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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the Core side Quantum Physics podcast, an exploration

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<v Speaker 1>of the fundamental structure of reality, where quantum laws govern matter, energy,

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<v Speaker 1>and information. Here, uncertainty is a feature, not a flaw,

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<v Speaker 1>and understanding begins at the smallest scales.

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<v Speaker 2>I want you to.

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<v Speaker 3>Imagine something for a second. Picture a clock sitting on

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<v Speaker 3>the desk right in front of you.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, I'm picturing it right.

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<v Speaker 3>So you were watching the second hand tick forward, tick tick.

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<v Speaker 2>Tick, Just a normal clock exactly.

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<v Speaker 3>But now I want you to imagine that exact same

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<v Speaker 3>clock sitting in the exact same spot, but the second

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<v Speaker 3>hand is moving at a well, a completely different speed.

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<v Speaker 3>Wait what Yeah, it is ticking faster, and at the

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<v Speaker 3>exact same moment, it is also ticking slower.

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<v Speaker 2>That is I mean, that's incredibly hard to even visualize, right.

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<v Speaker 3>It entirely defines everything you know about how reality is

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<v Speaker 3>supposed to work. You are looking at a single object

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<v Speaker 3>experiencing two completely different timelines literally at the same time.

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<v Speaker 2>It sounds like a riddle honestly, or maybe like a

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<v Speaker 2>broken piece of machinery, but it is actually the absolute

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<v Speaker 2>bleeding edge of modern physics.

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<v Speaker 3>Which is just wild. So what we're doing today is

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<v Speaker 3>figuring out how physicists are attempting to combine the flexible,

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<v Speaker 3>bendable nature of time from Einstein's relativity with the absolutely

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<v Speaker 3>bizarre multi state nature of quantum mechanics.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, colliding two totally different rule books exactly.

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<v Speaker 3>And the ultimate goal here is to prove that time

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<v Speaker 3>itself can exist in a quantum superposition. Okay, let's unpack

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<v Speaker 3>this because to understand how a single clock can ticket

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<v Speaker 3>two different speeds simultaneously, we kind of have to look

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<v Speaker 3>at the underlying mechanics governing reality, and.

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<v Speaker 2>That conflict between those mechanics is exactly where modern physics

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<v Speaker 2>is currently stuck. I mean, time plays very very different

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<v Speaker 2>roles depending on which rule book you are reading.

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<v Speaker 3>From, like relativity versus quantum theory.

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<v Speaker 2>Right in Einstein's relativity, time is a physical malleable fabric.

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<v Speaker 2>It bends, its stretches, it reacts to gravity, press, yeah, gravity, speed,

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<v Speaker 2>all of that. But then you look at quantum theory,

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<v Speaker 2>which is the rule book governing the tiniest building blocks

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<v Speaker 2>of our universe, and time is completely rigid.

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<v Speaker 3>Just a background ticker exactly.

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<v Speaker 2>It acts as the static background metronome that just ticks

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<v Speaker 2>away steadily. While particles do all sorts of strange things.

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<v Speaker 2>So forcing these two fundamentally opposed concepts together is what

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<v Speaker 2>reveals these hidden quantum signatures of time flow that classical

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<v Speaker 2>physics simply cannot explain.

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<v Speaker 3>We already know from macroscopic relativity that time bends with speed, right,

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<v Speaker 3>and we know from quantum mechanics that particles can exist

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<v Speaker 3>in superpositions.

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<v Speaker 2>Right like Schrodinger's cat exactly, the.

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<v Speaker 3>Cat is alive and dead at the same time. But

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<v Speaker 3>what happens when you smash those two realities together. Because

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<v Speaker 3>when I was trying to wrap my head around Einstein's relativity,

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<v Speaker 3>I realized it is kind of like a personalized algorithm.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, I like where this is going.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, think of it like a Spotify rapped but for time.

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<v Speaker 2>A Spotify rapped for time.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah. You don't just log into like a universal music

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<v Speaker 3>stream that everyone on Earth listens to. You get a

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<v Speaker 3>completely customized experience based on your specific behaviors, right, your speed,

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<v Speaker 3>your location in a gravity.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, that is a remarkably good analogy.

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<v Speaker 3>Thanks, So every single object in the universe is basically

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<v Speaker 3>experiencing its own, unique, personalized flow of time. But to

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<v Speaker 3>really grasp the mechanics of why that happens. You almost

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<v Speaker 3>have to picture space time as a dense medium, like

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<v Speaker 3>a fluid.

