Tag: space and time

The Future of Computing: Towards a Quantum Internet

quantun_internetFor decades, the dream of quantum computing – a system that makes direct use of quantum-mechanical phenomena, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform operations on data- has been just that. Much the same is true of principles that expand on this concept, such as quantum encryption and a quantum internet. But thanks to ongoing studies and experiments by researchers and scientists, that dream may be closer to fruition than ever.

This time the progress comes from a research team out of Professor Nicolas Gisin lab’s in the physics department at the University of Geneva. The team achieved the teleportation of the quantum state of a photon – this time, the photon’s polarization – to a crystal-encased photon more than 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) away. The distance breaks the previous record of 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) set 10 years ago by the same team using the same method.

quantum_crystalThis is the latest in a series of experiments the group, led by physicist Félix Bussières, have conducted over the last decade in an effort to better understand quantum data transfer. In this particular experiment, the researchers stored one photon in a crystal, essentially creating a solid-state memory bank. They sent another photon of a different wavelength 25 km away through optical fiber, whereupon they had it interact with a third photon.

Because the first two photons were entangled – a quantum property whereby particles can speak to each other across an infinite distance – the interaction sent the data to the photo stored in the memory bank, where the team was able to retrieve it. Or as the team explained, using pool balls as an anology:

It is a bit like a game of billiards, with a third photon hitting the first which obliterates both of them. Scientists measure this collision. But the information contained in the third photon is not destroyed – on the contrary it finds its way to the crystal which also contains the second entangled photon.

quantum-entanglement3This is all in keeping with the concept of quantum teleportation – the moving of quantum data from one location to another without having to travel the distance between them. That means that the speed at which data moves isn’t necessarily limited by the constraints of space and time. In that sense, it’s easier to think of this kind of teleporting not as a “beam me up” scenario, but as a kind of instantaneous awareness between two points.

While this may not sound as exciting as Ursula K. Le Guin’s Ansible communicator, the Alcubierre warp drive, or the “Star Trek”-style transporter, it opens up startling possibilities. For instance, in addition to bringing us closer to hard drives that can store quantum bits (aka. qubits), this is a major step in the direction of a quantum internet and encryption- where information is sent around the world instantaneously and is extremely secure.

quantum-teleportation-star-trails-canary-islands-1-640x353This also opens doors for space exploration, where astronauts in space, rovers on Mars, and satellites in deep space will be able to communicate instantly with facilities here on Earth. For non-quantum physicists, the novel aspect of this experiment is that the team achieved teleportation of data across the kind of optic fiber that forms the basis of modern-day telecommunications, which means no major overhaul will be needed to make quantum internet a reality.

As physicists continue to push the boundaries of our understanding about the quantum world, we’re getting closer to translating these kinds of advancements in market applications. Already, quantum computing and quantum encryption are making inroads into the sectors of banking security, medical research and other areas in need of huge computing muscle and super-fast information transfer.

^With the rise of a potential quantum Internet on the horizon, we could see the next jump in communication happen over the next couple of decades. So while we’re a long way off from trying to pry quantum teleportation and entanglement from the grip of the theoretical realm, scientists are making headway, if only a handful of kilometers at a time. But every bit helps, seeing as how routing stations and satellites can connect these distances into a worldwide network.

In fact, research conducted by other labs have not only confirmed that quantum teleportation can reach up to 143 km (89 miles) in distance, but that greater and greater properties can be beamed. This distance is especially crucial since it happens to be close to what lies between the Earth and a satellite in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO). In short, we humans could construct a quantum internet using optic cables or satellites, mirroring the state of telecommunications today.

And when that happens, get ready for an explosion in learning, processing and information, the likes of which has not been seen since the creation of the printing press or the first internet revolution!

Sources: cnet.com, technologyreview.com, nature.com

The Amplituhedron: Quantum Physics Decoded

amplutihedron_spanScientists recently made a major breakthrough that may completely alter our perceptions of quantum physics, and the nature of the universe itself. After many decades of trying to reformulate quantum field theory, scientists at Harvard University discovered of a jewel-like geometric object that they believe will not only simplify quantum science, but even challenge the notion that space and time are fundamental components of reality.

