to think 595 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:15,080 Speaker 1: about electromagnetism and the strong force and the weak force 596 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:18,520 Speaker 1: um operating in terms of particles, and that can be 597 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 1: confusing sometimes if you try to think about it like microscopically. 598 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:25,760 Speaker 1: How can particles be responsible for forces? All forces are 599 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:29,280 Speaker 1: done through virtual particles. All the forces that we can 600 00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:32,800 Speaker 1: describe quantum mechanically, like gravitation, we still don't know, but 601 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:36,920 Speaker 1: all those quantum mechanical forces, yeah, they're described using virtual particles. 602 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:39,320 Speaker 1: And the way you might have heard it described is 603 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:42,480 Speaker 1: like one electron comes along and pushes on the other 604 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 1: electron by throwing a photon at it. But it's actually 605 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:49,040 Speaker 1: throwing a virtual photon. It's a virtual wiggle in the field, 606 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:51,680 Speaker 1: and it's not thrown from one to the other. Right, 607 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:54,840 Speaker 1: it's not something that's moving and flying in a well 608 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:57,720 Speaker 1: defined way through space. It's a little disturbance in the 609 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:01,040 Speaker 1: field that's causing that's pushing on the they're electron. Yeah, 610 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 1: and that's a key thing to understand because fields can 611 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:06,640 Speaker 1: do more than just push. Right, if you and I 612 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:08,360 Speaker 1: are throwing a ball back and forth, all we can 613 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:10,480 Speaker 1: do is push each other. I can't throw the ball 614 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:12,680 Speaker 1: at you and then attract you somehow. That doesn't make 615 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:16,200 Speaker 1: any sense. I'm transferring momentum to you and pushing you away, 616 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:19,320 Speaker 1: So I can't throw a ball at you with negative momentum. 617 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:22,640 Speaker 1: So that's why that analogy breaks down. Because real forces, 618 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:27,240 Speaker 1: like electromagnetism, they're also responsible for you know, electrons attracting 619 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:30,640 Speaker 1: to protons. Yeah, pulling, it's the same deal. So to 620 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:33,680 Speaker 1: understand how that works in terms of virtual particles, you 621 00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:36,680 Speaker 1: have to let go of particles as these little balls 622 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:39,360 Speaker 1: that were throwing back and forth and just think about 623 00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:41,840 Speaker 1: them in terms of like weird ripples. And the key 624 00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:44,640 Speaker 1: thing to think about there is like you are exchanging 625 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:46,880 Speaker 1: a virtual photon if it has a certain amount of 626 00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:50,800 Speaker 1: energy to it. Heisenberg tells us, if you're well defined 627 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:53,680 Speaker 1: in terms of momentum, you're not well defined in terms 628 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:57,360 Speaker 1: of location. So that particle, that virtual photon that's being 629 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:00,320 Speaker 1: passed back and forth, doesn't really exist any where. It 630 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:04,400 Speaker 1: sort of exists everywhere. It's like if it's momentum is 631 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:08,360 Speaker 1: very specific, then its location is flat. It's like you 632 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:11,400 Speaker 1: can exist through the whole universe. So like if I 633 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:13,560 Speaker 1: have a magnet, but let's say I'm holding too man 634 00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:16,320 Speaker 1: magnets here in the table in front of me, and 635 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:18,160 Speaker 1: you know, I try to bring them together, and they're 636 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:23,239 Speaker 1: pushing each other apart, these magnets. Um Before I was 637 00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:26,759 Speaker 1: thinking like maybe they're swapping photons so that they can 638 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:29,600 Speaker 1: repel each other, but really they're they're not. They're just 639 00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:33,319 Speaker 1: sort of like just sort of like perturbing each other's fields. Yes, 640 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:36,399 Speaker 1: they're perturbing each other's fields and transmitting energy back and forth, 641 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:38,960 Speaker 1: but not in the sense of like little particles that 642 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:42,040 Speaker 1: are actually flying back and forth like real particles. Like 643 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:44,440 Speaker 1: you can't put a piece of cardboard between two magnets 644 00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:47,120 Speaker 1: to block the magnetism, right, and you'll be like, well, look, 645 00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:50,360 Speaker 1: photons can't get through my cardboard, so how can magnetism 646 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:54,520 Speaker 1: get through right. The reason is that electromagnetic fields definitely 647 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:56,520 Speaker 1: can get through your cardboard, or you can hear a 648 00:34:56,680 --> 00:34:59,920 Speaker 1: radio through cardboard. More like you're bending the fields or 649 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:03,040 Speaker 1: on you, and that's what's pushing the other one. Yes, yes, 650 00:35:03,239 --> 00:35:05,200 Speaker 1: it's just not in a way that you can characterize 651 00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:07,799 Speaker 1: as a little ball is like a little self propagating, 652 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:12,200 Speaker 1: nice package of field. And so that's how these things interact. 