Something Weird Happens When E = −mc²

Derek Muller dives into Paul Dirac’s groundbreaking work on negative energy solutions in quantum mechanics—starting with the Schrödinger and Klein-Gordon equations, moving through Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, and culminating in the famous Dirac equation. Along the way, Dirac’s math predicted the existence of antiparticles, leading to the discovery of the positron and the mind-bending idea that antimatter might be a mirror “anti-universe” where time flows backward.

Packed with expert insights from Graham Farmelo and Cumrun Vafa, archival treasures from Florida State and Caltech, and a playful wink at the strangest man in physics, this Veritasium video makes one of modern physics’ saddest yet most thrilling chapters feel surprisingly accessible—and downright cool.

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