This jewel has been named the “amplituhedron”, and it is radically simplifying how physicists calculate particle interactions. Previously, these Interactions were calculated using quantum field theory – mathematical formulas that were thousands of terms long. Now, these interactions can be described by computing the volume of the corresponding amplituhedron, which yields an equivalent one-term expression.

theory_of_everythingJacob Bourjaily, a theoretical physicist at Harvard University and one of the researchers who developed the new idea, has this to say about the discovery:

The degree of efficiency is mind-boggling. You can easily do, on paper, computations that were infeasible even with a computer before.

This is exciting news, in part because it could help facilitate the search for a Grand Unifying Theory (aka. Theory of Everything) that manages to unify all the fundamental forces of the universe. These forces are electromagnetism, weak nuclear forces, strong nuclear forces, and gravity. Thus far, attempts at resolving these forces have run into infinities and deep paradoxes.

gravityWhereas the field of quantum physics has been able to account for the first three, gravity has remained explainable only in terms of General Relativity (Einstein’s baby). As a result, scientists have been unable to see how the basic forces of the universe interact on a grand scale, and all attempts have resulted in endless infinities and deep paradoxes.

The amplituhedron, or a similar geometric object, could help by removing two deeply rooted principles of physics: locality and unitarity. Locality is the notion that particles can interact only from adjoining positions in space and time, while unitarity holds that the probabilities of all possible outcomes of a quantum mechanical interaction must add up to one.

quantum_field_theoryThe concepts are the central pillars of quantum field theory in its original form, but in certain situations involving gravity, both break down, suggesting neither is a fundamental aspect of nature. As Nima Arkani-Hamed – a professor of physics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. and the lead author of the new work – put it: “Both are hard-wired in the usual way we think about things. Both are suspect.”

In keeping with this idea, the new geometric approach to particle interactions removes locality and unitarity from its starting assumptions. The amplituhedron is not built out of space-time and probabilities; these properties merely arise as consequences of the jewel’s geometry. The usual picture of space and time, and particles moving around in them, is a construct.

Photon_follow8And while the amplituhedron itself does not describe gravity, Arkani-Hamed and his collaborators think there might be a related geometric object that does. Its properties would make it clear why particles appear to exist, and why they appear to move in three dimensions of space and to change over time. This is because, as Bourjaily put it:

[W]e know that ultimately, we need to find a theory that doesn’t have [unitarity and locality]. It’s a starting point to ultimately describing a quantum theory of gravity.

Imagine that. After decades of mind-boggling research and attempts at resolving the theoretical issues, all existence comes down to a small jewel-shaped structure. I imagine the Intelligent Design people will have a field day with this, and I can foresee it making it into the new season of Big Bang Theory as well. Breakthroughs like this always do seem to have a ripple effect…

Source: simonsfoundation.org

News from Space: New Map of the Universe Confirms The Big Bang!

planckAfter 15 months of observing deep space, scientists with the European Space Agency Planck mission have generated a massive heat map of the entire universe.The “heat map”, as its called, looks at the oldest light in the universe and then uses the data to extrapolate the universe’s age, the amount of matter held within, and the rate of its expansion. And as usual, what they’ve found was simultaneously reassuring and startling.

When we look at the universe through a thermal imaging system, what we see is a mottled light show caused by cosmic background radiation. This radiation is essentially the afterglow of the Universe’s birth, and is generally seen to be smooth and uniform. This new map, however, provides a glimpse of the tiny temperature fluctuations that were imprinted on the sky when the Universe was just 370,000 years old.

big_bangSince it takes light so long to travel from one end of the universe to the other, scientists can tell – using red shift and other methods – how old the light is, and hence get a glimpse at what the universe looked like when the light was first emitted. For example, if a galaxy several billion light years away appears to be dwarfish and misshapen by our standards, it’s an indication that this is what galaxies looked like several billion years ago, when they were in the process of formation.

Hence, like archaeologists sifting through sand to find fossil records of what happened in the past, scientists believe this map reveals a sort of fossil imprint left by the state of the universe just 10 nano-nano-nano-nano seconds after the Big Bang. The splotches in the Planck map represent the seeds from which the stars and galaxies formed. As is heat-map tradition, the reds and oranges signify warmer temperatures of the universe, while light and dark blues signify cooler temperatures.universe

The cooler temperatures came about because those were spots where matter was once concentrated, but with the help of gravity, collapsed to form galaxies and stars. Using the map, astronomers discovered that there is more matter clogging up the universe than we previously thought, at around 31.7%, while there’s less dark energy floating around, at around 68.3%. This shift in matter to energy ratio also indicates that the universe is expanding slower than previously though, which requires an update on its estimated age.

