Entropic Gravity from Quantum Entanglement! | with Erik Verlinde

What if spacetime was not fundamental at all? In the context of thermodynamics, macroscopic quantities such as temperature, pressure and viscosity are products of the collective behaviour of numerous microscopic entities. Starting from the astounding revelation that the behaviour of black holes is governed by a family a laws which are strikingly similar to those of thermodynamics, Erik Verlinde developed a speculative framework in which spacetime itself (and perhaps all matter content of the universe) emerges from quantum information-theoretic quantities. In this picture, everything would eventually boil down to correlations, operators and entanglement, from the faintest gravitational wave to large-scale cosmological observables.

Erik Peter Verlinde is a Dutch theoretical physicist and string theorist. The Verlinde formula, which appeared in his PhD thesis and holds great importance in conformal and topological field theory, is named after him. His research deals with string theory, gravity, black holes and cosmology. Currently, he is Professor of theoretical physics at the University of Amsterdam.
[adapted from Wikipedia]

[PiotrSut]

Thank you for this great interview. Erik Verlinde's idea of entropic gravity is the first I know that fills a yawning gap in my thinking about the world, which is in terms of "quasi-attractors" or "accretive attractors" (for lack of a better word, because they are not attractors in the strict DST sense). Following from my studies of the notion of value, there are so many things in our world that act in exact analogy to gravity or e.g. gravitational accretion of planets, but in a statistical fashion - with the added aspect of negentropically improving efficiency of populations of objects. Think a path through a forest that widens with every traveller who walks it and thus becomes even more attractive to next travellers, and eventually attracts intelligent investment in making it even better. Think money breeding more money. Or popularity of an artist making her even more popular and so on. Or a thought in our brains, starting as a small decoherence popping up in the "quantum foam" of a mind, attracting connections with affinitive neural connections and growing to be a full-fledged, consciously pursued thought, sometimes one that excessively takes control of the mind (attractors are a concept sometimes used in psychiatry). Or a meme snowballing across people's minds. If you think about, everything we can observe and name in the world comes into existence this very way. Much like matter clumped together by gravity.
But gravity has always been just this unexplained force or curvature of spacetime. Now it seems that there may be, after all, an analogy between the way gravity works and the way everything else in the world comes to be. That it might be possible to think of this statistical, logical phenomenon - encompassing physical gravity - as the basic (or just emergent from basic logic) building block for all our observable reality?
Do you think it is a line of thought worth pursuing? Have you encountered it before? Could you think of a name for such "gravitational" effects ("accretive attractors"). Other than "positive feedback" of course, because this is not exactly it. Thank you :)

[nenharma]

Amazing, thank you! You did a very good job interviewing Mr. Verlinde!

[michaelccopelandsr]

I've been posting this story for a while, now. Is it possible they're related?
Time is fascinating. I worked the subway stations for nearly 10 years. From one end of the city to the other. Every so often I would notice the city would be saying that, "Today just flew by" or "The day was just dragging along."  How can an entire city, with no interaction with each other until they used the subway, complain about the same time paradox unless it was effected by it? Maybe a time distorted bubble the earth passes through in its revolution around the sun. Maybe random waves of time distortion hitting the earth? Maybe they're given off by the sun. Maybe they're from outside our Terran system and reach us in intervals. ???? Ti-i-i-ime, is on my side. Yes, it is!

[numbersix]

Thanks! Good introduction to the odd-sounding theory. It makes sense intuitively. I'll need to internalize the gravity/thermodynamic identity for a while.

[johnnisshansen]

Erik You stil ow us an understandable explanation of your version of gravitational attracktion.

[dominiccordova]

This moderator has a true gift for communicating physics principles and hypothesis to truly ignorant people like myself. I hope he does groundbreaking work in the field and goes on to fame and glory. BUT, if not, his enthusiasm, obvious acumen and exquisite communication abilities will make him the next great communicator of physics, in the Brian Greene/Sean Carroll mode, if he so chooses. Bravo.

[tankieslayer]

jfc the crackpot infestation in the comment section 😇

[Dyslexic-Artist-Theory-on-Time]

Entropic gravity could emerge from photon ∆E=hf energy, forming a new oscillation or vibration. A one-dimensional photon ∆E=hf spherical oscillation is formed by a one-dimensional spherical 4πr² surface. The wave particle duality of light and matter (electrons) is forming a blank canvas that we interact with based on the conversion factor r² as in t², Ψ², e² and C². The spherical surface forms a boundary condition or manifold with light photon ∆E=hf energy continuously transforming potential energy PE into kinetic Eₖ=½mv² energy of matter in the form of electrons. This form our ever-changing world with the movement of positive and negative charges.

[kevinhanley]

Do all the fields filling spacetime conform to the geometry of spacetime like EM for example?

[alikaperdue]

@26:26 - The event horizon at the edge of the visible universe is the same event horizon that approaches when accelerating very fast. I believe the observable universe is what will change when accelerating and that they are not a different observation.
I believe there is a minimal event horizon as well, the Planck length. Just my opinions, because I haven't heard why not.

