Alan Stonebraker/American Physical Society Posted on 12/04/2013 8:21:43 AM PST by Red Badger
Quantum entanglement, a perplexing phenomenon of quantum mechanics that Albert Einstein once referred to as “spooky action at a distance,” could be even spookier than Einstein perceived.
Physicists at the University of Washington and Stony Brook University in New York believe the phenomenon might be intrinsically linked with wormholes, hypothetical features of space-time that in popular science fiction can provide a much-faster-than-light shortcut from one part of the universe to another.
But here’s the catch: One couldn’t actually travel, or even communicate, through these wormholes, said Andreas Karch, a UW physics professor.
Quantum entanglement occurs when a pair or a group of particles interact in ways that dictate that each particle’s behavior is relative to the behavior of the others. In a pair of entangled particles, if one particle is observed to have a specific spin, for example, the other particle observed at the same time will have the opposite spin.
The “spooky” part is that, as past research has confirmed, the relationship holds true no matter how far apart the particles are – across the room or across several galaxies. If the behavior of one particle changes, the behavior of both entangled particles changes simultaneously, no matter how far away they are.
Recent research indicated that the characteristics of a wormhole are the same as if two black holes were entangled, then pulled apart. Even if the black holes were on opposite sides of the universe, the wormhole would connect them.
Black holes, which can be as small as a single atom or many times larger than the sun, exist throughout the universe, but their gravitational pull is so strong that not even light can escape from them.
If two black holes were entangled, Karch said, a person outside the opening of one would not be able to see or communicate with someone just outside the opening of the other.
“The way you can communicate with each other is if you jump into your black hole, then the other person must jump into his black hole, and the interior world would be the same,” he said.
The work demonstrates an equivalence between quantum mechanics, which deals with physical phenomena at very tiny scales, and classical geometry – “two different mathematical machineries to go after the same physical process,” Karch said. The result is a tool scientists can use to develop broader understanding of entangled quantum systems.
“We’ve just followed well-established rules people have known for 15 years and asked ourselves, ‘What is the consequence of quantum entanglement?’”
Karch is a co-author of a paper describing the research, published in November in Physical Review Letters. Kristan Jensen of Stony Brook, a coauthor, did the work while at the University of Victoria, Canada. Funding came from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
For more information, contact Karch at 206-543-8591 or akarch@uw.edu
Alan Stonebraker/American Physical Society
This illustration demonstrates a wormhole connecting two black holes.
The perfect communications method............
Space Ping!.................
Can we send some chimps through it and see if they come back being able to speak and communicate like on Planet of Apes?
Maybe they will build a Spaceship to come back in and give us the cure to HIV.
Apparently they really aren't 'far away' at all.
If two black holes were entangled, Karch said, a person outside the opening of one would not be able to see or communicate with someone just outside the opening of the other.
Wow!...truth is stranger than fiction!
“The way you can communicate with each other is if you jump into your black hole, then the other person must jump into his black hole, and the interior world would be the same,” he said.
Jeez Louise!
Or.... proof that with an almost infinite amount of particles in the Universe, it is possible to find particles that have ‘mirrored’ behavior. One particle doesn’t ‘change’ because the other does. Unless this is just the way that our Universe maintains a balance.
“This illustration demonstrates a wormhole connecting two black holes.”
It looks a lot like a telephone. That is spooky.
Maybe Alexander G. Bell is stuck in space/time and hanging out w/David Bowman.
Yup, communications is what I think when I think of spooky action at a distance.
It would certainly make things easier for deep space communications.
I’d say: You go first.................
...or on earth communications.
Imagine, if you will, two perfectly matched ‘crystals’ set apart by thousands of miles, say one in the US and the other in Timbuktu. Whatever happens to one, the other will react the same. If you can get a data sequence to apply to one then the other will ‘receive’ that same data......................
Yeah!...Sounds like a quick way to oblivion.
There is one theory that ALL particles of the universe are connected in some way, no matter the distance...............
Maybe aliens are trying to communicate with us, but we just don’t have the technology to understand how to do it yet.
Imagine a cellphone in the ancient Roman times. They would have no idea how to use it or what to do with it................
I was thinking how much further advanced alien societies are if they have already mastered this for communication or travel. It would make governments want to keep it secret for sure. It would go way beyond any influence that might have on anything.
If the entangled particles are traveling at the speed of light (photons), time and distance doesn't exists for them in their reference frame, they're still in contact with each other.
They appear separate when *viewed* from our 3 spacial dimensions and 1 temporal dimension reference frame.
Has to be a dimensional (lacking time and distance)/reference frame (viewed from) thing to me.
If entangled particles exist in a 2-D, 1-D or point reference frame, then "Spooky action at a distance" is possible.
Just my way less than 2 cents worth.
No time or distance dimension...
You can on an Obamaphone!
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