Teleportation, the next generation: Chinese and Canadian scientists closer to a quantum internet: VIDEO
Teleportation, the next generation: Chinese and Canadian scientists closer to a quantum internet
Researchers teleport tiny photon particles across cities in breakthrough that could help future development of a faster, more secure ‘quantum internet’
PUBLISHED : Monday, 19 September, 2016
Chinese and Canadian scientists say they have successfully carried out a form of teleportation across an entire city.
The two teams working independently have teleported near-identical versions of tiny particles called photons through cables across Calgary in Canada and Hefei in Anhui province.
The forms of teleported photons were destroyed in one laboratory and recreated in another more than 8km apart in the two cities through optical fibre.
Similar experiments have been carried out before, but only within the same laboratory.
A physicist not involved in either of the studies said the research was a step forward in the development of a “quantum internet”, a futuristic particle-based information system that could be much more secure than existing forms of digital data.
Quantum networks make eavesdropping almost impossible because the particles used cannot be observed without being altered.
Teleportation, the foundation for such a network, has largely been the realm of science fiction, and other scientists say the research is still a very long way from teleporting people or objects.
Chinese experiment in Hefei, Anhui. Photo: Nature Photonics
But in his commentary on the research in the scientific journal Nature Photonics, French physicist Frederic Grosshans said the two experiments clearly showed that teleportation across metropolitan distances was technologically feasible.
“The two papers demonstrate that the possibility of quantum [internet] networks that span a city are a realistic proposition, which is an exciting vision for the future,” Grosshans said.
Professor Zhang Qiang, one of the leaders of the Chinese team, said: “Maybe in the distant future, materials can be teleported through a fibre or even open space, too.”
The research was carried out by scientists at the University of Science and Technology of China and the University of Calgary and their papers were published in the journal on Monday.
The research concentrates on the behaviour of particles at a subatomic, or quantum level.
Researchers have long known that a photon particle can be split in two and yet the pair are still “entangled”, which means that any change in the state of one immediately affects the other, although how this happens is still unknown.
This, in theory, means it could be possible to transmit information by manipulating entangled photons, but various factors, including fluctuating temperatures, can interfere with the process over longer distances outside the laboratory.
The researchers used sophisticated equipment to counter these and other problems, allowing the Chinese team, led by Professor Pan Jianwei and Professor Zhang, to achieve “full” quantum teleportation of photons over a optical fibre network 12.5km apart.
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