Science

Scientists capture image of quantum entanglement for the first time

The first ever image of quantum entanglement 
University of Glasgow
The first ever image of quantum entanglement 
University of Glasgow

Quantum entanglement, where two objects become intertwined and remain so no matter the distance that grows between them, is a tricky phenomenon to study let alone photograph. But scientists doing the former have now managed the latter, capturing an image of this strange bond for the first time.

Once described by Albert Einstein as "spooky action at a distance," today we understand quantum entanglement as when a pair of particles that cross paths and interact with each other can become connected and stay that way, even when spaced very far apart. Once intertwined in this way, changes to one particle can immediately shape the other, an odd scientific phenomenon that has been proven through experiments with atoms and molecules, and more recently through entangled objects of even larger scales.

In practical terms, quantum entanglement is a key part of quantum mechanics, which forms the basis for fields such as quantum computing and cryptography, so there is considerable interest in advancing our understanding of it. For scientists at the University of Glasgow, this led them to study a form of quantum entanglement known as Bell entanglement, described by late physicist John Stewart Bell in the 1960s.

The researchers set up an experiment where a stream of entangled photons, or light particles, were fired at "non-conventional objects" atop liquid-crystal materials, which changed the phase of the photons as they passed through. With a super-sensitive camera at the ready, they were able to capture the entanglement in action, the first such photographic evidence of this long-studied scientific enigma.

"The image we've managed to capture is an elegant demonstration of a fundamental property of nature, seen for the very first time in the form of an image," says Dr Paul-Antoine Moreau, lead author of the research paper. "It's an exciting result which could be used to advance the emerging field of quantum computing and lead to new types of imaging."

The research was published in the journal Science Advances.

Source: University of Glasgow via Phys.org

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5 comments
Jose Gros-Aymerich
A shot of a "Quantum entanglement' reminds me a bit a cartoon in the old Spanish magazine: 'La Codorniz': 'By adding common salt to X Rays, we managed imaging the Psyche', and attached, as image of the mind of a politician, an anatomical cut of bladder and male urethra, were the outlet tract was decently covered by an Squid. Salut +
holdenmidfield
Okay, Jose Gros, that's different and surreal. Part Dali and part Bunuel.
amazed W1
Is this why light/electromagnetic radiation travels in beams which neither coalesce nor disintegrate into random quanta(tums?) ?
Nobody
So Yin and Yang have been known since ancient times?
Redcat
A photograph of ... what? Nick, tell us what the photograph represents ... surely you do not want anyone to believe it is a photograph of 'particles' or, heaven forbid, 'objects'.