Quantum Teleportation Nears Perfection In New Experiment

For those unfamiliar with quantum teleportation, it is a process in which the information of a quantum particle, called a qubit, is transferred from one location to another.

Now, what is more interesting is that the particle isn’t physically moved from one place to another. This is a mind-bending feat that was first discovered back in 1997. Ever since then, the scientists have done their best to achieve flawless quantum teleportation. With the new experiment, they have come closer than ever before. 

The entire process relies on a connection that is made between quantum particles called entanglement. Unfortunately, real-world quantum teleportation experiments are plagued by noise and disturbances that disrupt the process and reduce the quality of teleportation.

In a recent development, researchers from the University of Turku, Finland, and the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei have achieved a breakthrough by exploiting the noise problem.

They have realized that distributing the entanglement between the particles before the teleportation protocol can create a specific type of noise that improves the quality of the transfer. 

Jyrki Pillo, a professor from the University of Turku explained in the media release, “The work is based on an idea of distributing entanglement — prior to running the teleportation protocol — beyond the used qubits, i.e., exploiting the hybrid entanglement between different physical degrees of freedom”.

In their new approach, scientists have used a different concept called hybrid entanglement. This entanglement combines polarization with frequency, another property of the photons.

Professor Jyrki Piilo explained the importance by saying “This allows for a significant change in how noise influences the protocol. In fact, our discovery reverses the role of noise from being harmful to beneficial for teleportation.”

Before we proceed, some explaining is in order about the connection between the qubits. The entanglement connection between quantum particles for teleportation is achieved through the polarization of photons. 

In essence, the normal entanglement and noise will doom the teleportation protocol. Moreover, without noise and hybrid entanglement, teleportation will also be a failure.

Dr. Olli Soltanen who laid the theoretical groundwork for the study explained that the key is in the combination, “when we have hybrid entanglement and add noise, the teleportation, and quantum state transfer occur in an almost perfect manner.”

Other researchers involved, like Dr. Zhao-Di Liu and Professor Chuan-Feng Li, have highlighted the importance of this work as a “proof-of-principle experiment” for future advancements in quantum teleportation protocols.

“While we have done numerous experiments on different facets of quantum physics with photons in our laboratory, it was very thrilling and rewarding to see this very challenging teleportation experiment successfully completed,” says Dr. Zhao-Di Liu from the University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei. 

Although beaming people across galaxies may still be science fiction, this research is a giant leap for quantum teleportation.

There is a huge possibility that secure and instant quantum communication will become a reality, bringing us closer to the world of Star Trek than ever before.
Going forward, scientists will be able to build upon the discovery, with a bit of luck and a lot of math, perfect quantum teleportation. 

Source: PhysOrg