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<v Speaker 2>And that fluid analogy actually works perfectly for the mechanics

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<v Speaker 2>of time dilation. So well, think about it. If you

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<v Speaker 2>are moving through a dense fluid, the faster you move,

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<v Speaker 2>the more resistance are like drag you.

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<v Speaker 3>Encounter, right, it's harder to push through.

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<v Speaker 2>Exactly. In physics, as an object moves faster through the

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<v Speaker 2>fluid of space time, the internal mechanisms of that object,

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<v Speaker 2>it's atoms, it's chemical reactions, biological aging, all of it

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<v Speaker 2>literally encounter a form of temporal drag. Temporal drag, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>they slow down relative to an object that is just

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<v Speaker 2>standing still. So you sitting there listening to this right now,

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<v Speaker 2>are experiencing a slightly different flow of time than someone's

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<v Speaker 2>standing on top of Mount Everest.

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<v Speaker 3>Because of the distance from Earth's gravity.

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<v Speaker 2>Exactly. The difference is completely microscopic in our daily lives,

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<v Speaker 2>but it is entirely real and it's measurable.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, don't GPS satellites have to account for this?

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<v Speaker 2>They absolutely do. The satellites orbiting the Earth have to

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<v Speaker 2>constantly adjust their internal clocks because they are further away

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<v Speaker 2>from Earth's gravity. Well, and they're moving at orbital speeds.

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<v Speaker 3>Wow.

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<v Speaker 2>If they didn't mathematically account for that temporal drag, the

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<v Speaker 2>navigation app on your phone would literally have you driving

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<v Speaker 2>into a lake within a single afternoon.

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<v Speaker 3>That is terrifying but also amazing. But okay, to measure

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<v Speaker 3>a time difference that minute. To actually observe this happening

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<v Speaker 3>in the laboratory, you can't just use a rolex, right,

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<v Speaker 3>or even a standard digital clock.

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<v Speaker 2>No, definitely not.

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<v Speaker 3>You would need a clock that operates on the scale

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<v Speaker 3>of individual atoms, which naturally forces us right down into

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<v Speaker 3>the quantum realm. Right, So take the classic twin paradox.

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<v Speaker 3>Usually the story goes one twin stays on Earth, the

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<v Speaker 3>other travels at near light speed and comes back younger.

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<v Speaker 2>The standard thought experiment, Right.

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<v Speaker 3>The math checks out. Yeah, but let's look at the

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<v Speaker 3>staggering subtlety of this at lower speeds. If you had

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<v Speaker 3>a clock moving at just ten meters per.

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<v Speaker 2>Second, which is what like twenty miles an hour, Yeah.

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<v Speaker 3>About twenty two miles per hour, essentially just a casual

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<v Speaker 3>drive through a suburban neighborhood. If it kept moving at

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<v Speaker 3>that speed, for fifty seven million years, fifty seven million,

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<v Speaker 3>fifty seven million years, it would fall exactly one second

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<v Speaker 3>behind a stationary clock that.

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<v Speaker 2>Is just fifty seven million years just to lose a

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<v Speaker 2>single second. It is a fantastic demonstration of how incredibly

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<v Speaker 2>subtle the warping of time is at everyday human speeds.

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<v Speaker 3>It's almost imperceptible, but not quite.

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<v Speaker 2>Scientists have actually confirmed effects exactly like this using highly

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<v Speaker 2>precise aluminum ion clocks. But what's fascinating here is what

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<v Speaker 2>happens when we push this macroscopic paradox into the quantum domain.

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<v Speaker 3>Okay, brace yourselves, right.

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<v Speaker 2>Because instead of two separate clocks moving at different speeds,

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<v Speaker 2>we take a single clock and put it into a

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<v Speaker 2>quantum superposition.

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<v Speaker 3>So we force the clock itself into a state where

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<v Speaker 3>it is simultaneously moving and not moving exacts. So it

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<v Speaker 3>becomes its own twin.

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<v Speaker 2>It becomes its own twin. According to the mathematics of

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<v Speaker 2>quantum theory, that single clock must simultaneously experience two entirely

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<v Speaker 2>different rates of time.

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<v Speaker 3>That is so weird.

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<v Speaker 2>It is aging at two different speeds, occupying the exact

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<v Speaker 2>same space.

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<v Speaker 3>Okay, but wait, if this is a natural consequence of

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<v Speaker 3>combining quantum mechanics and relativity. Physicists must have known about

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<v Speaker 3>this theoretical lostibility for.

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<v Speaker 2>A while, right, Oh, absolutely, Physicists like Igor Pikowsky propose

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<v Speaker 2>the math for this idea over a decade ago.