653 00:35:12,239 --> 00:35:14,359 Speaker 1: The interact with the fields, and you can, if you want, 654 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:17,560 Speaker 1: interpret those in terms of virtual particles. It's sort of 655 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:20,759 Speaker 1: like looser definition of what a particle is than just 656 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:23,879 Speaker 1: the narrow definition of what real particles are. You sort 657 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:27,120 Speaker 1: of expanded the definition to include more more of these 658 00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:30,400 Speaker 1: weird things. Yeah, by relaxing some of the rules, say, 659 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:32,719 Speaker 1: you don't have to have the right mass, you don't 660 00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:35,080 Speaker 1: have to have a kinetic energy. That makes sense. It's 661 00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:37,400 Speaker 1: a ripple in the field. Let's have to be a 662 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:39,800 Speaker 1: particle to be a particle, that's what you're saying. And 663 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:42,200 Speaker 1: you could also just get rid of the particle picture entirely, 664 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:44,120 Speaker 1: be like, you know what, that doesn't make any sense 665 00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:46,320 Speaker 1: to me. I'm just going to think about the fields 666 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:49,239 Speaker 1: and you can do that. It's just it's really hard 667 00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:53,120 Speaker 1: because calculations and field theory are very, very complicated, and 668 00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:56,359 Speaker 1: so to simplify it, Fineman introduced this idea, said, well, 669 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:58,200 Speaker 1: let's just think about it in terms of like the 670 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:01,680 Speaker 1: simplest interaction, and drew these diagrams that showed like, well, 671 00:36:01,719 --> 00:36:04,160 Speaker 1: if it was exchanging one thing you would call a particle, 672 00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:06,200 Speaker 1: then it would look like this, And then let's think 673 00:36:06,239 --> 00:36:08,680 Speaker 1: about in terms of the second simplest and the third simplest, 674 00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:11,520 Speaker 1: and then they just ignore everything else. So he developed 675 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:16,959 Speaker 1: this framework for approximating quantum field theory calculations by using 676 00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:20,520 Speaker 1: these like number of virtual particles. The most likely thing 677 00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:23,200 Speaker 1: to happen is one virtual particle, the second most likeliest two, 678 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:26,239 Speaker 1: and then three, and as you go on, there's more 679 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:28,919 Speaker 1: and more possibilities, but they get less and less likely, 680 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:30,879 Speaker 1: so you can ignore them. It just lets you sort 681 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:36,240 Speaker 1: of understand these complex field interactions. Yeah, lets you quickly 682 00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:38,960 Speaker 1: approximate and get mostly the right answer in a way 683 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:41,239 Speaker 1: that sort of makes sense. And you know, physics is 684 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:43,480 Speaker 1: all about like making sense. We know these are the 685 00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:45,880 Speaker 1: rules the universe, what do they mean to us? Like 686 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:49,759 Speaker 1: this interpretation step is important, it's the physics part of it, right. 687 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:52,400 Speaker 1: The rest of it's sort of mathematics, and it's like, 688 00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:55,120 Speaker 1: how do we use this to build up a picture 689 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:57,000 Speaker 1: of the world that makes sense to us? And you're 690 00:36:57,000 --> 00:36:59,160 Speaker 1: always teasing me that I like rules, but like that's 691 00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:01,520 Speaker 1: what physics is, you know, we're trying to figure out 692 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:04,359 Speaker 1: what the rules are and and uh and how they 693 00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:10,640 Speaker 1: limit us and whether they actually do limit us. M alright, cool, Well, 694 00:37:10,719 --> 00:37:13,759 Speaker 1: I feel feel my mind virtually blown a little bit 695 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:18,440 Speaker 1: to learn that there are particles that are not particles. 696 00:37:19,239 --> 00:37:21,480 Speaker 1: They're very much real and they very much kind of 697 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:25,960 Speaker 1: make everything work, right, because without virtual particles you can't 698 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:29,480 Speaker 1: have forces, and without forces, nothing happens. The universe would 699 00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:32,600 Speaker 1: be pretty boring without any forces, So stay tuned for 700 00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:36,560 Speaker 1: Daniel's future virtual career in the movie about virtual particles. 701 00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:39,439 Speaker 1: It's sort of interesting to think that, you know, there's 702 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:41,800 Speaker 1: more to the universe and what we can see and 703 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:45,480 Speaker 1: feel in touch, that there's all this sort of you know, 704 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:49,480 Speaker 1: underlying chaos happening in between what we imagine to be 705 00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:54,960 Speaker 1: matter and electrons and courts. Yeah, and that always our 706 00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:58,440 Speaker 1: descriptions of it are lacking, right, that we are limited 707 00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:00,560 Speaker 1: by the way our minds work and the way that 708 00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:02,800 Speaker 1: we think about the universe. We're trying to map that 709 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:05,759 Speaker 1: onto this crazy, insane chaos that's going on at a 710 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:10,000 Speaker 1: microscopic level, and it's never completely satisfactory. It's always running 711 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:13,640 Speaker 1: into contradictions and seeming nonsense. And that's because the universe 712 00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:17,440 Speaker 1: at that scale is weird and alien and very difficult 713 00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:20,680 Speaker 1: to translate into sense for the human brain. But hey, 714 00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:23,319 Speaker 1: I think it's worth trying. So we hope that made 715 00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:24,960 Speaker 1: a little bit more sense to all of you. And 716 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:27,759 Speaker 1: then now you know what a virtual particle is, or 717 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:30,600 Speaker 1: what it's not, or what it what it is not 718 00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:35,959 Speaker 1: is virtually understand it. So thanks for listening. We hope 719 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:46,399 Speaker 1: you enjoyed that. See you next time. Before you still 720 00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:49,400 Speaker 1: have a question after listening to all these explanations, please 721 00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:51,719 Speaker 1: drop us a line. We'd love to hear from you. 722 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:54,879 Speaker 1: You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at 723 00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:58,279 Speaker 1: Daniel and Jorge That's one word, or email us at 724 00:38:58,640 --> 00:39:02,280 Speaker 1: Feedback at Daniel and Jorge dot com. Thanks for listening, 725 00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:05,040 Speaker 1: and remember that Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe is 726 00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:08,600 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcast from 727 00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:11,680 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app. Apple 728 00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:20,240 Speaker 1: podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Yeah.