On this day in physics: 19 January 2014- "The first secure quantum computer has been made by combining entanglement, a bizarre property of tiny particles, with the power of apparent randomness.
The technique is similar to quantum cryptography, which guarantees the secrecy of a message sent from one place to another, but in this instance guarantees the privacy of data-processing. It could enable code-breakers, governments or private individuals to harness the power of a quantum server remotely without having to worry that the owner can snoop on their data or calculations." [Source.]
Word of the day: Entanglement- Quantum Entanglement is a phenomenon which occurs when two or more particles are related in such a way that they CANNOT BE DESCRIBED on their own, but rather as an entire system. Example: There is a highly famous paradox regarding entanglement. It's known as the EPR paradox, named after its creators, Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen. They had this idea that if you had a particle which had a spin of zero, which decayed into two separate particles, one would need to have a spin of opposite amount, say 1/2 and -1/2. Both would need to add up to the original particle's spin of zero. Now these particles during the decay would be traveling in opposite directions, existing in a superposition of states, being both 1/2 and -1/2 at the same time, and these particles will not have a definite spin until they are measured. Now imagine that these particles travelled in opposite directions to the end of the known universe. One of the particles, is traveling and waiting for you to measure it, at the end of the universe. When you measure it's spin, the superposition of states collapses, and you find out its state is +1/2. On the other end of the universe, the other particle's state immediately collapses -1/2 spin, and will never change its state. Now, as these particles are entangled, they are related in such a way that when one state collapses, the other does so IMMEDIATELY. This is alarming because there is a speed limit at which information can be transmitted, which is the speed of light, or 3E8 m/s. However, quantum mechanics can experimentally verify this as being the truth of nature. Entangled particles exist, and we are learning to make use of them on small scales to do extraordinarily fast computing.
Killer Resource: 8 Hot Tips to PWN Next Semester! This older blog entry from the website comes equipped with a printable pdf of 8 hot tips to PWN next semester. Something to hang above your bed and think about as you drift off into slumber with dreams of physics dancing in your head.
Keywords: Entanglement, Quantum, Spin, Photons
