Ant-Man and the Quantum Realm - Reel or UnReal Episode 10

Reel or UnReal Logo appears

Episode 9 appears

Introduction – Orbax begins speaking.  Orbax is middle aged, bald with a ponytail at the back. A long curling moustache and a goatee. He is wearing a 3-piece grey plaid suit. He is situated in a Physics lab at the University of Guelph and speaks directly into the camera.

[Orbax] - Let's explore the science behind Ant-Man!

Video shifts to a short movie clip and back to Orbax in the lab with an inset of the Ant-Man and Quantum Realm movie poster and text indicating the subtitle of the video: Fictional Science of Antman is based on the real science of Quantum Mechanics

Video switch to a close-up of Orbax wearing goggles and twisting his moustache, then a text bubble over most of the screen, saying, “Define the Quantum Realm….” Switches back to Orbax in the lab.

[Orbax] - So what is the quantum realm?

Cuts to a film clip of Ant-man and then back to Orbax in the lab.

[Orbax] - In the movie Ant-Man, they describe the quantum realm as the space between reality. So what does that even mean?

Orbax is standing at a lab bench with an Ant-Man figure and a tape measure.

[Orbax] - Well, let's talk about the reality of this table. This table is in a specific location. How do I know that? Because I can measure it.

I can see where it is.

I know how far away it is from me.

An animated clip describing Quantum Mechanics with molecules, atoms and their components is shown and then switches back to Orbax in the lab measuring something with the tape measure.

[Orbax] - If I go to a small enough length scale, the act of actually measuring where an object is, affects the object.

[Orbax] -  Now, that doesn't mean that the object isn't there, it just means that I don't know exactly where that object is.

An animated clip describing wavefunctions is shown and then switches to a film clip illustrating the concept and finally switches back to Orbax in the lab.

[Orbax] -  Something called a wavefunction gives me the probability density of where in a region of space an object might be.

When you see images of Ant-Man laid over top of each other fading in and out of existence, that's supposed to be a visual representation of this quantum mechanical realm; this idea that we don't know exactly where he is at any given moment in time.

Video switch to a close-up of Orbax wearing goggles and twisting his moustache, then a text bubble over most of the screen, saying, “Can you actually shrink a person?” Then transitions to a film clip of Ant-man showing a futuristic city and then back to Orbax in the lab. 

[Orbax] -  So the movie Ant-Man, they use these things called Pym particles to shrink Scott Lang down to the size of an ant.

Video switches to a film clip of Ant-Man shrunken, being fired from a gun and then running along the top of the gun, then switches back to Orbax in the lab.

[Orbax] -  So what's the reality of actually shrinking?

Well, the matter that makes us up is composed of molecules and then atoms.

These atoms are mostly empty space.

Animated diagram of a atom is shown, the back to Orbax in the lab

[Orbax] -  If you were to bring up the nucleus of a hydrogen atom to the size of a basketball, the electron that orbits it would be three kilometers away.

That's a lot of empty space!

Video switches to a film clip of Ant-Man enlarged, holding back a transport as it drives down a city street, then transitions to an animated diagram of muons and then switches back to Orbax in the lab.

[Orbax] -  Now, there is a particle that has a lot of the same properties as the electron called a muon, except it's 200 times bigger.

What that means is if you could replace that electron with a muon, it would make the atom 200 times smaller, much more dense and compact and effectively could shrink some kinds of matter.

So when applied to the reality of hydrogen, sure this is a possibility.

But when applied to a human being, I don't think so.

Unreal! Shows across the screen.

Video switches to a close-up of Orbax wearing goggles and twisting his moustache, then a text bubble over most of the screen, saying, “Does quantum entanglement connect you across the universe?” Then transitions to a film clip of Ant-man in the quantum realm and then back to Orbax in the lab. 

[Orbax] - After returning from the quantum realm, Scott Lang receives information from the original Wasp Janet Van Dyne.

Now this is something called quantum entanglement, which Einstein described as "spooky action at a distance".

What does it mean?

Concept animation of quantum entanglement appears on screen and then transitions back to Orbax in the lab.

[Orbax] - Well, if I go back to those wavefunctions I was discussing before and bring two of them into close proximity with each other, they can become entangled.

What this means is that if something affects wavefunction A, then wavefunction B reacts appropriately.

Orbax brings the Ant-man figure and tape measure close together and then pulls them away from eachother. Video switches to an animated description of entanglement and then back to Orbax in the lab.

[Orbax] - Now, I can physically separate these two particles now to the other side of the universe.

When something happens to A, B is still affected, even if they're separated by such a distance that that communication would have to travel faster than the speed of light itself.

Video switches to black and white negative and the voice becomes low and slow. Then switches back to normal with Orbax in the lab.

[Orbax] -  Spooky action at a distance, indeed!

The science in the movie Ant-Man may seem like it's based on something real, and that's because it was.

A quantum physicist by the name of Spyridon Michalakis,

Video clip of Spyridon Michalakis is shown and then switches back to Orbax in the lab.

[Orbax] -  who works at the California Institute of Technology, was brought in as an actual consultant on the film.

And that's why the science is so real and not unreal!

Reel or Unreal logo is shown transitioning into the University of Guelph Logo with tag line Improve Life.