Solving the Impossible in Quantum Field Theory

Get your own Space Time t­shirt at Tweet at us! @pbsspacetime Email us! pbsspacetime [at] gmail [dot] com Comment on Reddit: Help translate our videos! Previous Episode: Feynman’s Infinite Quantum Paths The equations of quantum field theory allow us to calculate the behaviour of subatomic particles by expressing them as vibrations in quantum fields. But even the most elegant and complete formulations of quantum physics – like the Dirac equation or Feynman’s path integral - become impossibly complicated when we try to use them on anything but the most simple systems. But physicists tend to interpret “that’s impossible” as “I dare you to try!” And try they did. First they expressed these impossible equations in approximate but solvable forms. Then they tackled the pesky infinities that kept appearing in these new, approximate equations. Finally, the entire mess was ordered into a system that mere humans could deal using the famous Feynman diagrams. Written and Hosted by Matt O’Dowd Produced by Rusty Ward Graphics by Kurt Ross Assistant Edit and Sound Design by Mike Petrow Made by Kornhaber Brown (www.kornhaberbrown.com) Comments answer by Matt: Christian Haas Psy Kosh lohphat Big Bang CoolAsCats Shane Robinson David Nicklas Eugene Lawson Joshua Davis Quasar Tambe Barsbay Max Levine Mayank M. Mehrota Mars Yentur Josh Mark Rosenthal Dean Fuqua Hypernova Chuck Zegar Jordan Young Ratfeast John Hofmann Joseph Salomone Martha Hunt Craig Peterson Prof. Dr. Kenneth Michael Beck Science Via Markets Peter Durocher Michael Kers Chris Hicks Mark Vasile Patrick Murray Justin Lloyd Sultan Alkhulaifi Alex Seto Conor Dillon Jared Moore Michal-Peanut Karmi Bernardo Higuera Erik Stein Daniel Lyons Kevin Warne JJ Bagnell J Rejc Amy Jie Avi Goldfinger John Pettit Shannan Catalano Florian Stinglmayr Yubo Du Benoit Pagé-Guitard Nathan Leniz Jessica Fraley Loro Lukic Brandon Labonte David Crane Greg Weiss