Quantum teleportation between distant matter qubits

[recursive prophet]

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/01/22/quantum.teleportation.between.distant.matter.qubits

For the first time, scientists have successfully teleported information between two separate atoms in unconnected enclosures a meter apart – a significant milestone in the global quest for practical quantum information processing. Teleportation may be nature's most mysterious form of transport: Quantum information, such as the spin of a particle or the polarization of a photon, is transferred from one place to another, without traveling through any physical medium. It has previously been achieved between photons over very large distances, between photons and ensembles of atoms, and between two nearby atoms through the intermediary action of a third. None of those, however, provides a feasible means of holding and managing quantum information over long distances.

Edited by Gaspode: 

Breach of Rule 4 removed. Please don't copy large sections of text from a copyrighted source. As a guideline, quote a paragraph or two.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Now THAT has some really interesting implications!

Let me go away and think about it. I'll be back in a couple of months.

 

[Shrinker]

Okay now, I really don't understand this stuff, so maybe I shouldn't meddle with it, but I see this claim...

no information pertaining to the original memory actually passes between ion A and ion B

but I also see this..

Depending on which state ion A is found in, the researchers now know precisely what kind of microwave pulse to apply to ion B in order to recover the exact information that had originally been stored in ion A.

So the giddy scientists huddled around A have to tell those huddled around B what the value of A was. The B scientists then prod B with the correct beam, effectively telling it what answer to give. No?

 

[Dancing David]

Okay now, I really don't understand this stuff, so maybe I shouldn't meddle with it, but I see this claim...



but I also see this..



So the giddy scientists huddled around A have to tell those huddled around B what the value of A was. The B scientists then prod B with the correct beam, effectively telling it what answer to give. No?

This is something that shoots a huge hole in the premise. I have to send a reference wave of information to access the wave of information.

Ooops.

I will wait to see what the knowledgable people have to say, I am an egg.

 

[RationalVetMed]

For the first time, scientists have successfully teleported information between two separate atoms in unconnected enclosures a meter apart... etc etc etc."

At last, science catches up with Veterinary Voodoo - we were right all along!

Yuri

 

[DcTurner]

This has been intriguing me for quite some time, and I have a few questions...

1. Is the data transmission instant?

2. How does this affect our ability to send \ receive boolean values, thus creating a quantum processor?

3. Are there any theoretical limits upon the distances that we could transmit data over via entanglement?

I am clueless \ curious.

 

[sol invictus]

This is something that shoots a huge hole in the premise. I have to send a reference wave of information to access the wave of information.

Quantum "teleportation" (a very poor choice of name) is a process by which a quantum state at one location is copied over to another location. It's the quantum analog of copying a file from one computer to another over a network. In this case the file itself copies instantly, but the "reference" information (as you called it) is needed to be able to decode it, and that has to be sent through normal classical means.

This has been intriguing me for quite some time, and I have a few questions...

1. Is the data transmission instant?

Not really. In a (not very literal) sense the state is copied instantly, but no information can be extracted from it until some classical information has been exchanged - and that exchange can't exceed the speed of light.

2. How does this affect our ability to send \ receive boolean values, thus creating a quantum processor?

It's not normal boolean values they want to send, but qubits - quantum states.

3. Are there any theoretical limits upon the distances that we could transmit data over via entanglement?

No - but practically speaking, it's very hard to keep things entangled for long. More or less any interaction with the environment will mess it up (which in a nutshell is why quantum computers are so hard to build).

 

[INRM]

How much storage space can you stuff into one proton, particle, etc?

 

[sol invictus]

How much storage space can you stuff into one proton, particle, etc?

Roughly one qubit (two states) per atom. I've heard of attempts at using three states (a qutrit?), but that's going to be even harder to control.

 

[Denver]

Roughly one qubit (two states) per atom. I've heard of attempts at using three states (a qutrit?), but that's going to be even harder to control.

And harder to pronounce.

 

[69dodge]

So the giddy scientists huddled around A have to tell those huddled around B what the value of A was. The B scientists then prod B with the correct beam, effectively telling it what answer to give. No?

No.

There are two different things which might be called "the value of A". One of them comprises a lot of information; the other only a bit. The scientists huddled around A measure just the bit, and tell it to the scientists near B. Those scientists fiddle with B, and then somehow B ends up possessing all the information that used to belong to A, not just the bit that was measured.

 

[MattusMaximus]

If you're confused about all this quantum "teleportation" (Sol is right, it's a horrible name) business, I would encourage you to first read up on a QM phenomenon called entanglement. Entanglement is at the heart of all of these processes. In addition, here's an image which summarizes the process of quantum entanglement rather nicely.

 

[recursive prophet]

MattusMaximus: Thanks for the image link. Very hard to get my mind around this visually.

Bell’s inequality, entanglement, and especially Retrocausality are topics that have come up indirectly on another thread recently, and drew my interest to this announcement.

I would disagree with those who think ‘teleportation’ was a poor term to use in describing the phenomenon of quantum states copying one another from different locations. True, is isn’t an accurate description from a scientific viewpoint, but it works as a ‘catch phrase’ for the media and general public. The BBC announced this recent paper at the top of world news at least 5 times the day before publication. In the wake of the economic meltdown I imagine we’ll see many similarly misleading but attention grabbing terms, as funding competition increases. Beam me up, Scotty.

Oh, and it is called a ‘qutrit’ when 3 states are stored per atom. http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...serid=10&md5=d9910019364e3f507c3ce666e4ef7236

 

[meow]

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/01/22/quantum.teleportation.between.distant.matter.qubits

For the first time, scientists have successfully teleported information between two separate atoms in unconnected enclosures a meter apart – a significant milestone in the global quest for practical quantum information processing. Teleportation may be nature's most mysterious form of transport: Quantum information, such as the spin of a particle or the polarization of a photon, is transferred from one place to another, without traveling through any physical medium. It has previously been achieved between photons over very large distances, between photons and ensembles of atoms, and between two nearby atoms through the intermediary action of a third. None of those, however, provides a feasible means of holding and managing quantum information over long distances.

thread needs more love.

i love this kind of stuff!

 

[meow]

pretty amazing stuff, huh guys?

why isn't anyone bashing it, afterall it is way out there. and it is seemingly impossible, right?

 

[Rolfe]

At last, science catches up with Veterinary Voodoo - we were right all along!

Yuri

Actually Yuri, I thought of you the minute I saw this thread title.

Collect your coconut on the way out.

Rolfe.