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Physicists Discover How To Teleport Energy
MikeChino writes "A physicist at Tohoku University in Japan has figured out how to teleport energy from one point in the universe to another. The technique is based upon prior research that shows it's possible to teleport information from one location to another, and involves making a measurement on each [of] an entangled pair of particles. The measurement on the first particle injects quantum energy into the system, and then by carefully choosing the measurement to do so on the second particle, it is possible to extract the original energy. Heady stuff, but essentially it means that you can inject energy at one point in the universe and extract it from somewhere else without changing the energy of the system as a whole."
How would an experiment like this be interpreted using the consistent histories theory?
For a classic entanglement "teleportation" scenario where a measurement on one particle could cause information to be "teleported" to the state of the other particle, I think the consistent histories interpretation of quantum mechanics says that the second particle was always in the same state until it was measured, and that no information was exchanged.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consistent_histories
On another note, is there a way to test if this is correct?
Are there direct practical applications for this, if it is correct?
Best. Physics quote. Ever.
"He gives the example of a string of entangled ions oscillating back and forth in an electric field trap, a bit like Newton's balls."
Speaking as a Physicist, it seems the title should be " A physicist has posted a preprint in which he claims that "energy can be teleported"
(as opposed to beiing transmitted)." and someone has praised it in a blog post.
The astract says
"Protocols of quantum energy teleportation (QET), while retaining causality and local energy conservation, enable the transportation of energy from a subsystem of a many-body quantum system to a distant subsystem by local operations and classical communication through ground-state entanglement. We prove two energy-entanglement inequalities for a minimal QET model. These relations help us to gain a profound understanding of entanglement itself as a physical resource by relating entanglement to energy as an evident physical resource. "
note "classical communication" (i.e. a telephone call from one place to another) to tell the recipient what to do to extract the energy is needed.
Note that an arxiv post is an assertion by an author, prior to any refereeing. The are only minimal "fences" at arxiv.org to keep out the "Einstein was wrong, I am right" nuts.
Yes, according to the lore they use entangled particles as a form of long range communication. EDI (Tricia Heifer of BSG fame) goes into some detail about how it works, which isn't that different from how the article here describes it.
Bioware deserve points for doing that kind of research into the game.
+1 IDisagreeSoHeMustBeATrollOrAnAstroturferOrAShill
People both here and on the linked blog article seem to be thinking that this "teleportation" talk is all about sending things from one place to another faster than light. That's not the big deal; it's already well-established that that cannot be done, at least not via quantum entanglement.
The breakthrough the article is talking about is moving energy from one place to another "instantly" by means of performing the right pair of measurements on both end; but the communication between ends about what measurements to make still happens at light speed or less.
For example, say I have a bunch of particles here on Earth and my colleagues on Mars have another bunch of particles entangled with mine. Mars is at the moment ten light-minutes away from each. On my end, I perform a measurement on (i.e. I interact with) my particles in a way which raises their energy from X joules to Y joules; I then send a radio transmission (with said transmission using less than Y-X joules) to my colleagues on Mars giving them instructions for what measurements to make on their end, i.e. I transmit information, in normal ways, at the speed of light or less.
Ten minutes later, my colleagues on Mars get my message, perform the measurement, and BAM, the energy of their particles jumps up to Y joules. The most efficient classical alternative for transmitting that (Y-X) joules of energy would be to beam a signal of said energy between the two points, but that requires a clear line of sight between them, or some set of relays capable of carrying that signal, each of which adds inefficiency to the transmission. An even less efficient, even more classical method would be to take whatever the energy is stored in here on Earth and physically move it to its destination, which is both much slower and much less energy-efficient.
With this method, my colleagues could be buried deep underground in a sealed lab with no way of getting anything in or out except for a limited range of radio signals carried by equipment incapable of carrying high-power signals... and still I can "beam" them arbitrary amounts of energy straight into their lab just beaming energy into some particles in my lab and then telling them over the radio what to do in their lab to receive it.
-Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
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