Does Space Emerge From A Holographic Boundary?

Check out the Space Time Merch Store

Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord!

Space seems fundamental. To build a universe, surely you need something to build it on or in. Many, maybe most physicists now think that the fabric of space emerges from something deeper. And perhaps the most existentially disturbing such proposal is that our 3-D universe is just the inward projection of an infinitely distant boundary. A hologram, or sorts. Let’s see how that can actually work, and what the holographic principle really says about the “realness” of this universe.

Check Out the Holographic Universe Playlist

Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements!

Hosted by Matt O'Dowd
Written by Matt O'Dowd
Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini & Stephanie Faria
Directed by Andrew Kornhaber
Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour
Executive Producers: Eric Brown & Andrew Kornhaber
Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell

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.
© 2024 PBS. All rights reserved.

Space Time Was Made Possible In Part By:

Big Bang Sponsors
John Sronce
Bryce Fort
Peter Barrett
David Neumann
Alexander Tamas
Morgan Hough
Juan Benet
Vinnie Falco
Mark Rosenthal

Quasar Sponsors
Glenn Sugden
Alex Kern
Ethan Cohen
Stephen Wilcox
Mark Heising

Hypernova Sponsors
Michael Tidwell
Chris Webb
David Giltinan
Ivari Tölp
Kenneth See
Gregory Forfa
Bradley Voorhees
Scott Gorlick
Paul Stehr-Green
Ben Delo
Scott Gray
Антон Кочков
Robert Ilardi
John R. Slavik
Donal Botkin
Edmund Fokschaner
chuck zegar
Jordan Young
Daniel Muzquiz

Gamma Ray Burst Sponsors
Jessica M. Kandal
Anthony Crossland
Grace Seraph
Frank Plessers
Stephen Saslow
Robert DeChellis
Tomaz Lovsin
Anthony Leon
Leonardo Schulthais Senna
Lori Ferris
Dennis Van Hoof
Koen Wilde
Nicolas Katsantonis
Joe Pavlovic
Justin Lloyd
Chuck Lukaszewski
Cole B Combs
Andrea Galvagni
Jerry Thomas
Nikhil Sharma
John Anderson
Bradley Ulis
Craig Falls
Kane Holbrook
Ross Story
teng guo
Harsh Khandhadia
Michael Lev
Terje Vold
James Trimmier
Jeremy Soller
Paul Wood
Joe Moreira
Kent Durham
jim bartosh
Ramon Nogueira
John H. Austin, Jr.
Diana S Poljar
Faraz Khan
Almog Cohen
Daniel Jennings
Russ Creech
Jeremy Reed
David Johnston
Michael Barton
Isaac Suttell
Oliver Flanagan
Bleys Goodson
Mark Delagasse
Mark Daniel Cohen
Shane Calimlim
Tybie Fitzhugh
Eric Kiebler
Craig Stonaha
Frederic Simon
John Robinson
Jim Hudson
David Barnholdt
John Funai
Adrien Molyneux
Bradley Jenkins
Amy Hickman
Vlad Shipulin
Thomas Dougherty
King Zeckendorff
Dan Warren
Joseph Salomone
Patrick Sutton
Julien Dubois

[LofiHobbit]

Who else watches this weekly but has no idea what's being talked about? 🙌

[foxglovelove]

For the casual viewer feeling like they're having trouble following along, just know that I did my master's thesis on a topic based on the AdS/CFT correspondence, and I still feel like I struggle to properly wrap my head around all of it... Kudos to PBS spacetime for fighting to make it more accessible

[thecodewarrior]

The whole “size scales lead to a third dimension” thing never made any sense no matter how hard I tried, but your example of the “effective radius” and the differing shell sizes finally made it click! Absolutely wild!

[pembrokeisland]

That was quite interesting. Not sure how far you really can take the analogy, but coming from an IT background, that "multiple seemingly different models describing the exact same thing" made me immediately think how you (in principle) can describe an application by giving its behavior and functionality, OR by listing its source code, OR by describing how the electricity flows through the hardware circuits. Vastly different descriptions that seem to have nothing in common, yet all describing the exact same thing. Nor can you really say which of these is the "real one" as it's more a switch in your point-of-view and which description fits your purpose. If it's anything sorta-like this, yes, makes sense. Though, always have to be careful about analogies, especially when they are of something outside your own field of expertise 🙂 but can be a useful tool when trying to understand things.

[jajssblue]

Those Physicists, always projecting. 😂

[saagartrivedi]

Hey Matt et al., I've been a viewer since y'all started back in 2015. Never commented, and I wish I had the money to join the Patreon, but I just wanted to say that I appreciate how much this series breaks my brain every week.

I'm a big Brian Greene guy, and, even so, I feel as though I understand so little but love the content so much I can't stop myself from coming back.

Thank you!

[PenDanger]

I understand less than 1% but I am still so happy that this dude is talking and I get to hear it.

[Dampfaeus]

You know a topic is truly complex is PBS needs to make a playlist for it 😀
I mean, he explained the new paper about their possibly not being a Singularity at the center of a black hole in just one episode.

[napotronix]

I watch this channel for ages now and usually I feel pretty smart because I understand the gist of most episodes pretty well.

This episode makes me feel oldfashionedly stupid.

[theviscount-keml]

When I watch PBS Space Time, I really do think I should be outside bashing rocks together

[DangerousDac]

This is the first video that seems to have actually succeeded in getting me to understand the whole concept of the Holographic principle.

[ReiHinoSenshi]

So love how he still keeps the ending like you can feel any moment now he's about to say "Space Time" as I usually say it at my screen lol.

[blodbotina]

Can't wait to get reminded again next time why this is the best channel I've ever discovered.

[liamfinlay]

I can't help seeing our true source selves dance on the cosmic Plato's cave wall, where the story is flipped, the shadows are the casters of players, not the other way around.

The projector is inside the cave, made from the soup of fundamental shadow code, projecting an emergent representation that we consider...

...Reality.

Additional: Science channels like this have filled a void within me, thank you for projecting some wonderful education and perspectives my way <3 You guys are so so so appreciated.

[addyyyyg]

First heard of Erik Verlinde’s entropic gravity/holographic universe theory probs 7-8yrs. ago in the context of him arguing that dark matter/energy are so difficult to detect bc they don’t actually exist, but rather are emergent products of space time geometry—it was so elegant & intuitive that I was sold then & there 👀

[Cruxvae]

As somebody who majored in the humanities because I am allergic to math, I'm amazed by how much I've learned from this channel. I never thought I would understand so many of these principles, even on a surface level.

[jesuschrist]

Never look directly at a solar eclipse tshirt

[flo]

finally back to headache content, thanks

[rhetorical]

Theoretical physicist: i have done enough drugs to create a new theory

[jmunt]

Dang, I didn't notice it on the last episode but the new credits visuals and music are incredible!