Quantum Entanglement Captured On Image For The First Time In History

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Scientists have been able to capture an image of a powerful type of quantum entanglement, also known as Bell entanglement. They imaged the visual proof of a subtle phenomenon which Albert Einstein once dubbed ‘spooky action at a distance.’ This is a first-ever capture of the entanglement.

Two particles which engage with each other can sometimes stay connected, instantly exchange their physical states irrelevant on how great the distance which separates them. This link is known as quantum entanglement, and it supports the field of quantum mechanics. Albert Einstein believed quantum mechanics was ‘spooky’ because of the instantaneity of the seemingly remote engaging between two entangled particles, which appeared incompatible with elements of his theory of relativity.

Later on, Sir John Bell institutionalized this idea of nonlocal interaction between a strong form of entanglement portraying this spookiness. Currently, while Bell entanglement is being exploited in practical applications, such as quantum computing and cryptography, it has never been shot in a single photograph.

Quantum Entanglement Captured On Image For The First Time In History

In research published in the journal Science Advances, a team of physicists at the University of Glasgow explain how they managed to capture Einstein’s spookiness in an image for the first time in history. The team developed a system which shots a stream of entangled photons from a quantum source of light at non-conventional objects, put on liquid-crystals materials which alter the phase of the photons as they travel through.

They arranged a super-sensitive camera able of identifying single photons which would only capture an image when it caught the sight of both one photon and its entangled counterpart, creating a visible image of the entanglement of the photons. The paper’s lead author is Dr. Paul-Antoine Moreau of the University of Glasgow’s School of Physics and Astronomy.

The researcher said that the image he and his team captured is a refined demonstration of an essential property of nature, visible for the first time in a picture. The study was titled ‘Imaging Bell-type nonlocal behavior,’​ and it is published in Science Advances.

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