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Researchers in Switzerland have teleported, but only electronic data

Physicists from the Zurich Institute of Technology still cannot "transport" objects or people through space - the same mechanism that is sometimes depicted in science fiction movies. At the same time, they did manage to transfer information from one point to another - for the first time ever inside an electronic circuit, similar to a computer chip.

The big chip on which the teleportation experiment was performed. Photo: ETH Institute in Switzerland.
The big chip on which the teleportation experiment was performed. Photo: ETH Institute in Switzerland.

Physicists from the Zurich Institute of Technology still cannot "transport" objects or people through space - the same mechanism that is sometimes depicted in science fiction movies. At the same time, they did manage to transfer information from one point to another - for the first time ever inside an electronic circuit, similar to a computer chip.

Physicists from the Zurich Institute of Technology (ETH) succeeded, for the first time ever, in transferring information in a solid-state system. The researchers did this by using a device similar to an ordinary computer chip. The essential difference between this device and a computer chip lies in the fact that the information is not stored and processed on The basis of the classical laws of physics, but on the basis of the laws of quantum physics. As part of the study, the findings of which were published long ago in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, the researchers were able to transfer information to a distance of about six millimeters from one corner of a chip to its opposite corner. The researchers demonstrated that this can be done without moving The physical object itself, it stores the information inside it, from the transmitting corner to the receiving corner.

"In telecommunication devices, usually, the information is transmitted through electromagnetic pulses; Mobile communication, for example, makes use of microwave pulses, while in optical fiber communication these are optical pulses," explains Andreas Wallraff, professor in the physics department at the institute and the principal researcher. In contrast, quantum transmission does not transfer the subject of the information itself, but only the information. This mechanism is possible thanks to the features of the system based on quantum mechanics, and in particular the effect known as quantum entanglement between the sender and the receiver. For people who are not physicists, this field is a kind of "magical" connection between two parties that take advantage of the laws of quantum physics.

The prerequisite for quantum transfer is the existence of a state of entanglement between the sender and the receiver when both parties can be at different points in space while preserving the common state of entanglement between them. In the current experiment, the physicists inserted a chip of quantum information into their device. Since the two sides are intertwined, this information can be read on the receiving side. "Quantum teleportation is equivalent to what we saw in the movie series "Star Trek" when the crew members and cargo of the ship were transferred from one point to another point in space through an energy beam," notes the lead researcher. "The information does not move from point A to point B. Instead, he emerges at point B while disappearing from point A."

The distance of six millimeters that the researchers achieved in this experiment seems short compared to other teleportation experiments. A year ago, for example, Austrian researchers managed to transmit information over a hundred kilometers. At the same time, this experiment, and experiments similar to it, are significantly different from the one conducted at the German Institute, since they used visible light in an optical system for the transfer. The German researchers, on the other hand, managed to transmit information, for the first time ever, in a system consisting of semiconductor electronic circuits. "This mechanism is fascinating because these circuits are important components in the development of future quantum computers," explains the lead researcher. Another advantage of the new system is that it is very fast and much faster than the teleportation systems developed so far - it is possible to transfer 10,000 quantum bits every second.

In the next step, the researchers plan to increase the distance between the sending point and the receiving point, even from one chip to a second chip further away from it. And in the long term, the goal is to test whether it is possible to implement the transmission of quantum communication over longer distances with the help of electronic circuits that will be more efficient than existing optical systems.

The news about the study

25 תגובות

  1. And if you want some related testimony, there was now a document that was published in the news, but because of the publication ban I won't mention his name in it, and I don't have an army, things were published that are related to the returns and affect human lives (maybe you will call something like that in the news)

  2. With all due respect, I have already seen people rise to life, which is worth more to certain people

  3. For blowing water, you are invited to conduct an experiment in which the information passes in zero time and receive a Nobel Prize.

  4. Zero sigma is possible, because things move, it also puts backwards, and backwards is possible, but again, statistically

  5. Maybe you have a problem with reading comprehension or reading comprehension or maybe you are not connected to reality at all, but nothing can be transferred at zero speed.

  6. Excuse me, but yes, it is possible, in teleportation, to transfer information at zero speed and even faster than that, you start by rambling about relativity and explain physics according to your ramblings, maybe the information is statistical, but it is possible

  7. Information cannot be transmitted at a speed higher than the speed of light and a state cannot be duplicated
    quantum Quantum teleportation dances between the drops. It transfers an existing state between two
    A point when the original state is destroyed but to get the quantum information there is
    The need to transmit information in a classic channel, so that overall the situation is not really duplicated and the information
    It doesn't really go faster than the speed of light.

    Asaf,
    You actually already answered the question you asked yourself. Quantum teleportation is performed
    kilometers away in light. The innovation in the experiment is its execution with electrons and the like
    As we know humanity makes a lot of use of electronic components so the potential
    For the development of a useful device it is larger in electrons.

  8. As with all quantum teleportation experiments, information does not travel faster than the speed of light. The information is "measured" at zero time, but it can only be read retrospectively after the complementary information about the interweaving arrives at normal speed.
    What I didn't understand was the magnitude of the experiment, since there are already devices that perform quantum teleportation for kilometers. What is the advantage of transferring in an electronic component?

  9. Ori:
    vice versa! When it passes instantly - the speed is infinite!
    I remind you that speed is distance divided by time.

  10. It seems that if it is proven that the information has passed, there is no contradiction regarding the limits of the speed of light, because in the state of entanglement there is no dimension of time and therefore the speed is -0.

  11. interested:
    I hope you understood that the quote I brought from the article also solves the problem because in fact - the information was not transferred until the coordination in question was completed

  12. Michael:
    Thank you very much, I am waiting for a reply from you or other people.
    And as far as I know about quantum entanglement, I think they mean the information traveled above the speed of light, but I just want to make sure.

  13. interested:
    This is also what I know and I was bothered by the same question because if it is possible to transfer information at a speed that exceeds the speed of light it is in contradiction to the theory of relativity.
    It may be that the solution to the question lies in the following sentence from the original article:
    The device created by the ETH researchers can deal with this problem. After the information has been teleported from the sender to the receiver, the two parties exchange data about their shared entangled state. In this way the correct information can always be read out in all four possible cases.

    This is because the aforementioned coordination is carried out by normal means.
    In any case, since I wasn't sure about it, I asked a question to two people who are close to the subject:
    One is Pavel Radziblovsky who is one of the coaches of the Israeli physics teams for the physics olympiads,
    The second is Lev Weidman.
    On Tuesday I fly for an 8-day cycling trip abroad and I assume that I will be able to read your answer (if received) only when I return.

  14. Question: When you say teleportation, you mean that the transfer of information was above the speed of light, right?
    If not, what differentiates what happened here from normal information transfer?

  15. The troll Avraimala teaches

    Avraymela Melamed is a troll who constantly changes nicknames because he is afraid that his identity will be revealed.

    He follows me *obsessively* and boggles the mind about what I write.

    There is no need to pay attention to the troll, at most pity the mental disorder he has.

    As for his understanding of some scientific subject, I doubt it. After all, a person who has an understanding of the issues would not waste his time being humiliated as a troll.

  16. Yair

    It is probably a transfer of information that is not by means of normal physics, such as currents and electromagnetic fields. Transmission by means of ordinary physics has limitations: such as overheating of components or the need for tiny wiring that is difficult to manufacture. The information in question is through the measurement of quantum states at the destination point to which the information is sent. If you are worried that you don't know what a "quantum state" is, you can relax, almost no one except great experts knows what it is.

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