Scientists say ‘Teleportation’ of Quantum Data Has Been Achieved.
Researchers say they’ve successfully beamed quantum information from one terminal to another using teleportation.
[Teleportation, or Teletransportation, is the theoretical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them–a common subject of science fiction literature, film, and television.]
A paper published in Science, says researchers at TU Delft were able to spirit a single qubit across a 3-meter (10ft) gap by leveraging a phenomenon known as quantum entanglement.
“Entanglement is arguably the strangest and most intriguing consequence of the laws of quantum mechanics,” said Professor Ronald Hanson, the project’s lead researcher. “When two particles become entangled, their identities merge: their collective state is precisely determined, but the individual identity of each of the particles has disappeared. The entangled particles behave as one, even when separated by a large distance.”
If you’re a bit startled by the idea of quantum entanglement have no fear, you’re in good company. Even the esteemed Albert Einstein found the idea of quantum entanglement unsettling, stating that it was “spooky action at a distance.”
Using a pair of specially designed, diamond-embedded computer chips the TU Delft team encoded nitrogen atoms locked within the diamonds’ interior to have pre-selected spin characteristics.
With those characteristics in place the team transmitted instructions for the nitrogen atoms to flip their spin. Once the transmission was initiated researchers saw an instantaneous swap of spin characteristics as the two sets of nitrogen atoms fell into sequence with one another and exchanged spin identities.
Although researchers are still unraveling the mysteries of quantum entanglement and its complex mechanics, they believe entanglement could prove useful for high-bandwidth, long distance data transfers. In fact, the team at TU Delft is well on their way to expanding “entangled data transfer” distances and hope to demonstrate a successful 1,300m (4,200ft) spin sway in the near future.
If successful the researchers may be well on their way to refining our understanding and “control” of quantum mechanics, while revolutionizing data transfer protocols. What’s more, they might prove that Einstein’s fear of quantum entanglement was nothing more than folly – and that’s not something that happens very often.
Images and Video Courtesy of TU Delft. Source: Engineering.com
About Quantum:
The dictionary defines Quantum to be the Latin word for amount which, in modern understanding, also means the smallest possible discrete unit of any physical property, such as energy or matter . Quantum came into the latter usage in 1900, when the physicist Max Planck used it in a presentation to the German Physical Society.
Planck had sought to discover the reason that radiation from a glowing body changes in color from red, to orange, and, finally, to blue as its temperature rises. He found that by making the assumption that radiation existed in discrete units in the same way that matter does, rather than just as a constant electromagnetic wave, as had been formerly assumed, and was therefore quantifiable, he could find the answer to his question.
Planck wrote a mathematical equation involving a figure to represent individual units of energy. He called the units quanta . Planck assumed there was a theory yet to emerge from the discovery of quanta, but in fact, their very existence defined a completely new and fundamental law of nature.
Einstein’s theory of relativity and quantum theory , together, explain the nature and behavior of all matter and energy on earth and form the basis for modern physics. However, conflicts remain between the two. For much of his life, Einstein sought what he called a unified field theory — one would reconcile the theories’ incompatibilities. Subsequently, Superstring Theory and M-theory have been proposed as candidates to fill that role.