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<v Speaker 3>So why are we only talking about physically testing this

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<v Speaker 3>in a laboratory right now? Like what shifted in the

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<v Speaker 3>landscape of physics that allows us to finally move this

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<v Speaker 3>from a whiteboard into the real world?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, simply put, our technology finally caught up to our theories. Okay,

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<v Speaker 2>to measure an effect this unbelievably subtle, where a single

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<v Speaker 2>particle is experiencing a microscopic time dilation while in a superposition,

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<v Speaker 2>you need the most precise measuring tools in the history

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<v Speaker 2>of human civilization, no pressure, right, And that brings us

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<v Speaker 2>to the work of experimental teams like those led by

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<v Speaker 2>Christian Center at Colorado State University and Dietrich lb Fred

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<v Speaker 2>at NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

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<v Speaker 3>What are they building over there?

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<v Speaker 2>They have developed ultra cold ion clocks. We are talking

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<v Speaker 2>about trapping a single atom of aluminium or ter bum

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<v Speaker 2>using intersecting lasers, single atom, a single atom, and then

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<v Speaker 2>they cool that single atom down to temperatures hovering billionths

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<v Speaker 2>of a degree above absolute zero.

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<v Speaker 3>Okay, wait, I got to push back here for a second,

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<v Speaker 3>or at least ask for a sanity each other on

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<v Speaker 3>the mechanics sure come bad because if I remember my

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<v Speaker 3>high school chemistry correctly, temperature is essentially just a measurement

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<v Speaker 3>of kinetic energy. Right. Heat is movement, That's right. So

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<v Speaker 3>if you cool a single atom down to absolute zero

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<v Speaker 3>or functionally near absolute zero, that means all thermal movement stops.

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<v Speaker 3>Is the theoretical ground state of the universe.

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<v Speaker 2>Correct.

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<v Speaker 3>If the atom is completely frozen in place, how can

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<v Speaker 3>it function as a clock? I mean, how does an

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<v Speaker 3>atom tick or measure time if there is zero energy

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<v Speaker 3>for movement.

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<v Speaker 2>That is a highly logical objection, and it gets to

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<v Speaker 2>the very heart of why quantum mechanics is so wonderfully weird.

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<v Speaker 3>Okay, lay it on me.

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<v Speaker 2>In classical physics, your high school chemistry definitely holds up

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<v Speaker 2>at absolute zero, all thermal energy is gone and the

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<v Speaker 2>system basically freezes completely solid. But an atomic clock doesn't

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<v Speaker 2>use gears or physical pendulums to tick. It uses the

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<v Speaker 2>internal energy states of the atom itself. Oh interesting, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>and these ultracold clocks. A laser fires at the tra

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<v Speaker 2>The electron orbiting that ion will only jump to a

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<v Speaker 2>higher energy level if the laser hits it with an

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<v Speaker 2>incredibly precise frequency of light.

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<v Speaker 3>How precise are we talking.

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<v Speaker 2>We are talking about a frequency of over a quadrillion

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<v Speaker 2>oscillations per second.

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<v Speaker 3>A quadrillion, that's a million billion.

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<v Speaker 2>Exactly, And that precise frequency required to make the electron jump.

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<v Speaker 2>That is the actual tick of the clot ah.

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<v Speaker 3>So the atom doesn't need to be physically bouncing around

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<v Speaker 3>the room to measure time. The ticking is happening inside

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<v Speaker 3>the architecture of the atom itself exactly.

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<v Speaker 2>But there is an additional quantum layer.

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<v Speaker 3>Here, of course, there is.

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<v Speaker 2>Even when you remove all the heat, reaching that absolute

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<v Speaker 2>zero ground state where thermal movement stops, there is a

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<v Speaker 2>fundamental rule. Nothing in the universe can ever be completely still.

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<v Speaker 3>No, even at absolute zero.

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<v Speaker 2>Not even then. There are microscopic inescapable vibrations, called quantum fluctuations.

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<v Speaker 2>They are basically the inherent jitter of the universe, bubbling

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<v Speaker 2>up from the quantum vacuum itself.

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<v Speaker 3>The inherent jitter of the universe. I love that phrasing

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<v Speaker 3>it's true.

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<v Speaker 2>Gabriel Sourcey, a researcher at the Stevens Institute of Technology,

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<v Speaker 2>points out that atomic clocks have become so incomprehensibly sensitive

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<v Speaker 2>that their internal ticking rate is actually affected by these

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<v Speaker 2>inherent quantum fluctuations. Wow, it is like a faint hum

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<v Speaker 2>in the fabric of space time that you can never

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<v Speaker 2>quite turn off, and the clock feels it.