All told, the universe is now believed to be a healthy 13.82 billion years old. That wrinkles my brain! And also of interest is the fact that this would appear to confirm the Big Bang Theory. Though widely considered to be scientific canon, there are those who dispute this creation model of the universe and argue more complex ideas, such as the “Steady State Theory” (otherwise known as the “Theory of Continuous Creation”).

24499main_MM_Image_Feature_49_rs4In this scenario, the majority of matter in the universe was not created in a single event, but gradually by several smaller ones. What’s more, the universe will not inevitable contract back in on itself, leading to a “Big Crunch”, but will instead continue to expand until all the stars have either died out or become black holes. As Krzysztof Gorski, a member of the Planck team with JPL, put it:

This is a treasury of scientific data. We are very excited with the results. We find an early universe that is considerably less rigged and more random than other, more complex models. We think they’ll be facing a dead-end.

Martin White, a Planck project scientist with the University of California, Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, explained further. According to White, the map shows how matter scattered throughout the universe with its associated gravity subtly bends and absorbs light, “making it wiggle to and fro.” As he went on to say:

The Planck map shows the impact of all matter back to the edge of the Universe. It’s not just a pretty picture. Our theories on how matter forms and how the Universe formed match spectacularly to this new data.

planck_satThe Planck space probe, which launched in 2009 from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, is a European Space Agency mission with significant contribution from NASA. The two-ton spacecraft gathers the ancient glow of the Universe’s beginning from a vantage more than a million and a half kilometers from Earth. This is not the first map produced by Planck; in 2010, it created an all-sky radiation map which scientists, using supercomputers, removed all interfering background light from to get a clear view at the deep background of the stars.

However, this is the first time any satellite has been able to picture the background radiation of the universe with such high resolution. The variation in light captured by Planck’s instruments was less than 1/100 millionth of a degree, requiring the most sensitive equipment and the contrast. So whereas cosmic radiation has appeared uniform or with only slight variations in the past, scientists are now able to see even the slightest changes, which is intrinsic to their work.planck-attnotated-580x372

So in summary, we have learned that the universe is a little older than previously expected, and that it most certainly was created in a single, chaotic event known as the Big Bang. Far from dispelling the greater mysteries, confirming these theories is really just the tip of the iceberg. There’s still the grandiose mystery of how all the fundamental laws such as gravity, nuclear forces and electromagnetism work together.

Ah, and let’s not forget the question of what transpires beneath the veil of an even horizon (aka. a Black Hole), and whether or not there is such a thing as a gateway in space and time. Finally, there’s the age old question of whether or not intelligent life exists somewhere out there, or life of any kind. But given the infinite number of stars, planets and possibilities that the universe provides, it almost surely does!

And I suppose there’s also that persistent nagging question we all wonder when we look up at the stars. Will we ever be able to get out there and take a closer look? I for one like to think so, and that it’s just a matter of time!

To boldly go!
To boldly go!

Sources: universetoday.com, (2), extremetech.com, bbc.co.uk

Higgs Boson, by Sheldon Cooper!

In honor of the recent news about the discovery of the Higgs Boson, I thought I’d post this funny clip from the Big Bang Theory. In it, Dr. Sheldon Cooper (who I swear is a friend of mine in disguise) tries to use it as the keyword in a game of charades. Not only is this one of my favorite shows around (it speaks to me!), they also manage to sneak in a fair bit of real science from time to time. Heck, if it weren’t for them, I never would have been sent scrambling to my laptop to look up the concept of “Loop Quantum Gravity”.

It almost makes we want to write about real science, unrelated to fiction and literature and such. Articles dedicated to the graviton, neutrinos, Relativity, and the mysteries of space and time. But then again, who has that kind of time, who would want to read it, and most importantly, would I really get any enjoyment out of writing about all that stuff? After all, I’m a geek, not a nerd 🙂

Enjoy!