Something Weird Happens When E=–mc²

Paul Dirac’s quest to marry quantum mechanics with relativity leads him to retool the Schrödinger equation—and accidentally predict negative-energy solutions. What starts as a mathematical oddity soon snowballs into the Dirac equation, which not only explains spin and marries Heisenberg’s ideas but also implies a whole “anti-universe” filled with mirror particles.

When Carl Anderson spots the positron in cosmic rays, Dirac’s wildest prediction comes true: antiparticles must exist, and weirdly enough, you can think of them as traveling backward in time. This video walks through the highs and lows of Dirac’s life, the sad tale behind his greatest triumph, and how one bold equation forever changed our picture of the universe.

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