How Decoherence Splits The Quantum Multiverse

PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateSPACE ↓ More info below ↓ Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetime Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements! https://tinyurl.com/yx9cusk5 Check out the Space Time Merch Store https://pbsspacetime.com/ Why is it that we can see these multiple histories play out on the quantum scale, and why do lose sight of them on our macroscopic scale? Many physicists believe that the answer lies in a process known as quantum decoherence. Hosted by Matt O Dowd Written by Matt O Dowd Graphics by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini, & Pedro Osinski Directed by: Andrew Kornhaber Executive Producers: Eric Brown & Andrew Kornhaber End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRl6-nb4iOnsij-vnpAjp0Q Does conscious observation of a quantum system cause the wavefunction to collapse? The upshot is that more and more physicists think that consciousness - and even measurement - doesn’t directly cause wavefunction collapse. In fact probably there IS no clear Heisenberg cut. The collapse itself may be an illusion, and the alternate histories that the wavefunction represents may continue forever. The question then becomes: why is it that we can see these multiple histories play out on the quantum scale, and why do lose sight of them on our macroscopic scale? Many physicists believe that the answer lies in a process known as quantum decoherence. Thanks to our Patreon Supporters! Big Bang Supporters Alexander Tamas David Barnholdt David Nicklas Fabrice Eap Juan Benet Morgan Hough Quasar Supporters Christina Oegren Mark Heising Vinnie Falco Hypernova Supporter Chuck Zegar Danton Spivey Donal Botkin Edmund Fokschaner Hank S John Hofmann John Pollock John R. Slavik Jordan Young Joseph Salomone Julian Tyacke Justin Ash Mathew Matthew O Connor Syed Ansar Timothy McCulloch Gamma Ray Burst Supporters A G Adrian Hatch Adrien Molyneux AlecZero Andreas Nautsch Angela Prigge Bradley Jenkins Brandon labonte Brian Blanchard Craig Stonaha Dan Warren Daniel Lyons David Bethala DFaulk Douglas Cantrell Eric Kiebler Frederic Simon Geoffrey Short Graydon Goss Greg Smith John Funai John Robinson Jonathan Nesfeder Josh Thomas Justin Waters Kevin Lee Kevin Warne Kyle Hofer Malte Ubl Michael Conroy Nick Virtue Nick Wright Nickolas Andrew Freeman Patrick Sutton Paul Rose Protius Protius Robert Ilardi Scott Gossett Sean Warniaha Shane Calimlim Sipke Schoorstra Steve Bradshaw Tatiana Vorovchenko Tim Stephani Tonyface Tybie Fitzhugh Yurii Konovaliuk Randall Sylvia #space #quantummechanics #astrophysics