Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
How Paul Dirac uncovered the anti-universe. Sponsored by Hostinger - visit ve42.co/hostinger and use the code VERITASIUM to get an extra discount on top of the sale prices.
Get your exclusive edition of Veritasium’s first tabletop game - join 8,000+ backers - ve42.co/did
If you’re looking for a molecular modelling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically - ve42.co/SnatomsV
Sign up for the Veritasium newsletter for weekly science updates - ve42.co/Newsletter
▀▀▀
A huge thank you to Graham Farmelo and Cumrun Vafa for their invaluable expertise and contributions to this video.
If you want to hear more about Dirac's life we've posted an extended interview with biographer Graham over on our patreon here - ve42.co/patreonbonus
A special thanks to Matteo Arfini for his help with this video.
Check out Graham Farmelo’s books here - grahamfarmelo.com
Explore Cumrun Vafa’s research here - cumrunvafa.org
Thank you also to Florida State University and Caltech for their fantastic archives.
You can find the digitized materials from the FSU’s Paul A. M. Dirac Collection here - ve42.co/FSUdirac - and more about the discovery of the positron here - ve42.co/CalispherePositron
▀▀▀
0:00 Can Negative Energy Exist?
3:27 The Schrödinger Equation Is Wrong
8:33 The Strangest Man In Physics
11:01 Dirac and the Klein-Gordon equation
17:27 Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle
20:54 The Dirac Equation
24:21 The Saddest Chapter in Modern Physics
26:35 The Anti-Electron
29:57 Antiparticles Travel Backwards In Time
31:24 The Anti-World
▀▀▀
References can be found here - ve42.co/DiracRefs
Image and video references can be found here - ve42.co/DiracVisuals
▀▀▀
Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Adam Foreman, Albert Wenger, Alex Porter, Alexander Tamas, Anton Ragin, Anupam Banerjee, armedtoe, Balkrishna Heroor, Bertrand Serlet, Blake Byers, Bruce, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, David Tseng, Evgeny Skvortsov, Garrett Mueller, Gnare, gpoly, Hayden Christensen, Ibby Hadeed, Jeromy Johnson, Jon Jamison, Juan Benet, KeyWestr, Kyi, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, Meekay, meg noah, Michael Bush, Michael Krugman, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Robert Oliveira, Sam Lutfi, Tj Steyn, Ubiquity Ventures, wolfee
▀▀▀
Writers: Lily Shepherd, Casper Mebius & Derek Muller
Producer & Director: Lily Shepherd
Editors: Jonny Lennard
Camera Operators: Casper Mebius
Animators: Andrew Neet, Emma Wright, Fabio Albertelli & Peter Nelson
Illustrators: Jakub Misiek & Nataly Zhuk
Assistant Editors: James Horsley & James Stuart
Researchers: Callum Cuttle & Sophia Rose
Thumbnail Designers: Abdallah Rabah, Ren Hurley & Ben Powell
Production Team: Katy Southwood & Josh Pitt
Executive Producers: Derek Muller & Casper Mebius
Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images, Storyblocks
Music from Epidemic Sound
How Paul Dirac uncovered the anti-universe. Sponsored by Hostinger - visit ve42.co/hostinger and use the code VERITASIUM to get an extra discount on top of the sale prices.
Get your exclusive edition of Veritasium’s first tabletop game - join 8,000+ backers - ve42.co/did
If you’re looking for a molecular modelling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically - ve42.co/SnatomsV
Sign up for the Veritasium newsletter for weekly science updates - ve42.co/Newsletter
▀▀▀
A huge thank you to Graham Farmelo and Cumrun Vafa for their invaluable expertise and contributions to this video.
If you want to hear more about Dirac's life we've posted an extended interview with biographer Graham over on our patreon here - ve42.co/patreonbonus
A special thanks to Matteo Arfini for his help with this video.
Check out Graham Farmelo’s books here - grahamfarmelo.com
Explore Cumrun Vafa’s research here - cumrunvafa.org
Thank you also to Florida State University and Caltech for their fantastic archives.
You can find the digitized materials from the FSU’s Paul A. M. Dirac Collection here - ve42.co/FSUdirac - and more about the discovery of the positron here - ve42.co/CalispherePositron
▀▀▀
0:00 Can Negative Energy Exist?
3:27 The Schrödinger Equation Is Wrong
8:33 The Strangest Man In Physics
11:01 Dirac and the Klein-Gordon equation
17:27 Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle
20:54 The Dirac Equation
24:21 The Saddest Chapter in Modern Physics
26:35 The Anti-Electron
29:57 Antiparticles Travel Backwards In Time
31:24 The Anti-World
▀▀▀
References can be found here - ve42.co/DiracRefs
Image and video references can be found here - ve42.co/DiracVisuals
▀▀▀
Special thanks to our Patreon supporters: Adam Foreman, Albert Wenger, Alex Porter, Alexander Tamas, Anton Ragin, Anupam Banerjee, armedtoe, Balkrishna Heroor, Bertrand Serlet, Blake Byers, Bruce, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, David Tseng, Evgeny Skvortsov, Garrett Mueller, Gnare, gpoly, Hayden Christensen, Ibby Hadeed, Jeromy Johnson, Jon Jamison, Juan Benet, KeyWestr, Kyi, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, Meekay, meg noah, Michael Bush, Michael Krugman, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Robert Oliveira, Sam Lutfi, Tj Steyn, Ubiquity Ventures, wolfee
▀▀▀
Writers: Lily Shepherd, Casper Mebius & Derek Muller
Producer & Director: Lily Shepherd
Editors: Jonny Lennard
Camera Operators: Casper Mebius
Animators: Andrew Neet, Emma Wright, Fabio Albertelli & Peter Nelson
Illustrators: Jakub Misiek & Nataly Zhuk
Assistant Editors: James Horsley & James Stuart
Researchers: Callum Cuttle & Sophia Rose
Thumbnail Designers: Abdallah Rabah, Ren Hurley & Ben Powell
Production Team: Katy Southwood & Josh Pitt
Executive Producers: Derek Muller & Casper Mebius
Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images, Storyblocks
Music from Epidemic Sound
