Schematic diagram of quantum invisible teleportation.
For the first time, a research group has achieved quantum teleportation over long distances of up to 44 kilometers, a significant improvement over the previous record of 6 kilometers achieved by other studies.
This is the result of a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermilab, the University of Calgary and other institutions.
The research “paves the way for a viable quantum Internet,” according to a public release from Fermilab. The quantum Internet allows information stored in quantum bits to be transmitted invisibly over long distances through “quantum entanglement” and has important applications in data storage, precision sensing and quantum computing.
The traditional understanding of “object transfer” is that a physical object appears directly at another location without passing through the path of this physical space, but this is not the case for invisible transfer.
Quantum teleportation is the transfer of quantum state information from one end to the other, achieving synchronization in space and time. Through the phenomenon of quantum entanglement, two particles, located in different spaces, synchronize their states through the force of invisibility.
Theoretically, no matter how far apart the particles are, the internal coded information can be shared by “quantum entanglement”, i.e., passed from one end to the other.
By sharing information within quantum bits, the researchers hope to scale up to a practical quantum Internet, enabling fast transmission of information between quantum computers and storage of quantum information.
Christoph Simon, a professor of physics at the University of Calgary and one of the authors of this study, told Vice Media that information is difficult to transfer over long distances in such a way, and that previous research completed at the University of Calgary only achieved distances of 6 kilometers. “This research is a step toward achieving a scale-up of such systems and toward building larger systems that connect different locations.”
In July, the U.S. Department of Energy unveiled the first subset of blueprints for a quantum Internet, with plans to connect multiple national laboratories located across the United States.
The study was published earlier this month in the journal Physical Review.
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