What Will The Internet Look Like In The Future

# Exploring Quantum Entanglement: A New Frontier in Communication

In recent years, quantum physics has captured the imagination of scientists and enthusiasts alike. Among its most intriguing phenomena is quantum entanglement—a concept so strange that even Albert Einstein referred to it as "spooky action at a distance." Now, Chinese physicists have taken this phenomenon a step further by demonstrating a groundbreaking experiment: transferring information between particles without any physical interaction. This development could potentially pave the way for a future where communication transcends the limitations of classical physics, possibly even reaching across galaxies.

## What is Quantum Entanglement?

Quantum entanglement refers to the phenomenon where two or more particles become linked in such a way that the state of one instantly influences the state of the other, no matter how far apart they are. Imagine two particles as long-lost siblings who have an uncanny connection—whatever happens to one seems to mirror the experiences of the other, even if they're on opposite ends of the universe.

For example, consider photons, which are elementary particles of light. When entangled, their polarizations are correlated. If you measure the polarization of one photon and find it to be vertical, the other photon, no matter how far away, will also have a vertical polarization. This happens instantaneously, defying the classical notion of distance and time.

## A Revolutionary Experiment in Quantum Communication

Traditionally, generating entangled particles involved a physical interaction. For instance, a single photon is directed through a special crystal using a laser, causing it to split into two lower-energy photons. These photons become entangled because their polarizations are related. However, this process requires the initial strong interaction between the photon and the crystal.

But what if we could generate entanglement without such an interaction? That's exactly what Chinese researchers achieved in their experiment. Instead of using a crystal to create entanglement, they placed a quantum object in space and shone lasers past it. The photons from these lasers didn't interact strongly with each other but were influenced by the object in space, leading them to become entangled. This innovative approach opens up new possibilities for creating entangled particles.

## Implications for Quantum Communication

The potential applications of this breakthrough are immense. One such application is the development of a quantum internet—a network that uses quantum information, much like the classical internet uses data packets today. Instead of relying on physical cables or satellites, the quantum internet could leverage entanglement to transmit information instantaneously across vast distances.

Jeff Kimball, a professor at Cal Tech's Institute for Quantum Information and Matter, has been a pioneer in this field. He proposed the concept of a quantum internet as early as 2008. Now, these researchers have taken his vision further by exploring the possibility of creating not just a global network but one that spans galaxies.

Imagine a future where astronauts on Mars or even farther into space could communicate instantly with Earth using a galactic internet. This might sound like something out of science fiction, but it's closer to reality than you might think. By manipulating interactions between particles and leveraging the properties of entanglement, we might one day achieve this ambitious goal.

## The Future of Communication: Galactic or Intergalactic?

While the idea of a galactic or intergalactic internet is still in its infancy, the recent experiment by Chinese physicists brings us closer to making it a reality. By demonstrating that information can be transmitted between entangled particles without physical interaction, they have opened a new chapter in quantum communication.

The implications are profound. A quantum internet could revolutionize fields such as cryptography, enabling ultra-secure communication channels. It could also advance our understanding of the universe by allowing us to probe deeper into the nature of spacetime and information itself.

As we stand on the brink of this new frontier, it's hard not to wonder: will we see a galactic internet in our lifetime? While it might still be a ways off, the progress we're making is nothing short of remarkable. The future of communication—quantum communication—is here, and it's as entangled as ever.

