Quantum Entanglement Explained - How does it really work?

Arvin Ash
30 Jul 202117:07

Summary

TLDRThe script delves into the perplexing world of quantum mechanics, focusing on entanglement—a phenomenon where particles become interconnected, affecting each other instantaneously regardless of distance. It clarifies misconceptions, such as Einstein's 'spooky action at a distance,' and highlights entanglement's role in emerging technologies like quantum computing and cryptography. The explanation uses analogies and touches on the EPR paradox and Bell's theorem, showing quantum mechanics' triumph over hidden variables, and hints at entanglement's deeper implications for our understanding of space and nonlocality.

Takeaways

  • 🌌 Quantum mechanics involves phenomena like wave-particle duality, superposition, the uncertainty principle, and entanglement, which challenge our everyday understanding of the universe.
  • 🔗 Entanglement is often misunderstood as 'spooky action at a distance,' but it is actually a complex quantum correlation between particles that cannot be easily explained by classical physics.
  • 🤔 The concept of entanglement was initially thought to imply incompleteness in quantum mechanics, as proposed by Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR), who suggested the existence of 'hidden variables'.
  • 🧪 The double-slit experiment provides evidence for the superposition principle, showing that particles can behave like waves and be in multiple states until measured.
  • 🔬 John Bell's theorem and subsequent experiments, such as those by Clauser and Freedman, demonstrated that quantum mechanics predicts stronger correlations than any local hidden variable theory, supporting the non-locality of quantum mechanics.
  • 👥 Entanglement is created when particles interact in a way that their states become linked, resulting in a single wave function that describes both particles, making their properties interdependent.
  • 🔄 Entangled particles cannot be considered as separate objects; they are parts of a single system described by a joint wave function, which is why their properties are nonlocal and interdependent.
  • 🚀 Quantum entanglement is a foundational aspect of quantum computing, where entangled quantum bits (qubits) can perform calculations much faster than classical computers.
  • 🔒 Entanglement is used in quantum cryptography to create secure communication channels, as any attempt to intercept or measure entangled particles would be detectable.
  • 🌐 The nonlocality inherent in quantum entanglement challenges our classical understanding of space and suggests that space might emerge from the quantum entanglements that connect objects.

Q & A

  • What is quantum mechanics?

    -Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that describes the behavior of matter and energy at the quantum scale, where classical physics no longer applies. It includes phenomena such as wave-particle duality, superposition, the uncertainty principle, and entanglement.

  • What is wave-particle duality?

    -Wave-particle duality is a concept in quantum mechanics where quantum objects, like electrons, exhibit both wave-like and particle-like properties. They can sometimes behave like compact particles and at other times like spread-out waves.

  • What does superposition mean in quantum mechanics?

    -Superposition is a principle in quantum mechanics where a quantum system can exist in multiple states simultaneously until it is measured. For example, a particle can be in a state of being both 'up' and 'down' until an observation is made.

  • What is the uncertainty principle?

    -The uncertainty principle, formulated by Werner Heisenberg, states that it is impossible to simultaneously know both the exact position and momentum of a quantum object. The more precisely one property is measured, the less precisely the other can be known.

  • What is entanglement in quantum mechanics?

    -Entanglement is a quantum phenomenon where two or more particles become linked in such a way that the state of one particle is immediately connected to the state of the other, regardless of the distance between them. This connection affects their properties and measurements.

  • How did Albert Einstein describe entanglement?

    -Albert Einstein famously described entanglement as 'spooky action at a distance,' suggesting that the instantaneous effect observed in entangled particles seemed to defy the limitations of space and time.

  • What is the significance of entanglement in modern technology?

    -Entanglement is a key component in emerging technologies such as quantum computing and quantum cryptography. Quantum computers can perform complex calculations much faster than classical computers, and quantum cryptography can provide secure communication channels that are nearly impossible to intercept.

  • What is the difference between the analogy of gloves and entangled particles?

    -While gloves have a predetermined handedness (right or left), entangled particles do not have a predetermined state until measured. The gloves' handedness is known from the start, unlike the spins of entangled particles, which are only determined at the moment of measurement.

  • What was the EPR paradox and its significance?

    -The EPR paradox, named after Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen, was a thought experiment that challenged the completeness of quantum mechanics. They suggested that there must be 'hidden variables' that determine the properties of quantum objects, contrary to the indeterminacy implied by quantum mechanics. This led to debates about the nature of reality at the quantum level.

  • What did John Bell's experiments show about entanglement?

    -John Bell's experiments, known as Bell tests, demonstrated that the correlations between entangled particles were stronger than any classical 'hidden variable' theory could explain. This supported the quantum mechanical view that properties of quantum objects are not predetermined but are determined by the act of measurement.

  • How does entanglement relate to the concept of nonlocality in quantum mechanics?