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<v Speaker 3>Here's where it gets really interesting, because the scientists aren't

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<v Speaker 3>just trapping an atom, freezing it and passively listening to

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<v Speaker 3>that quantum hum rung.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh. No, they are way more active than that, right.

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<v Speaker 3>They're actively manipulating the vacuum of space around the atom

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<v Speaker 3>to create something called squeeze. States Yes, and if we

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<v Speaker 3>are manipulating uncertainty, we are basically forcing the atom to

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<v Speaker 3>forget its exact speed. And if it doesn't have a

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<v Speaker 3>single defined speed, relativity dictates it can't have a single

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<v Speaker 3>defined timeline either. Am I tracking the logic? There?

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<v Speaker 2>You are tracking it perfectly. It relies on a fundamental

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<v Speaker 2>quirk of nature, which is in the quantum world, you

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<v Speaker 2>can never know both the exact position and the exact

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<v Speaker 2>velocity of a particle. With perfect precisions simultaneously.

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<v Speaker 3>Right Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

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<v Speaker 2>Exactly, it is a strict physical impossibility, So a squeezed

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<v Speaker 2>state is essentially a physic sloophole. The researchers use lasers

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<v Speaker 2>to intentionally squeeze the uncertainty of the ion's position, making

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<v Speaker 2>it extremely like unnaturally precise in space. They pin it down,

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<v Speaker 2>they do, but nature demands balance to compensate for knowing

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<v Speaker 2>exactly where the ion is. The ion's velocity becomes wildly uncertain.

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<v Speaker 3>It freaks out.

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<v Speaker 2>Basically, it doesn't just become unknown to us. The velocity

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<v Speaker 2>literally smears out. The atom enters a superposition of moving

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<v Speaker 2>at multiple different speeds at the exact same time.

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<v Speaker 3>Let me just anchor the scale of this for a second,

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<v Speaker 3>because it is staggering. We were talking about a single

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<v Speaker 3>solitary ion. It is less than a nanometer across kiny.

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<v Speaker 3>It is trapped in a cage of pure light, cool

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<v Speaker 3>to a fraction of a degree above the absolute zero

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<v Speaker 3>floor of the universe, and by squeezing its physical position,

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<v Speaker 3>we force it to travel at multiple speeds simultaneously. Yes,

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<v Speaker 3>and because as we established earlier, speed governs the flow

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<v Speaker 3>of time due to temporal drag, while the clock must

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<v Speaker 3>be experiencing multiple time flows.

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<v Speaker 2>The clock becomes entangled with its own velocity because the

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<v Speaker 2>ion is in a superposition of moving and not moving.

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<v Speaker 2>The internal ticking of the clock, the passage of time

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<v Speaker 2>experienced by that electron jumping between energy levels, becomes intimately

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<v Speaker 2>tied to that uncertain motion that is mind bending. The

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<v Speaker 2>result is a single physical object aging at two distinct

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<v Speaker 2>rates at the exact same moment. The clock is literally

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<v Speaker 2>both older and younger than itself.

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<v Speaker 3>And this isn't just a mathematical thought experiment anymore. As

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<v Speaker 3>Christian Saner or Kloro State pointed out, we now actually

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<v Speaker 3>possess the laboratory technology to generate that required squeezing.

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<v Speaker 2>We do. We have a clear engineering path right now

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<v Speaker 2>to reach the clock precision needed to observe these effects

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<v Speaker 2>in the real world. For the very first time, we.

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<v Speaker 3>Are standing on the precipice of watching time literally split

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<v Speaker 3>into two simultaneous realities in a physical laboratory.

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<v Speaker 2>And if we connect this to the bigger picture, it

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<v Speaker 2>becomes clearer why thousands of hours and millions of dollars

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<v Speaker 2>are being poured into trapping single ions.

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<v Speaker 3>It's not just a parlor trick.

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<v Speaker 2>Proving time superposition is definitely not just about winning a

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<v Speaker 2>Nobel prize for making a microscopic clock act weird. These

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<v Speaker 2>incredibly sensitive quantum technologies are forging new tools to solve

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<v Speaker 2>the absolute deepest mysteries of the universe.

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<v Speaker 3>We are building the scaffolding for the next great revolution

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<v Speaker 3>in physics. Absolutely, and the biggest mystery of them all,

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<v Speaker 3>like this stubborn outlier in all the physics, is gravity.

