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Quantum State Created In Largest Object Yet

Posted by samzenpus on from the hoping-each-time-that-his-next-leap-will-be-the-leap-home. dept.

SpuriousLogic writes "A team of researchers have created a 'quantum state' in an object billions of times larger than ever before. From the article: 'Such states, in which an object is effectively in two places at once, have until now only been accomplished with single particles, atoms and molecules. In this experiment, published in the journal Nature, scientists produced a quantum state in an object billions of times larger than previous tests. The team says the result could have significant implications in quantum computing.'"

11 of 265 comments (clear)

  1. so how big is it? by Punto · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't need to be told that it's "billions of times than ever before", or to compare it to the library of congress, I can understand measurements. so how big is the object? 1 nanometer? 1 kilometer? what? the article doesn't seem to say either.

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    Stay tuned for some shock and awe coming right up after this messages!

    1. Re:so how big is it? by SnarfQuest · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "barely visible with the naked eye"

      Sounds like they must have bought one of those "penis enlargement" pills.

      --
      Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
    2. Re:so how big is it? by iris-n · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You miss the point. It is not human observation or heat perturbation that collapses the system, it's information obtainment.

      The point is, if you can "see" the thing, it will not be in a superposition anymore.

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      entropy happens
    3. Re:so how big is it? by iris-n · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Still no, sorry. You have a very romanticized view of quantum mechanics. You don't need photons to "see", that's why I used quotation marks.

      In the Stern-Gerlach experiment, a foundational one, there's only a magnetic field and a silver plate. In the double-slit experiment, only two slits (duh) and photographic paper.

      The photons do not go through all possible paths, and the thing is not in two places at once. The point is that there's no information about it's location (or the photon path). Even assuming that there exists such information would lead to contradictions.

      If you want a simple sentence: it's information that does it.

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      entropy happens
  2. Re:like always by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    it makes me want to cry when i pick up "scientific" journals that print such conjecture and speculation and dare to call it 'science' just because they have applied various tests that use the scientific method to it.

    I think you've missed the point of science.

  3. Re:Screw Quantum computing, I want a TRANSPORTER! by MiniMike · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And then destroy the 'original' and 'send' their assets to the other planet (or your offshore account). Maybe that's Step 2? People who would actually believe Step 1 would probably believe it all the way...

  4. two chicks at the same time by Thud457 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What lack of vision. Just put the girlfriend in the teleporter. Then put her and the copy in the teleporter again. Everybody wins. ?

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    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  5. Re:Screw Quantum computing, I want a TRANSPORTER! by maxwell+demon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I wonder which makes more money, L. Ron, or the pharmaceutical companies. My money is with the pharmaceutical companies.

    That's a sure bet, because L. Ron is dead. Dead people don't make money.

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    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  6. Re:Screw Quantum computing, I want a TRANSPORTER! by The+Mighty+Buzzard · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Tell that to the copyright lobbyists.

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    Violence is like duct tape. If it doesn't solve the problem, you didn't use enough.
  7. Re:Effectively? by pclminion · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The object is not in two places at once. The quantum wavefunction of the object has non-negligible probability in two places at once. This means that the object is equally likely to be found in two different locations.

    The wording of the article is extremely sloppy. Remember that a wavefunction is not the object. The wavefunction is nothing more than a way to calculate the probability of finding the object in a particular place. A better description of where the object is when it is in superposition is "nowhere in particular, until measured, at which point it is highly likely to be found at point A or at point B." But that also goes for more run-of-the-mill quantum states.

    The interesting thing here is not the wavefunction, but the fact that they have achieved a coherent quantum state between about a trillion atoms.

  8. Re:Screw Quantum computing, I want a TRANSPORTER! by Anubis+IV · · Score: 2, Insightful

    How am I supposed to know if I haven't seen it if the name of the movie is in the spoiled text itself? What next, "Spoiler alert: stop now if you don't know that Darth Vader is Luke's father" or "Spoiler alert: stop now if you don't know about the stuff that happens after Aeris dies"?