A major breakthrough has been achieved by Chinese and Canadian scientists as they have managed to conduct a successful experiment in the field of teleportation by teleporting tiny particles across an entire city.
The two independent teams have teleported near-identical version of tiny particles, known as photons, through cables across Hefei, a Chinese province Anhui and Calgry in Canada, reports The Daily Galaxy. In the experiment, scientists destroyed the forms of teleported photons in one laboratory and recreated them in another through an optical fiber. The distance between the two labs was 8 kms.
Associate professor Ben Buchler of the Center for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology said that the achievement was pretty profound as it was completed in a non-ideal environment. Elaborating further, he said that the people knew the method of doing the experiments since the 2000s but until now, it had not been performed in fiber communication network, in cities. He emphasized that it was extremely difficult to do what the scientists have done.
It was known to researchers for a long time that the split of a photon article in two is possible, while the pair still remains together. However, the science behind the phenomenon was not known and continues to be shrouded in mystery.
Still, the experiment is being considered to be a major step ahead as it demonstrates that the possibility of quantum networks, traveling across a city is realistic. It offers an exciting vision for the future of "quantum internet," which is a futuristic information system based on a particle. It is considered to be much more secure than the present forms of digital data.
French physicist Frederic Grosshans has also lauded the feat and said that the experiments prove that teleportation across metropolitan distances is feasible. He also said that in distant future materials can be teleported through a fiber or open space.
It may be mentioned here that teleportation has largely been associated with science fiction and has intrigued people a lot. It involves the transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without changing the physical distance between them.