    -Nonlocality in quantum mechanics refers to the phenomenon where the properties of entangled particles are interdependent, regardless of the distance between them. This challenges the classical view of locality, suggesting that quantum objects are not separate but are interconnected through their shared wave function.

  • Why can't entanglement be used for faster-than-light communication?

    -While entangled particles are instantaneously connected, the information about their states cannot be used for faster-than-light communication. This is because the outcome of a measurement on one particle appears random until it is compared with the measurement on the other particle, which requires conventional communication methods.

  • What is the role of entanglement in quantum computing?

    -Entanglement is crucial in quantum computing as it allows quantum bits (qubits) to be in multiple states simultaneously, enabling quantum computers to perform many calculations at once. This parallelism gives quantum computers their potential for vastly superior computational power compared to classical computers.

Outlines

00:00

🌌 Quantum Mechanics and Entanglement

This paragraph delves into the peculiarities of quantum mechanics, highlighting phenomena such as wave-particle duality, superposition, and the uncertainty principle. The focus, however, is on entanglement, which Einstein famously dubbed 'spooky action at a distance.' The explanation clarifies that entanglement is not about instantaneous action but rather a complex correlation between entangled particles. The analogy of a married couple, Alice and Bob, is used to illustrate how changes in one affect the other, but the quantum version is more profound due to the inherent properties of particles like electrons and their spins. The concept of superposition is introduced, where a particle's state is not determined until measured, challenging our classical understanding of reality.

05:02

🔬 The EPR Paradox and Bell's Theorem

The second paragraph explores the EPR paradox, a thought experiment devised by Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen to challenge the completeness of quantum mechanics. They suggested that the instantaneous effects observed in entangled particles implied 'spooky action at a distance,' contradicting the speed limit set by relativity. This led to the proposal of hidden variables that would predetermine particle properties. However, Niels Bohr argued against this, asserting that quantum mechanics was complete as it was. The debate was eventually settled by John Bell, who formulated inequalities that could test the presence of hidden variables. Experiments by Clauser and Freedman confirmed that quantum mechanics was correct, and no hidden variables existed, thus validating the non-local nature of entanglement.

10:02

🌐 Entanglement and Nonlocality

This paragraph further explains the concept of entanglement, emphasizing that entangled particles are not separate but parts of a single entity described by a unified wave function. This nonlocality implies that the properties of entangled particles are interdependent, regardless of the distance between them. The traditional understanding of space and locality is challenged, suggesting that quantum entanglement might be more fundamental than space itself. The paragraph also addresses the misconception of using entanglement for faster-than-light communication, clarifying that while the effects of measurements are instantaneous, the information about these measurements still needs to be transmitted conventionally, thus not violating the speed of light limit.

15:07

💡 Applications of Quantum Entanglement

The final paragraph discusses the practical applications of quantum entanglement, particularly in the realms of quantum computing and secure communication. It mentions that entangled photons can be used to create tamper-proof encryption for sensitive data, leveraging the inherent properties of entanglement to ensure security. Quantum computers are highlighted as powerful tools capable of performing complex calculations much faster than traditional supercomputers. The paragraph also promotes a course on quantum computing, encouraging viewers to explore this field further and offering a discount for early subscribers, thus providing a practical avenue for those interested in delving deeper into quantum mechanics.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that describes the behavior of matter and energy at the smallest scales. It is the basis for understanding phenomena like wave-particle duality, superposition, and entanglement. In the video, quantum mechanics is presented as a field that challenges our everyday intuitions and classical understanding of the universe, with entanglement being a key concept that distinguishes it from classical physics.

💡Wave-particle duality

Wave-particle duality is a concept in quantum mechanics where particles such as electrons exhibit both wave-like and particle-like properties. The video uses this concept to illustrate how quantum objects can sometimes appear as compact particles and at other times as spread-out waves, emphasizing the dual nature of quantum entities.

💡Superposition

Superposition is a principle in quantum mechanics where a particle exists in all possible states simultaneously until it is measured. The video explains this by saying that quantum objects seem to be two things at once, highlighting the counterintuitive nature of quantum phenomena.

💡Uncertainty principle

The uncertainty principle, formulated by Werner Heisenberg, states that it is impossible to simultaneously know both the position and momentum of a particle with absolute precision. The video mentions this principle to underscore the inherent limits in our ability to know every detail of a quantum object.

💡Entanglement

Entanglement is a phenomenon in quantum mechanics where two or more particles become linked in such a way that the state of one particle is immediately connected to the state of the other, regardless of the distance between them. The video emphasizes entanglement as a central feature of quantum mechanics that is crucial for new technologies like quantum computing and quantum cryptography.

💡Spooky action at a distance

This term, famously used by Albert Einstein, refers to the seemingly instantaneous influence one entangled particle has on another, no matter the distance. The video clarifies that entanglement is not 'spooky action at a distance' as Einstein suggested, but rather a complex correlation that is difficult to describe with everyday language.