[Wstarlights]

How well do these calculations function?

E=MC²=En
MC²=E=En
En=MC²=E
En=E=MC²

"En" denoting Entropy.

[RichardGoldwaterMD]

The Boltzmann interp of statistical thermo depends on the Newtonian reversibility of laws of motion even as they apply to atoms, so that entropy only very probably increases. Here it seems we move from the reversibility of atomic motion to deriving newtons laws of motion. This seems like circular logic, double entendre intended, since you presume reversibility from Newton in the first place. Is there any other reason to presume reversibility other than acceleration is vekicity squared, so time must have a positive sign?

[GuerrasLaws]

“The origin of momentum creation is founded on the application of energy. Momentum serves as the initial cause of pushing and pulling. The energy, emanating from the internal core of a planet, is what gives rise to momentum, commonly referred to as gravity, and not due to the planet’s size, mass, or space-time curvature. For example, when energy is applied, it generates the necessary momentum for the actions of pushing and pulling. Without the application of energy, momentum cannot be established. Consequently, force cannot be exerted for pushing and pulling, as it lacks a physical existence. This, in turn, clarifies why force is not gravity.” ~Guadalupe Guerra

[bishwajitbhattacharjee-xmxp]

A good scientific interview. Good you as host care comments. In a black hole increase of surface area of event horizon and an increase in space gravity balance is call for thermodynamics entropy.
A symmetry is driven by entropy . Is this symmetry make a feeling of emergent Space-time like faster than light appearance.
It is true MOND is fitting parameters, but can it be a dynamic of event horizon of black hole with a reference acceleration but that has a influence on the matter at singularity and the trap surface .
Thank you a very good science channel.

[v_sign]

Short question (didn't see this video yet): Did you and Erik Verlinde also talked about his gravity-theory in relation to the UAP phenomenon?

[IamPoob]

Is space-time emergent? I say yes, ken.

[HowardRorke]

I have long thought that what we call Gravity is the quantum wave form collapse in a directional manner, said wave being attracted to the strongest body of Entropy. Do you think this is even remotely possible? I appreciate any and all sincere input. Cheers!

[spiralsun]

This was very interesting but it is obviously not true that no signal can be detected from inside a black hole. I’m not sure why people keep saying that. Gravity is a direct indication of what is in a black hole and so is the motion of suns in close proximity to the black hole. The size of the event horizon also exactly communicates what is beyond it. So there’s tons of information. 😊

[michaelccopelandsr]

How about this?  Dark Energy is EQUAL to Energy plus TIME, for our purposes here, "HEAVY TIME."
Mira, look, we see this electron orbit however many times a minute. We set that as our base reading, right? For our plain of existence, anyway.  However, in these pockets of, "heavy time, " that same electron now has readings of a billion times a minute because time is HEAVY here and passes a billion times faster.  Or, energy where there shouldn't be energy / dark energy / Heavy Time.  See, in that same minute to us, that electron aged a billion times faster and therefore has given off readings of dark energy. Dark energy IS "HEAVY TIME."  It's the difference in TIME that we're seeing!  Maybe.  The light from these galaxies have been aged by going through pockets of dark energy or "heavy time."  Numbers used for reference only.  TI-I-I-IME IS ON MY SIDE!  YES, IT IS!
Now we look at the other side of the coin, dark matter.  Pockets of dark matter are actually pockets of "LIGHT TIME." 
Mira, look, if heavy time is faster pockets of time.  It stands to reason, light time would be slower pockets of time, right?  Making our base electron seem to stand still.  Get a pocket full of seemingly motionless nothing and you get a pocket of starving dark matter.  In this case, "starving, " or slower pockets in time is the same as creating a vacuum in space.  Since this pocket of "Light time" is "starving" and everything outside this pocket of dark matter is in a "heavier time, " it makes it appear dark matter is attracting when really it's just a vacuum, IN TIME, trying to equalize.
Making it stand to reason, by my, "I'm not smart enough to give anything more than this simplified reasoning, that Dark Matter is "LIGHT TIME" and Dark Energy is "HEAVY TIME."   Maybe.  Now think about this.  As light travels through the universe and passes through these pockets or rivers of Heavy Time or Light Time,  doesn't that alter that particular beam of light?  Doesn't that beam of light that is say 40 million years old now look like it's 100 million light years away? Or vice versa, a 100 million years old beam of light now looks 40 million light years away.  If I'm right, it would explain why these 6 "old" galaxies are being discovered.  Also, if I'm right and someone proves it, you must name it after me and give me a cut of the Nobel prize winnings. Pass it on please. and thank you. 
P.S. I may have gotten the names, LIGHT and HEAVY, backwards.  Thanks again and don't worry.  Where I come from, crazy is a compliment.
;-P

[budweiser]

I watched this twice and it really didn't answer the question.