Quantum "Spookiness" Passes Toughest Test Yet

[hunter]

A cunning experiment plugs loopholes in previous demonstrations of quantum "spookiness," a concept that galled Einstein

By Zeeya Merali and Nature magazine August 28, 2015

It’s a bad day both for Albert Einstein and for hackers. The most rigorous test of quantum theory ever carried out has confirmed that the ‘spooky action at a distance’ that the German physicist famously hated — in which manipulating one object instantaneously seems to affect another, far away one — is an inherent part of the quantum world.

The experiment, performed in the Netherlands, could be the final nail in the coffin for models of the atomic world that are more intuitive than standard quantum mechanics, say some physicists. It could also enable quantum engineers to develop a new suite of ultrasecure cryptographic devices.

“From a fundamental point of view, this is truly history-making,” says Nicolas Gisin, a quantum physicist at the University of Geneva in Switzerland.

-- more--

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/quantum-spookiness-passes-toughest-test-yet

This universe is an interesting place.

I hate how researchers always have to mention "practical" uses these days, in this case "Aha, Cryptography!"

"Of what use is a baby?" the cliche often attributed to Franklin when people asked about his electrical experiments, is no longer an acceptable answer.

Researchers often have to "explain" things as if they are talking to some venture capitalist.

[cantbeserious]

1. Fascinating

eom

[mindwalker_i]

2. There's pretty good evidence for this already

In 1998 there was an experiment done where one beam of entangled photons was sent through a double slit to create an interference pattern. The other beam went to a lens and a detector could be placed either at the focal point behind the lens or farther back, at twice the focal length. In the first position, the momentum information, corrosponding to ehich slit the first entangled photon went through, was erased and the interference pattern was measured. With the detector at twice the focal point, the momentum information was preserved and the interference pattern destroyed.

I find it very hard to believe that entanglement doesn't happen given this result. Another component of the experiment was what's called a "coincidence detector" which filters out all except the entangled pairs of photons. Whether that is necessary in order for the experiment to work in principle is an interesting question, but most phycists this it is. Regardless, entanglement happens.

[bananas]

3. What's amazing is how many scientists still believe in determinism. nt

[SoLeftIAmRight]

4. Reality is not only stranger than we imagine...

Reality is stranger than we CAN imagine!

[hunter]

6. The attraction of an experiment like this is that it might turn up something strange...

... a completely new avenue of research.

Determinism is also human nature. Most especially we like to believe the past is fixed and immutable, done and behind us. We'd rather see "spooky action at a distance," some kind of instantaneous "communication" (though not useful for transmitting information), than some sort of tunneling "back through time" to the original creation of the entangled particles.

My own intuition tells me the layman's explanation of time as this funny ratcheted "fourth" dimension is deeply misleading, that it's an artifact of our own biology and perception. Our human perception is entirely biased for the survival imperatives of our sort of biology. We simply don't see in our "reality" or in our human "mind's eye" the aspects of the universe that are irrelevant to our biology. With our tools and our science we've only scratched the surface of what lies beneath. Quantum physics is a strange alien landscape to us and the only handle we can get on it is statistical.

Changing the subject a bit, I think high school math students should focus on statistics before calculus or more advanced geometry and algebra. Every kid who graduates from high school should have a basic familiarity with statistics. In college and beyond those who apply too much calculus to ecology or economics have always irritated me. Calculus is a very effective tool for certain specialized problems, guiding spacecraft between the planets, for example, all those "classical physics" with occasional small adjustments for "noise" and Einsteins relativity (think GPS), but most problems in the "real" world are far, far messier. Mother Nature always messes up ecological experiments in some unexpected way, and human economies are without exception corrupt to some degree.

This "determinism" in science arises from the determinist math. Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz explained a lot of stuff a long time ago, many have expanded upon their work, "on the shoulders of giants," but the universe and life itself is far more complicated.

The universe is big. We are small. We can't change that.

I take great pleasure from my science, and occasionally things I've written in tortured English and software, but much more frequently from the pleasure of my accidental existence in this universe as a mammal of the human sort. One of our family dogs, a member of our family pack, just tried to distract me from this computer with a cold nose to my elbow. That always startles me, but sometimes it brings me back down to earth too.

[Mnemosyne]

5. Einstein definitely wasn't known for his love of the quantum. nt

[FiveGoodMen]

7. "God does not play dice"

But he can sure bluff at poker!

[Mnemosyne]

8. roflmao! nt

[caraher]

9. Researchers need funding

That's why the sell is quantum computing, secure key distribution, etc. That pays for the labs.

When you talk to folks like Gisin and Zeilinger, they're generally also much more interested in the basic physics. But they also know philosophical chin-scratching doesn't buy lasers and nonlinear crystals and detectors...