Researchers From Niels Bohr Institute Have Successfully Entangled of Two Different Types of Objects
Physicists from Niels Bohr Institute under University of Copenhagen, first time has been able to successfully entangle two large objects. In their research paper published in Nature Physics, they have explained how they were able to entangle a silicon nitrate membrane which is 13 nanometers thick and of millimeter order long with a cloud of billion cesium atoms.
For the first time
physicists were able to successfully entangle two completely different large
objects at a long distance. The entanglement was achieved by bombardment of
photons coming from the cloud of cesium atoms.
Professor Eugene Polzik,
who led the team of researchers, in a statement said, “With this new technique,
we are on route to pushing the boundaries of the possibilities of entanglement.
The bigger the objects, the further apart they are, the more disparate they
are, the more interesting entanglement becomes from both fundamental and applied
perspectives. With the new result, entanglement between very different objects
has become possible."
Quantum entanglement has
been a mystery to the physicists for more than 100 years, from the beginning of
quantum mechanics. Einstein was one of the first believers of quantum theory
and he was successful in explaining photoelectric effect with the help of quantum
mechanics. But he used to refer the concept of quantum entanglement as spooky
action at a distance.
Two entangled objects no
matter how far they are separated by space, never looses the entanglement. Any
change in any part of the entangled system will immediately be reflected in the
other part of the system.
For example, let us
consider that we have created a pair of entangled atoms. These two atoms will
always remain entangled. Even after a million years from now, if they are
separated by a distance of several light years, then also by measuring the spin
of one atom we can easily predict the spin state of other atom of the entangled pair. A change in
spin state of one atom of the pair will immediately show its effect on the
other one.
Michel Parnik a member from
the team of researchers told, “Quantum mechanics is like a double-edged
sword—it gives us wonderful new technologies, but also limits precision of
measurements which would seem just easy from a classical point of view.”
Please read
Rodrigo A. Thomas et al.
Entanglement between distant macroscopic mechanical and spin systems, Nature
Physics (2020). DOI:
10.1038/s41567-020-1031-5
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