Can particles really be in two places at once? Featuring @ArvinAsh

Today I tell you what happened when I wrote an opinion piece for the Guardian about quantum computing, had to explain what a qubit is, and decided against using the phrase that it “can be in two states at the same time”. What happened next and what did I learn from it? Can two particles really be in two places at once? What does that even mean? @ArvinAsh and I try to sort it out for you.

0:00 Intro
00:24 Superpositions
2:25 The Bloch Sphere
3:56 Words don't come easy
6:19 The trouble with words
8:46 Arvin Ash
10:48 What do we do?
11:26 New quantum mechanics course!

#physics #quantum #mathematics

[ArvinAsh]

Thanks so much for the collab on this video Sabine! Always a pleasure for me to participate in any discussion about the riveting world of QM.

[blindwhy]

Sabine, you are the best (and my favourite) “art grad string theorist”. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

[codeawareness]

The combination of accurate information with “I don’t know” is why i love your channel so much. ❤️💐

[gorojo]

Arvin and Sabine are the two finest communicators in their space. It was nice to see you two pairing up.

[JamesHunterRoss]

Knowing the "limits of language", or even that there might be such a limit, was a profound insight for me. (I was guided by the great philosopher Wittgenstein.) But once you accept such limits and become skeptical of what can be accomplished using our "ordinary language", you can avoid mistruths and confusions that, in the end, are nothing more than word games. Writing an article for a pop-sci audience is likely going to require serious compromise; Sabine gets serious kudos for trying, and for doing a pretty darn good job of it.

[aaspookyaa]

Being an armchair physicist, I love Sabine's deep dives into these topics. She is a consumate explainer and drags my civilian brain to the upper limits. Thank you Sabine for all that you do.

[sonysantos]

I'm subscribed in both channels, and it's very satisfying to see the "crossover" with you both. Words are difficult, but I like to watch you both!

[AndrewKnightMIT]

This is an excellent video. I also very much like how you admit "I don't know" when trying to answer these hard questions about what a mathematical superposition means in the real world.

[paulcooper]

Love you Sabiine. Your explanations are so clear and concise. People need to watch you to understand how the world works!!

[stephenhicks]

The natural language of Physics is really mathematics and it's no surprise that a great deal of the precision and beauty is lost when trying to translate Physics concepts into English, German or anything other language. Having said that I think Sabine and Arvin and a handful of others do a brilliant job of doing just that. I am in awe of the analytical precision of Sabine's mind. It's scary!

[TysonJensen]

I prefer "any value between 0 and 1" to "it's both 0 and 1 at the same time." Especially in the context of the D-Wave devices, which don't even depend on entanglement and cannot give exponential speedups over classical computation, but rather use the fact that interference patterns of light are not limited by the normal limitations of digital computation -- all the possible values between 0 and 1 are equally involved in the patterns.

[msromike]

I realized why I love this channel. Where else is science presented at this high of a level and still understandable by so many? Also, the presentation is no nonsense and her scientific rigor is obvious. She is not going to support pop science and doesn't mind telling you where the problems lie (when it is topical) in both the theory and practical applications of contemporary science. Wrap this in her delightful dry sense of humor, and voila!

[yurinator]

Richard Feynman was great at explaining complex concepts, in plain language, to the public at large and to his students.

"Feynman was once asked by a Caltech faculty member to explain why spin 1/2 particles obey Fermi-Dirac statistics. He gauged his audience perfectly and said, 'I’ll prepare a freshman lecture on it.' But a few days later he returned and said, 'You know, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t reduce it to the freshman level. That means we really don’t understand it.'"

[joyboricua]

Sabine & Arvin are my go-to saturday programs. Thank you both.

[bnjm]

Thanks Sabine for you thoughts on the subject of superposition. Thanks for inviting Arvin also. He too has good content. 😊

[andrejkosir]

Well made, as always. I think it is important to learn new things, not just in profession you are in, but also i general. One should stay curious and learn something every day. Your videos are the best.

[stynkus]

You are quite right. My first QM teacher in university made it very clear to us that you *CANNOT* describe quantum mechanics by anything other than mathematics. He said that trying to do so would only confuse those who don't have any experience with the math. I've tried multiple times with my wife (only because she's my wife and because she really, really wants to know about how quantum computers actually work) and she still doesn't get it... and even hinting at the math only makes her give me the 'glare'. 😆

[arctic_haze]

You made it almost on time. I do appreciate the effort. Now, I will read your piece in the Guardian

[michaeljijus]

Thank you for teaching us, "dummies" such a exciting topics.
Thank you million times Lady Sabina ❤❤❤

[MrAlRats]

In The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol.III, there's a perfect explanation of the notion of superposition. If you know algebra and are familiar with complex numbers you can follow the explanation fully but it's possible to get the essential idea even without understanding the mathematics. It's by no means impossible to convey the notion of superposition or entanglement to a lay audience using simple english. In fact, I have read articles in Quanta magazine that does an excellent job at it. It just takes quite a lot more words than a typical article in a mainstream newspaper.