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<v Speaker 2>Gravity is the big one. In the standard model of

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<v Speaker 2>particle physics, we have beautifully identified the fundamental particles that

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<v Speaker 2>carry almost all the forces of nature. We know that

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<v Speaker 2>photons carry electromagnetism. We have gluons for the strong nuclear

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<v Speaker 2>force and w and z boses for the weak nuclear force.

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<v Speaker 2>We can measure them, we can predict them. They fit

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<v Speaker 2>perfectly into the quantum rule book.

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<v Speaker 3>But gravity refuses to cooperate.

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<v Speaker 2>It refuses. Einstein described gravity as the smooth, continuous warping

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<v Speaker 2>of space time, but quantum mechanics demands that everything is chunky, discrete,

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<v Speaker 2>and quantized. We have never been able to prove how

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<v Speaker 2>gravity works at the quantum.

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<v Speaker 3>Level, but theoretically there must be a discrete particle that

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<v Speaker 3>carries the force of gravity right exactly, the graviton, the

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<v Speaker 3>elusive white whale of modern physics.

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<v Speaker 2>It remains completely hypothetical, but Igor Pokofski's work has shown

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<v Speaker 2>that these exact same quantum technologies, these ultra coold entangled

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<v Speaker 2>squeeze state clocks, might be the key to finally seeing it.

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<v Speaker 3>Wait, really, how well?

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<v Speaker 2>If we can prove that time can exist in a superposition,

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<v Speaker 2>we prove that the fabric of relativity can operate by

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<v Speaker 2>quantum rules, we prove that space time itself can be chunky. Oh,

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<v Speaker 2>I see a clock sensitive enough to measure a superposition

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<v Speaker 2>of time could theoretically be sensitive enough to detect the

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<v Speaker 2>minuscule discrete kick of a single graviton passing by or

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<v Speaker 2>interacting with the atoms mass.

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<v Speaker 3>So if space time can play by quantum rules, then

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<v Speaker 3>gravity must play by quantum rules.

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<v Speaker 2>Too, exactly. It's the missing link.

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<v Speaker 3>It is the ultimate bridge between the two rule books.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, we started with Einstein's flexible, personalized fluid of time.

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<v Speaker 3>We moved into the microscopic world of atoms existing in

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<v Speaker 3>multiple states simultaneously yep, and we ended up with ultra

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<v Speaker 3>coold laser trapped ions at the absolute zero floor of

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<v Speaker 3>the universe, manipulating the vacuum itself to squeeze uncertainty. It's

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<v Speaker 3>a journey, all of this just to prove that a

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<v Speaker 3>single clock can exist in two different timelines simultaneously, which

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<v Speaker 3>might just give us the tools to finally uncover the

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<v Speaker 3>particle that holds the entire cosmos together.

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<v Speaker 2>It is a profound reminder that knowledge is most valuable

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<v Speaker 2>when it forces us to question our deepest assumptions about reality.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, we take the forward, steady universal march of

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<v Speaker 2>time as an absolute given.

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<v Speaker 3>I really do.

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<v Speaker 2>This isn't just abstract math happening on a whiteboard somewhere.

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<v Speaker 2>This is the fundamental fabric of the reality you were

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<v Speaker 2>sitting in right now. The mechanics that govern the universe

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<v Speaker 2>are so much stranger and more intricately connected than our

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<v Speaker 2>everyday human perception allows us to see.

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<v Speaker 3>So what does this all mean? We know that our

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<v Speaker 3>bodies are brains. The very neurons firing as you listen

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<v Speaker 3>to this right now are made up of the exact

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<v Speaker 3>same quantum particles we've been talking about.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right.

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<v Speaker 3>They're governed by the same rules of uncertainty and relativity.

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<v Speaker 3>So I want to leave you with the thought to

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<v Speaker 3>chew on.

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<v Speaker 2>Let's hear it.

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<v Speaker 3>If time can flow at different simultaneous rates for a

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<v Speaker 3>single quantum particle, well, what does that mean for human consciousness?

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<v Speaker 3>What does it mean for our perception of the present moment?

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<v Speaker 2>That's a deep question.

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<v Speaker 3>If the particles inside us are constantly shifting through these

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<v Speaker 3>microscopic superpositions of time dictated by their own chaotic quantum velocities,

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<v Speaker 3>are we truly experiencing a single, unified reality, or, as

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<v Speaker 3>our human experience, our deeply held feeling of right now

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<v Speaker 3>simply the clumsy, smooth out average of countless different quantum

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<v Speaker 3>time flows, all happening at once inside our own bodies,