As if Quantum Teleportation Weren't Spooky Enough, Physicists Propose 'Time Teleportation'

Popular Science ^ | 1/18/11 | Clay Dillow

[Nachum]

As if the idea ideas of quantum entanglement and time travel weren’t difficult enough to wrap one’s head around separately, two physicists at the Universtiy of Queensland in Australia have further compounded the headache by merging the two ideas via a new kind of quantum entanglement that links particles not across space, but across time.

Quantum entanglement is that “spooky action” (Einstein’s words, not ours) that links two particles such that a measurement on one immediately influences the state of the other, even if the two particles are separated by miles, or even light years. Entanglement defies the intuitive way we understand the universe to work (as does most of quantum mechanics). The idea of “time teleportation,” as described by S. Jay Olson and Timothy Ralph, doesn’t add clarity but it does introduce some interesting questions about the fundamentals of the universe.

In a sense, everyone and everything is time traveling, moving forward in time at a given rate. What Olson and Ralph propose is that it’s possible to take a shortcut into the future without being present in the interim. How? Tech Review’s KFC explains:

The idea is that a detector acts on a qubit and then generates a classical message describing how this particle can be detected. Then, at some point in the future, another detector at the same position in space, receives this message and carries out the required measurement, thereby reconstructing the qubit.

[GOPJ]

Why can we even see them at all ?

That's a really spooky question. What's your best take?

[UCANSEE2]

What's your best take?

They are really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really bright.

[UCANSEE2]

It all looks blurry to me.

[GOPJ]

Or maybe the universe is small and curved - like looking at telephone poles joyfully coming together at a vanishing point. The illusion of great distance, just a curve of the earth.

[Savage Beast]

The Planck unit theory must be correct. The universe is jiggling, but there’s a limit to how fast it can jiggle.

[The Comedian]

Drink more. Everything becomes crystal clear.

Of course, that creates its own set of questions...

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[The Comedian]

Yup, your evaluation is correct, but there is apparently a margin of error in the Planck unit value which explains the clarity of distant images. Two or three orders of magnitude if I remember correctly. Theoretical physics is somewhat of a long trek into my past...all of which is also within the margin of error...

If I wasn't well into this bottle of wine I'd go look it up, but...

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[The Cajun]

Did they ever figure out if the ‘bird of prey’ was jumping into or out of warp drive when that pic was taken?

[The Comedian]

Depends. Which Universe are you in ?

No way. I like the indeterminate wave form. I'm not going to tell you and have the damned thing collapse on me. In fact, I'm posting this with my eyes closed...

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[dblup]

KFC transports me immediately to the nearest restroom.

[dblup]

Even more ear-catching in the verb form: “He was known to niggard his stash.”

[COBOL2Java]

So, the first order of business will be to go back to 1961 and make sure 8-months pregnant Stanley Ann Dunham gets to Hawaii in time...

[The Comedian]

It's leaving a conventional thruster signature, so it's not going into warp. It's making a standard-space course correction after dropping out of hyperspace.

IMHO.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[The Comedian]

I firmly believe that devices have been built which can transmit data using quantum entanglement (changing spins in digital sequences?) and that the very moment those devices came into existence, certain labs have been privy to communication from the future.

Correct.

For he comes, the human child,
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weirdness than he can understand.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[Savage Beast]

What a splendid combination: theoretical physics and an equally interesting (I suspect) wine!

[The Comedian]

My wife and daughter *bottled* the wine and designed the label. Best Christmas Present Ever.

I can see through time...

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[Savage Beast]

...and space...

[patton]

“Riiiiight. What’s a qubit?”

Let’s see, qubit, cubit...I used to know...

ITS THE LORD, NOAH.

“Riiiiight. Who is this really? Fred, is that you?”

[The Comedian]

...and space..

Same difference.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.