How Electron Spin Makes Matter Possible

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Today I’m going to explain why you’re not falling through your chair right now using one simple fact, and one object. The fact is that all electrons are the same as each other, and the object is a structurally critical item of my clothing. There’s a chance this episode could get very weird.

Electrons DO NOT Spin

Spin Renderings by the Incredible Jason Hise

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Hosted by Matt O'Dowd
Written by Graeme Gossel & Matt O'Dowd
Graphics by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini, Pedro Osinski, Adriano Leal & Stephanie Faria
GFX Visualizations: Ajay Manuel
Directed by Andrew Kornhaber
Assistant Producer: Setare Gholipour
Executive Producers: Eric Brown & Andrew Kornhaber

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[karozans]

"If you don't spin, you don't matter."
--Aggressive Electron

[TimRrstrm]

Does any of this explain why USB plugs need to be turned 540° to return to the correct orientation?

[nickpiovesan]

"Of course before you want to watch this you should familiarize yourself with the subjects we touched upon in the previous 30 episodes of Space Time..."
Love this channel.

[shashikantrivankar]

Most textbooks or online lectures gloss over the deep meaning of the spin leaving one unsatisfied with the description. This is the first time i have seen someone explain the concept in a way makes it more satisfying an explanation. Kudos to Dr Matt O'Dowd for possessing such an ability!

[Morilore]

Matt: "don't worry, it's just addition and subtraction"

Also Matt: *literally derives Slater determinants on-screen*

[Elzilcho]

This makes me feel like I've accidentally sat in on the wrong lecture, but I'm now too interested to leave. Thanks for the mental stimulation.

[wwdh]

Great explanation!
Richard Feynman said that if he really understood some aspect of physics, he could explain it to a freshman.
But the Spin Statistics Theorem stumped him. He was unable to come up with a simple explanation, which you have done. Bravo!

[johnedwards]

Notice that around the ten minute mark Matt begins to pronounce "square" like an American, that is, with an R at the end, and, only moments later, he pronounces the same word as a Brit, so we are seeing a superposition of pronunciation states transitioning from the ground state, Brit, to the excited state, 'Mercan and yet in this case both states are clearly distinguishable.

[Baconlessness]

I've been confused for years about what "half integer spin" meant, and here Matt clarifies it in a few words.

[SolaceEasy]

In this video series there is a direct relationship between the incomprehensibility of a topic and the amount of gesticulation that Matt does.

[timwatz]

I find it fascinating, how you can break extremely complicated topics down so far, that most highschool grads can understand them. Thank you so much, because nobody taught me this, even in college.

[crowlsyong]

It's inspiring and beautiful, the universe and your descriptions of it. Thank you so much Matt, the animators, and the PBS team that brings this to us for free. Thank you.

[Erik-pumj]

It took some years to get on my feet, but I started learning about wavefunctions formally this week.

Thank you, PBS Space Time, for being my informal learning--up until now and inevitably moving forward. The heuristic understanding of a broad range of physics topics you've given me has done more than aid my education; you've fostered and kept alive an interest I hope to take to graduate school research and beyond.

PBS Space Time is science communication at its finest.

[Jadderz]

I've never studied quantum physics, and only briefly covered the standard model for A-levels in 2007. I understood almost everything in this video on first pass; that's the sign of a really great teacher.

Your ability to explain these principles so simply is testament to your understanding. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and making understanding the quantum world so accessible.

[LMProduction]

I love that you guys always happen to make content that relates directly to the courses I’m doing. Good timing

[pdelong]

Thanks for the belt analogy, I never knew about that! I've long tried to find a good way to explain SU(2) symmetry to people (where "people" includes myself) in an intuitive way. This example is a good one to add to my bag of tricks.

[EternalBooda]

Matt almost showed us the mystery of his intrinsic mass.

[dominikbeitat]

Next episode: Matt explains electron spin again, but this time with jumper cables, because you didn't pay attention.

[antoniomaglione]

Compliments for the clarity and precision of your explanation of Fermions and Boson, and the Pauli principle.
Thank youi...

[kaiezon]

“…and there would be no such thing as chemistry..”
Go on. I’m listening