Watch · Physics, engineering and experiments
I finally saw quantum mechanics with my own eyes... (It's spookier than I expected)
The Brief
- The video covers liquid helium, described as the world's coldest liquid and stranger than expected.
- It follows the race to absolute zero and why helium was hard to liquefy.
- Topics include the first liquid helium, attempts at solid helium, superconductivity, and superfluidity.
- It also covers Bose-Einstein condensates and Landau's theory of phonons.
Why watch · It explains how helium's quantum behaviour at extreme cold produces effects like superfluidity and superconductivity.
- Liquid helium
- Superfluidity
- Superconductivity
- Bose-Einstein condensate
Summarised by Claude from the video’s title and description – no transcript was available, so check the video for the details.
Chapters
- 0:00The "Impossible" Liquid
- 1:59The Race to Absolute Zero
- 6:33Why Helium Seemed Impossible to Liquefy
- 15:04The First Liquid Helium Ever Made
- 19:08Can you make solid helium?
- 21:42What is superconductivity?
- 28:41Zero Viscosity and Superfluidity
- 36:15What are Bose-Einstein condensates?
- 43:20How Kapitsa Saved Landau From Prison
- 46:20The Superfluid Fountain Powered by Light
- 47:46Landau's Theory of Phonons
- 58:32Why Helium (Almost) Never Freezes
- 1:01:58The takeaway
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The world’s coldest liquid is far stranger than you’d imagine. Sponsored by Ground News - Go to https://ground.news/Ve and subscribe to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage Plan. Stay informed on breaking news and compare coverage from every angle. Last year, we launched Elements of Truth on Kickstarter. We’re now in the final stages of production, and Kickstarter rewards are shipping soon. If you missed the campaign, you can now pre-order the retail edition through our new website here - https://ve42.co/YTDEcl If you backed us on Kickstarter, don’t worry, your game will ship before any pre-orders are fulfilled. If you’re looking for a molecular modelling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically - https://ve42.co/SnatomsV Sign up for the Veritasium newsletter for weekly science updates - https://ve42.co/Newsletter Join our Patreon for a chance to get a NASA sticker that went to the edge of space during the eclipse and for early access to work-in-progress videos https://ve42.co/VePatreon ▀▀▀ Chapters: 0:00 The "Impossible" Liquid 1:59 The Race to Absolute Zero 6:33 Why Helium Seemed Impossible to Liquefy 15:04 The First Liquid Helium Ever Made 19:08 Can you make solid helium? 21:42 What is superconductivity? 28:41 Zero Viscosity and Superfluidity 36:15 What are Bose-Einstein condensates? 43:20 How Kapitsa Saved Landau From Prison 46:20 The Superfluid Fountain Powered by Light 47:46 Landau's Theory of Phonons 58:32 Why Helium (Almost) Never Freezes 1:01:58 The takeaway ▀▀▀ A big thank you to Prof. Dirk van Delft for his guidance and expertise on Onnes’ life and work. If you want to read more about it you can find the free PDF of his book “Freezing Physics” here: https://ve42.co/Freezing_physics A massive thank you to Prof. Martin Zwierlein for his enthusiasm and helping us get the specifics of superfluidity and BECs right. As well as a huge thank you to everyone who helped us understand the physics, the story, and provided valuable feedback on different parts of this video: Prof. Kostas Gavroglu, Dr. Philippe Lebrun, Prof. David Kaiser, Dr. John G Weisend II, Prof. Ad Maas, and Prof Robert Taylor. Then two more special thank-you’s: The first is to Rijksmuseum Boerhaave, for showing us around the archives and Onnes’ original equipment. You can check them out here: https://www.rijksmuseumboerhaave.nl/ And the second, of course, is to everyone at the Gravity Laboratory and Nottingham University who recreated