The Universe May Have Just Revealed the True Nature of Empty Space

Displate’s offering up to up to for 33% off at: when you use the code: SPACETIME Nothing is complicated. By which I mean, everything is complicated, because in physics even completely empty space is described as being full of quantum fields doing complicated things even when nothing else is there. So if empty space has these exotic properties, what sort of crazy stuff can we make it do? One prediction that’s been around for a while is that under extreme conditions, empty space can be sort of crystalized. And there’s good evidence that we’ve observed this for the first time. Search the Entire Space Time Library Here: Hosted by Matt O'Dowd Written by Matt O'Dowd Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer Directed by Andrew Kornhaber Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour Executive Producer: Andrew Kornhaber Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: Mike Martin Spacetime is a production of Kornhaber Brown for PBS Digital Studios. This program is produced by Kornhaber Brown, which is solely responsible for its content. © 2026 PBS. All rights reserved. End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: Space Time Was Made Possible In Part By: Big Bang Alexander Tamas Filip Rolenec Juan Benet Kenneth See Mark Rosenthal MATTHEW OCKO Morgan Hough Peter Barrett Vinnie Falco Supernova Ethan Cohen Glenn Sugden Grace Biaelcki Justin Lloyd Mark Heising Rad Antonov Shaun Williams Stephen Wilcox Tristan Lucian Claudius Aurelius Tyacke Hypernova Daniel Muzquiz Alex Kern Ben Delo Chuck Zegar Dean Galvin Donal Botkin Gregory Forfa Jeff White John R. Slavik Massimiliano Pala PAUL C PEDERSEN Scott Gorlick Scott Gray Spencer Jones Vlad Shipulin Zachary Haberman Антон Кочков Gamma Ray Burst Jason Bowen Aaron Pinto Almog Cohen Arko Provo Mukherjee Austin Richards Ayden Miller Bert Whetstone Bradley Jenkins Bradley Ulis Brandon Lattin Cal Harrington Cal Stephens Cali Chuck Chris Liao Christopher Wade Collin Dutrow Craig Falls Craig Stonaha Dan Warren Daniel Donahue Daniel Jennings Darrell Stewart David Giltinan David Johnston Diana S Polijar Donovan King Doyle Vann Eric Kiebler Eric Raschke Eric Schrenker Faraz Khan Frederic Simon Harsh Khandhadia Isaac Suttell James Trimmier Jeb Campbell Jeff Harris Jeremy Soller Jerry Thomas jim bartosh John Anderson John De Witt John Funai John H. Austin, Jr. John Mieras USN Ret Joseph Salomone Junaid Ali Justin Zheng Kacper Cieśla Kent Durham Koen Wilde Kurtis Kemple Kyle Atkinson Lori Ferris Marcelo Garcia Marion Lang Mark Daniel Cohen Mark Delagasse Matt Kaprocki Matthew Johnson Michael Barton Michael Clark Michael Lev Michael Purcell Michael Spallino Mikk Mihkel Nurges Nicolas Katsantonis Nils Anderson Onemind Paul Wood Reuben Brewer Richard Steenbergen Robert DeChellis Ross Kennedy Ross Story Russell Moore SamSword Sandhya Devi Sean Owen Shane Calimlim Terje Vold Terrance Cennon Thomas Dougherty Tybie Fitzhugh WILLIAM HAY III Zac Sweers 0:00 Can Empty Space Crystallize? 1:50 The Strange Physics of the Quantum Vacuum 4:00 How Crystals Change the Behavior of Light 6:34 Crystallizing Empty Space 9:19 The Most Powerful Magnetic Fields in the Universe 10:45 Did We Finally Observe Vacuum Birefringence? 11:53 How Magnetars Polarize X-Rays 13:02 How the Quantum Vacuum Aligns Light 14:05 Is This Really a Detection? 15:20 Our Best Glimpse of Crystallized Space