Quantum teleportation is achieved for the first time: Austrian and Chinese scientists teleport ‘quantum states’ from one photon to another after first theorizing about it in the 1990s
- Pioneering experiment will further development of future quantum computers
- The computers will be able to solve problems faster than today’s machines
- It was an important step taken in creating a more secure, ‘quantum internet’
International researchers have successfully teleported ‘quantum states’ from one photon to another, in a pioneering breakthrough that may lead to a more secure way of transmitting data.
The first-time breakthrough came when scientists from the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the University of Vienna, working with quantum physicists from the University of Science and Technology of China, were able to teleport the characteristics, or states, of one photon to a distant other.
The experiment did not involve teleporting actual matter, which remains only possible in science fiction.
However, the successful teleportation is expected to further the development of a future, more secure quantum internet, since scientists will now be able to transport larger amounts of complex information, with less vulnerability to hackers on so-called ‘quantum computers.’
A pioneering experiment teleported ‘quantum states’ from one photon, or light particle, to another (above),
‘This result could help to connect quantum computers with information capacities beyond qubits’, says quantum physicist Anton Zeilinger (above), one of the researchers who worked on the breakthrough experiment
Information in the physical world is delivered by books, televisions, computers and other devices, while tiny units of matter such as photons, or particles of light, take care of the job in the quantum world.
Until now, scientists have only been able to teleport small bits of quantum information, or ‘qubits,’ which can exist in two places at one time.
This is the same way ‘bits’ transmit information in today’s computers, alternating between the numbers 0 and 1.
However, researchers had theorized since the 1990s that quantum teleportation was capable of much more.
Using a ‘multiport beam splitter’ that directs photons through several inputs and outputs, the Austrian and Chinese researchers were able to prove this theory and transported a three-dimensional quantum state, or a ‘quitrit’ of complex data.
‘This result could help to connect quantum computers with information capacities beyond qubits’, says quantum physicist Anton Zeilinger, one of the researchers, in a released statement.
The Chinese scientists said they already have their sights set on ‘multidimensional quantum teleportation.’
‘The basics for the next-generation quantum network systems is built on our foundational research today”, said Chinese researcher Jian-Wei Pan.
The scientists first reported the breakthrough in the journal Physical Review Letters.
‘The basics for the next-generation quantum network systems is built on our foundational research,’ says Chinese researcher Jian-Wei Pan (above)