So, what do you think? Could we one day be snapchatting with galaxies far, far away? Let us know in the comments below!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: endid you just change your facebook status to entangled yup what does that even mean means that my life is so correlated with my mother's that she knows what's going on even though we are really far apart and I exchange information directly with her make sense hi everyone crystal and trace here for dnews physics is an exciting frontier for scientists right now some quantum physicists from China just reported the results from a crazy sounding science fiction experiment where they were able to transfer information between two particles without actually exchanging any physical information between them it's basically a form of teleportation wait what let's unpack this idea for a bit so entanglement particles which are like subatomic particles like Higgs boson and graviton or photon which is called them particles in this case they're in a long-distance relationship right so particles are just like people since I live in San Francisco and you're in LA we have to send information in order to interact with each other so let's say that information takes the form of a snapchat measurement of our current state but in the quantum you right okay so in the quantum universe we would be qubits a unit of information like the polarization state of a single photon and normally we wouldn't interact at a distance you'd be spinning your way and I'd be spinning mine and we probably wouldn't know that much about each other unless we were entangled hmm well probability is the key anyway right entangled particles are correlated with each other even if they're separated by distances so instead of me and you spinning as free spirits we're spinning the same and changing my state can change yours right like twins who claim to feel each other's pain even though we're really far apart right sure but the crazy thing about this article is that usually we need to start with one physical interaction to generate that entanglement but these researchers didn't so one of the most reliable ways to generate entangled particles in the past has been to start with a single photon focused on a special crystal using a laser sometimes those single photons split into two lower energy photons whose individual polarizations maintain a relationship with each other because of this relationship we say the two photons are intended but these scientists transmitted information between entangled particles without that initial physical interaction instead of generating entanglement inside a crystal where the photons interact strongly they decided to put a quantum object somewhere out in space and then shine lasers past it the photons from the lasers don't strongly interact with each other but their properties do depend on that object so they get entangled so these researchers basically demonstrated a different way to generate quantum entangled particles right but this is actually so cool because it means that by manipulating these interactions we might be able to create an internet that uses quantum information Jeff Kimball is a professor at Cal Tech's Institute for quantum information in matter and he famously proposed a quantum internet in 2008 but the authors of this paper took the idea a step further and they envisioned a galactic or intergalactic internet which may be possible based on the present scheme so fans of Martian vacations take note that sounds ambitious but if I was stuck on a Mars colony I would totally want to be able to snapchat with other galaxies but let us know what you think will we be creating a galactic internet anytime soon subscribe to dnews let us know in the comments down below and we'll see you laterdid you just change your facebook status to entangled yup what does that even mean means that my life is so correlated with my mother's that she knows what's going on even though we are really far apart and I exchange information directly with her make sense hi everyone crystal and trace here for dnews physics is an exciting frontier for scientists right now some quantum physicists from China just reported the results from a crazy sounding science fiction experiment where they were able to transfer information between two particles without actually exchanging any physical information between them it's basically a form of teleportation wait what let's unpack this idea for a bit so entanglement particles which are like subatomic particles like Higgs boson and graviton or photon which is called them particles in this case they're in a long-distance relationship right so particles are just like people since I live in San Francisco and you're in LA we have to send information in order to interact with each other so let's say that information takes the form of a snapchat measurement of our current state but in the quantum you right okay so in the quantum universe we would be qubits a unit of information like the polarization state of a single photon and normally we wouldn't interact at a distance you'd be spinning your way and I'd be spinning mine and we probably wouldn't know that much about each other unless we were entangled hmm well probability is the key anyway right entangled particles are correlated with each other even if they're separated by distances so instead of me and you spinning as free spirits we're spinning the same and changing my state can change yours right like twins who claim to feel each other's pain even though we're really far apart right sure but the crazy thing about this article is that usually we need to start with one physical interaction to generate that entanglement but these researchers didn't so one of the most reliable ways to generate entangled particles in the past has been to start with a single photon focused on a special crystal using a laser sometimes those single photons split into two lower energy photons whose individual polarizations maintain a relationship with each other because of this relationship we say the two photons are intended but these scientists transmitted information between entangled particles without that initial physical interaction instead of generating entanglement inside a crystal where the photons interact strongly they decided to put a quantum object somewhere out in space and then shine lasers past it the photons from the lasers don't strongly interact with each other but their properties do depend on that object so they get entangled so these researchers basically demonstrated a different way to generate quantum entangled particles right but this is actually so cool because it means that by manipulating these interactions we might be able to create an internet that uses quantum information Jeff Kimball is a professor at Cal Tech's Institute for quantum information in matter and he famously proposed a quantum internet in 2008 but the authors of this paper took the idea a step further and they envisioned a galactic or intergalactic internet which may be possible based on the present scheme so fans of Martian vacations take note that sounds ambitious but if I was stuck on a Mars colony I would totally want to be able to snapchat with other galaxies but let us know what you think will we be creating a galactic internet anytime soon subscribe to dnews let us know in the comments down below and we'll see you later\n"