Quantum entanglement is the binding together of two particles or objects, even though they may be far apart – their respective properties are linked in a way that’s not possible under the rules of classical physics.
Einstein described it as “a bizarre phenomenon.”Spooky action from afarIts strangeness is what makes it so fascinating for scientists. A Study of 2021, quantum Entanglement was directly observed and recorded at the macroscopic scale – a scale much bigger than the subatomic particles normally associated with entanglement.
The dimensions involved are still very small from our perspective – the experiments involved two tiny aluminum drums one-fifth the width of a human hair – but in the realm of quantum physics they’re absolutely huge.
“If you examine the position and momentum data of the drums individually, each one simply looks hot.” John Teufel, physicistThe following is an extract from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA, last year.
“But when we take them apart, we see that the random motion of one drum can be seen to be highly correlated with its counterpart, in a way that’s only possible by looking at them together.” quantum entanglement.”
While there’s nothing to say that quantum entanglement can’t happen with macroscopic objects, before this it was thought that the effects weren’t noticeable at larger scales – or perhaps that the macroscopic scale was governed by another set of rules.
Recent research shows that this is not true. The same quantum rules can be observed here as well. Researchers kept the small drum membranes in sync with their positions and speeds by vibrating them with microwave photons.
The drums were then cooled and entangled to prevent interference from outside. The drums’ states are encoded in a reflected electromagnetic field, which works in the same way as radar.
Previous studiesAlthough he had previously reported on macro-quantum entanglement, the 2021 research was more thorough. All necessary measurements were taken rather than inferred and the entanglement generated in a non-random, deterministic way.
In a Related but distinct series of experimentsResearchers who also worked with macroscopic drums (or oscillators), in a quantum entanglement state have demonstrated how it is possible to measure both the position and momentum of both drumheads simultaneously.
“In our work the drumheads exhibit collective quantum motion,” said physicist Laure Mercier de LepinayFrom Aalto University, Finland. “The drums vibrate at opposite phases to each another, so when one is in an ending position of the vibration cycles, the other is also in that position.”
“In this scenario, the quantum uncertainty in the drums’ movements is canceled if both drums are treated together as one quantum-mechanical entity.”
The best part about this headline news story is the way it gets around Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle – the idea that position and momentum can’t be perfectly measured at the same time. This principle states that one measurement can’t be recorded at the same time. It is called quantum back action.
As well as backing up the other study in demonstrating macroscopic quantum entanglement, this particular piece of research uses that entanglement to avoid quantum back action – essentially investigating the line between classical physics (where the Uncertainty Principle applies) and quantum physics (where it now doesn’t appear to).
One of the potential future applications of both sets of findings is in quantum networks – being able to manipulate and entangle objects on a macroscopic scale so that they can power next-generation communication networks.
“Apart form practical applications, these studies address how far into a macroscopic realm experiments may push the observation of clearly quantum phenomena,” write Hoi-Kwan Lau (physicist) and Aashish Court (scientists not involved in the study). A commentary on the research that was published at the time.
Both the FirstThe SecondIn the journal, study was published Science.
This article was first published in May 20,21.