Something Weird Happens When E=−mc²

Veritasium unpacks how Paul Dirac’s hunt for a theory matching quantum mechanics and relativity led to the wildest prediction in physics—the anti-electron. Starting with the paradox of negative energy and failed Schrödinger and Klein–Gordon equations, we meet Dirac’s famous equation and the “strangest man in physics,” which ultimately pointed to antimatter long before it was spotted.

The video then dives into the rabbit hole of antiparticles as time-reversed matter, exploring archival discoveries of the positron and hinting at an entire anti-universe waiting to be understood. With insights from Graham Farmelo, Cumrun Vafa and top archives at FSU and Caltech, it’s a whirlwind tour of one of physics’ saddest, most thrilling chapters.

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