PBS Space Time Season 2018 Episode 19 Why Quantum Information is Never Destroyed

PBS Space Time is an excellent YouTube series that is dedicated to discussing the nuances of space and all of its infinitely vast intricacies. The show's season 2018 episode 19 is titled "Why Quantum Information is Never Destroyed." In this particular episode, the show's host dives deep into the concept of information and how it relates to the world of quantum mechanics.

The episode begins by introducing the audience to the idea of information storage in the classical world. Information, in the classical world, is stored in bits of information, which are any two states that can represent a piece of information, for example, the states "on" and "off." Each bit can store one of these states, and the more bits you have, the more information you can store. This concept, however, does not hold true in the world of quantum mechanics.

The audience is then taken on a journey through the basics of quantum mechanics, where they are introduced to the concept of entanglement. Entanglement is when two particles become interdependent and start to act in unison, regardless of how far away they are from each other. The audience is then introduced to the concept of qubits, which is the quantum version of a classical bit.

The episode slowly progresses into the main topic of the episode, which is quantum information and quantum mechanics. It delves into the importance of quantum information and how it is stored in qubits, which is fundamentally different from how it is stored in classical bits.

The audience is then presented with the concept of the quantum mechanics of black holes. The episode explains that black holes are not merely just a supermassive object, but they also have an event horizon. The event horizon is the point beyond which not even light can escape from the black hole's gravitational pull. When an object enters the event horizon, all of its information is forever lost to the outside world. This theory raised several questions as to what happens to the information, and it was not until recently discovered that the information was not lost at all, but rather was hidden in the quantum mechanical world.

The episode then explains in great detail how quantum information is never destroyed, which is a fundamental law of quantum mechanics. Quantum information is merely transferred from one system to another and is never lost, which is the idea of unitary evolution. The episode demonstrates this idea by using numerous examples, such as the idea of a quantum teleportation device.

Overall, the episode is an excellent example of how PBS Space Time delves deep into complicated topics and breaks them down into manageable chunks for the audience to understand. The episode is informative and engaging, and it takes the audience on a journey through the world of quantum mechanics, making it a must-watch for anyone interested in the subject.