Exploring a realm full of paradoxes
THE SECRETS OF QUANTUM PHYSICS
BBC Four, 9pm
ANYONE who is a fan of the cult US comedy The Big Bang Theory thinks they are an expert in Quantum Physics these days. Which is a bit like thinking you can solve a crime after watching a few episodes of Taggart. Step away from the Schrodinger’s cat analogy ...
One man who genuinely knows what he’s talking about is Professor Jim Al-Khalili who will be delving into the scientific principles that underpin the universe in a brand new two-part series.
“Beneath the complexities of everyday life, the rules of our universe seem reassuringly simple,” he says. “This solid bridge supports my weight. The water flowing underneath always goes downhill. And when I throw this stone, it always flies through the air following a predictable path.
“But as scientists peer deep into the tiny building blocks of matter, all such certainty vanished. They found the weird world of quantum mechanics. Deep down inside everything we see around us, we found a universe completely unlike our own. To paraphrase one of the founders of quantum mechanics: everything we call real is made up of things that cannot be themselves regarded as real.”
This opening episode, Einstein’s Nightmare, traces the story of quantum physics from its beginnings as scientists in the early 20th century started to investigate the hidden workings of matter, kick-starting a scientific revolution.
Around 100 years ago, some of the world’s greatest scientists began what Professor Al-Khalili describes as a journey “down the rabbit hole”.
Thanks to the humble light bulb, they discovered a realm full of paradoxes, one where things can be in two places at once, our fates are dictated by chance and ultimately reality itself defies all common sense.
We learn that Einstein hated this description of nature and in the 1930s was convinced he had found a fatal flaw in quantum physics.
Thirty years later a scientist in Northern Ireland found there was a way to test Einstein’s idea. Professor Al-Khalili heads to the laboratory to repeat the experiment, only to uncover perplexing results.