Scientists achieve quantum teleportation breakthrough that could prove Einstein wrong
by James Vicent, independent.co.uk -- May 30, 2014
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In a letter written in 1947 Einstein said he could not take quantum mechanics seriously because "physics should represent a reality in time and space, free from spooky actions at a distance."
The team at Delft's experiments show that we're getting better all the time at creating these "spooky actions", but their experiments will have to be duplicated over far greater distances to show that signals between entangled particles occur at the speed of light.
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[Image Source: science1.nasa.gov ]
Here's the Einsteinian critique, very roughly put:
"How in our Newtonian world, can we have a instantaneous game of long-distance Telephone -- without the 'tin cans and strings' -- that is, without the E-M waves (ie. information signals trudging along at the speed of light {c}) ?"
To have information instantaneous "transported" that way -- across the void -- without any 'medium' to do the transporting -- is indeed kind of "spooky."
Knock on wood here, and hear the echoing taps way over there -- is kind of eerie indeed.
Teleportation Is Real and Here's Why it Matters
by Jeffrey Kluger, time.com -- May 30, 2014
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What the Dutch physicists did involved something called quantum entanglement, which Einstein once described as "spooky action at a distance," a term that pretty much describes what it is. Entangled particles are sort of the dysfunctional couples of quantum physics. You know that long-distance relationship you had in college that didn't really work out and every time you and your significant other got on the phone or exchanged an e-mail you wound up getting into a fight and feeling a whole lot lousier than you did five minutes before? That's action at a distance.
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The point is, the Delft researchers proved the principle by isolating target entangled electrons inside two supercooled diamonds placed 10 meters -- or 33 ft. -- apart, creating what one of the physicists described as "miniprisons" for them. They then manipulated their spin rate and determined that the behavior of one indeed continued to determine the spin of the other, and vice versa, even at that distance. Something similar had been achieved before, in 2009, by University of Maryland researchers, but the experiment worked only one out of every 100 million attempts. This one succeeded 100% of the time. Next, the Dutch plan to expand their work -- literally -- trying to see if the quantum entanglement holds at a distance of 1 kilometer, or .62 mi.
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[Image Source: dreamstime.com ]
How in the Newtonian world, can you be long-distantly wired -- without the wires?
Well, there was this quantum entanglement experiment carried out successfully, several years ago -- that demonstrated this "spooky effect" over a distance of 11 miles. Extrapolated out, it broke the Einstein Cosmic Speed Limit {the speed of light} -- by about 10,000 times!
[Image Source: Scientific Frontline -- sflorg.com ]
Quite simply incredible. If it becomes consistently confirmed (as the recent Delft break-through seems poised to do).
Einstein's spooky action acts at 10,000 times the speed of light
by Roger Highfield, Science Editor -- 13 Aug 2008
A spooky effect that could in theory connect particles at the opposite ends of the universe has been measured and found to exert its unsettling influence more than 10,000 times faster than the speed of light.
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Einstein realised that if you separated these atoms, even by a vast distance, they would still be described by the same wave function. In the jargon, they were "entangled", as if their fate was connected in some way.
This may not sound so special: after all, anyone with a cell phone can achieve something similar, talking to someone on the other side of the planet with ease. The difference is that even if entangled particles are separated by billions of light-years, the fate of one instantly affects the fate of all its partners.
Einstein famously dismissed even the theoretical possibility of entanglement as "spooky action-at-a-distance".
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One question: Who's going to hand out the speeding infraction tickets, each time this 186K
Einstein Speed Limit gets broken?
[Image Source: universetoday.com ]
Loophole in Spooky Quantum Entanglement Theory Closed
by Tia Ghose, LiveScience staff writer, livescience.com -- April 17, 2013
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The implications were that individual entangled particles don't exist in a particular state until they are measured, and that, once measured, the particles could somehow communicate their state to each other at a rate faster than the speed of light -- which seemed to violate Einstein's theory of relativity. (Recent research suggests the entangled particles interact at a speed that's 10,000 times faster than the speed of light.)
Scientists Report Finding Reliable Way to Teleport Data
by John Markoff, nytimes.com -- May 29, 2014
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"There is a big race going on between five or six groups to prove Einstein wrong," said Ronald Hanson, a physicist who leads the group at Delft. "There is one very big fish."
[Image Source: AboutAlbertEinstein.com ]
SO, why does it matter if Einstein's Cosmic Speed Limit turns out to be untrue -- subject to loopholes and fine-print? What difference does it make?
Well, it potentially makes the galaxy a lot smaller more reachable -- if there is a Galactic Google that can be down-loaded at the drop of a few photons ... maybe we just need to find the right Cosmic ISP ...
Two ancient worlds found just 13 light-years from Earth
by Deborah Netburn, latimes.com -- June 4, 2014
Scientists have discovered two ancient planets orbiting a strange old star right in our stellar backyard.
One of the newly found planets is perhaps five times the mass of Earth, and astronomers believe it is the right distance from the host star to potentially sustain liquid water on its surface. That means it could be suited for life.
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The two newly found planets orbit Kapteyn's star, a red dwarf star that lies a relatively close 13 light-years away. It is currently the 25th closest star to our planet, although that has and will change over time.
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Kapteyn's star is known as a "halo" star, part of a group of stars that follow a strange orbit through the Milky Way galaxy.
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[Image Source: wikipedia.org -- Mass-energy equivalence, special relativity ]
If Einstein could be wrong about Quantum Entanglement -- what else could he be wrong about? ... perhaps the relative {constraining} nature of his space-time physics itself?
Perhaps, some of his own 'second thoughts' can yield some light on the 'universality' of his own 'deterministic' constructs ...
Einstein Doesn't Play Dice
Spooky Physics, Einstein vs. Bohr, Part II
by Andrea Diem-Lane, Professor of Philosophy at Mt. San Antonio College
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The fact that quantum theory involves a connection between a measuring device and how we can ascertain reality was, for Einstein, fundamentally problematic. In a famous letter to Max Born, dated March 3, 1947, Einstein outlines why:
I cannot make a case for my attitude in physics which you would consider at all reasonable. I admit, of course, that there is a considerable amount of validity in the statistical approach which you were the first to recognize clearly as necessary given the framework of the existing formalism. I cannot seriously believe in it because the theory cannot be reconciled with the idea that physics should represent a reality in time and space, free from spooky actions at a distance. I am, however, not yet firmly convinced that it can really be achieved with a continuous field theory, although I have discovered a possible way of doing this which so far seems quite reasonable. The calculation difficulties are so great that I will be biting the dust long before I myself can be fully convinced of it. But I am quite convinced that someone will eventually come up with a theory whose objects, connected by laws, are not probabilities but considered facts, as used to be taken for granted until quite recently. I cannot, however, base this conviction on logical reasons, but can only produce my little finger as witness, that is, I offer no authority which would be able to command any kind of respect outside of my own hand."
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As Einstein near the end of his life pointed out, "It seems to be clear, therefore, that Born's statistical interpretation of quantum theory is the only possible one. The wave function does not in any way describe a state which could be that of a single system; it relates rather to many systems, to an 'ensemble of systems' in the sense of statistical mechanics."
Or, put another way, in Einstein's own vernacular:
[Image Source: energyquotes.com -- Einstein Quotes ]
"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."
-- Albert Einstein
In other words,
Think differently. Think outside of the box, that they gave you.
Entangled, may be the state of all these complex systems, that we find ourselves, somehow mysteriously bound to.
When we act, they way over there, must react ...
