German scientists recently demonstrated a quantum entanglement using a pair of atoms located in places 33 kilometers or about 20.5 miles from each other. The atoms were connected via fiber optics to measure a new communication speed.
The feature exhibited through the model is regarded as one of the few breakthroughs setting up the age of secure and quick quantum internet.
How Quantum Entanglement Works
Quantum entanglement is known as one of the most mysterious and powerful physical phenomena ever discovered in the history of scientific studies. In this setup, two particles are seemingly linked to each other, and the properties and state of the first mirror the second in real time.
In reverse, altering the conditions of the one also affects the other particle regardless of their position and distance. This activity marks the possibility of what previous experts thought. The experiment further supports the superb ability of information to travel at the speed of light, a function that was improbable even for the most respected scientists such as Albert Einstein.
Contrary to common knowledge, quantum entanglement does exist, and it was already performed in the setup of various physical studies throughout recent decades. One of the advantages of this phenomenon that experts are trying to understand is its strange nature to "teleport" data quicker than technologies available today.
The new study, led by scholars from the Saarland University and the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (LMU), revealed the true potential of quantum entanglement in data transmission over absurdly long distances. Their recent experiment set the record for the fastest communication of two atoms separated between kilometers of fiber optics.
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Record-Breaking Quantum Entanglement Between Two Atoms
The experiment involved two buildings of LMU where the separate atoms were kept. The structures are 700 meters or nearly 2,300 feet apart from each other. The authors used fiber-optic cables that connected the pair of atoms but stretched to 30 kilometers in length, New Atlas reports.
A laser pulse excites both the atoms in their respective locations. Through the cables, the photons intertwined and caused an entanglement, allowing the atoms to become entangled.
The analysis shows that, aside from the successful connection between the added photons, the model marked the first entanglement between two atoms. This process could function as a quantum node by fiber optics. One of the keys the experts used to connect the photons properly is applying wavelengths longer than their usual 780 nanometers expected to be disrupted after running through a few kilometers.
They increased the wavelength of the photons by 1,517 nanometers, which pars with the 1,550 nanometers in traditional fiber optics, for the reduction of losses.
The authors say that this experiment is a peek at the future of the quantum internet, which would have network systems that would be much faster and more secure than what people use today. The study was published in Nature, titled "Entangling single atoms over 33 km telecom fibre."
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