Fantastic experiments of physics: quantum teleportation
Is it possible to transfer human consciousness from one place to another? Even on a short distance? And if the distance is long? Today, this does not seem like a fairy tale ... Chinese physicists continue a series of unique experiments with quantum teleportation, which is the transfer of the quantum state of a particle over a distance. The entangled photon pairs are used for it: according to quantum mechanics, even when removing such particles from each other, they retain information about the state of their partner. In other words, they are teleporting not physical objects, not energy, but states. Many years ago Albert Einstein called quantum entanglement "an eerie action at a distance". At first glance, this concept defies common sense. Two objects can be located at a great distance from each other, but they retain a "connection" with each other. Measuring the state of one object, we thereby know the state of the somehow associated with it another object, no matter what the distance is. That is, the state of the first object at the time of measurement seeming to pass to the second object, it is figuratively called quantum teleportation. Recently, Chinese scientists for the first time in history realized the quantum teleportation through outer space at a distance of more than 1200 kilometers. The efficiency of information transfer by a new method is 17 orders higher than the parameters of common commercial fiber-optic cables. Especially for the experiment with quantum teleportation, the Chinese last year launched the scientific satellite Micius to the sun-synchronous orbit. Previously, such experiments were conducted only on Earth, and the maximum distance for testing the quantum entanglement was about 100 km. The transmission of photons in a vacuum is more reliable, they are less reactive, interact with surrounding objects and better retain entanglement (connection). The station Ngari with transmitter for the experiment was built in the mountains of Tibet at an altitude of more than 4 thousand meters. It generated 4 thousand of entangled photon pairs per second. Half of them went to the orbital station, and there it was checked whether the quantum entanglement (communication) remained after the transmission. The second half of the photons remained on Earth. Measurements showed that some of the photons on arrival on the satellite did indeed remain entanglement with their earthly "companions". But so far no one has imagined possible to do the same in the water. Now, scientists at the University of Shanghai for the first time successfully carried out this experiment. According to Science Alert, in the new experiment, the information was sent through a reservoir of sea water to a distance of slightly more than 3 meters, but the researchers assure that the same method will work to send messages through the thickness of the liquid at 900 meters. Scientists used the water of the Yellow Sea in the experiment. The pair of entangled photons was created, which were "fired" through the crystal. They were placed on opposite sides of a reservoir of water. The information was transmitted in 98% of cases. Thus, it can be stated that scientists for the first time in history conducted the teleportation of an object from the Earth's surface into orbit. The developers believe that this is an important step towards creating a quantum Internet on a global scale.