💡Quantum computers

Quantum computers are advanced computational devices that use the principles of quantum mechanics, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform operations on data. The video mentions that entanglement is a key ingredient in these powerful machines, which have the potential to solve problems that are intractable for classical computers.

💡Quantum cryptography

Quantum cryptography is a method of encoding data in a way that is theoretically secure against any form of interception or eavesdropping. The video explains that the use of entangled particles in quantum cryptography ensures that any attempt to intercept the data would be detectable, making it a secure method of communication.

💡EPR paradox

The EPR paradox, named after Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen, is a thought experiment that challenges the completeness of quantum mechanics by suggesting the existence of 'hidden variables' that determine the properties of quantum objects. The video discusses how the EPR paradox led to debates about the nature of reality in quantum mechanics and was later tested by John Bell's inequalities.

💡Bell's inequality

Bell's inequality is a mathematical inequality that, when violated, indicates that no local hidden variable theory can reproduce all the predictions of quantum mechanics. The video explains that experiments based on Bell's inequality have shown that quantum mechanics is correct and that there are no hidden variables, supporting the reality of entanglement.

💡Nonlocality

Nonlocality in quantum mechanics refers to the property that objects can be instantaneously connected, regardless of the distance between them, as seen in entanglement. The video discusses how nonlocality challenges our classical understanding of space and suggests that entanglement might be more fundamental than space itself.

Highlights

Quantum mechanics involves phenomena like wave-particle duality, superposition, the uncertainty principle, and entanglement which challenge classical thinking.

Entanglement is incorrectly described as 'spooky action at a distance', but it's actually a difficult-to-describe phenomenon that is central to quantum mechanics.

Entanglement is crucial for emerging technologies like quantum computers and quantum cryptography.

Entangled particles, like electrons with opposite spins, exhibit correlations that are not predetermined but determined at the moment of measurement.

The double-slit experiment provides evidence for the superposition principle, showing particles act like waves until measured.

Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR) proposed an experiment to show quantum mechanics might be incomplete, suggesting 'hidden variables' could determine particle properties.

Niels Bohr disagreed with EPR, arguing that quantum mechanics is complete and entanglement's strange correlations are an accepted reality.

John Bell developed inequalities to test for the existence of hidden variables, which were later实验ally confirmed to support Bohr's view over EPR's.

Entanglement occurs when particles are created together or interact, resulting in a joint superposition that links their properties.

Entangled particles are not separate but parts of a single object described by a unified wave function, leading to their interdependent properties.

Quantum nonlocality implies an instantaneous connection between entangled particles regardless of distance, challenging our concept of space.

Entanglement cannot be used for faster-than-light communication as the correlation between particles requires classical communication to be meaningful.

Quantum entanglement enables uncrackable data encryption through quantum cryptography, ensuring secure communication.

Quantum computers utilize entanglement to perform complex calculations much faster than traditional computers, promising significant advancements in various fields.

The course on Brilliant about quantum computing provides an interactive learning experience covering fundamentals to advanced quantum algorithm creation.

A special offer for Arvin Ash viewers on Brilliant provides a 20% discount, encouraging viewers to explore quantum computing.

Transcripts

play00:00

Quantum mechanics sometimes looks like an assorted mix of weird stuff. There’s wave-particle duality,  

play00:06

where quantum objects sometimes look like  little compact particles and sometimes like  

play00:10

spread-out waves. There’s superposition, where  the objects seem to be two things at once.  

play00:16

There’s the uncertainty principle, which says the universe seems to conspire to stop us from knowing  

play00:22

every detail of a quantum object. And then there’s entanglement.  

play00:26

Albert Einstein famously described this  as “spooky action at a distance,” where  

play00:32

doing something to one of a pair of entangled  particles seems to instantly affect the properties  

play00:37

of the other, no matter how far away it is. Now, the truth is that none of these descriptions  

play00:43

of quantum phenomena is quite right. They’re all  really just efforts to use our everyday language  

play00:49

to talk about things that can’t quite be described by it. That’s especially true of entanglement,  

play00:55

which is not spooky action at a distance,  at all. It’s something that is difficult  

play01:00

to describe with our everyday intuitions. But its worth trying to understand it because  

play01:06

as Erwin Schrodinger said, it is, “…the  characteristic trait of quantum mechanics  

play01:11

that enforces its entire departure  from classical lines of thought” 

play01:16

In addition, entanglement is the key ingredient of the newfangled technologies we keep hearing  

play01:22

more and more about: super-powerful  quantum computers and uncrackable data  

play01:27

encoding using quantum cryptography. It’s  about to become very real for everyone. 

play01:33

So what the heck is entanglement? I think  that with a few illustrations and animations,  

play01:39

we may yet be able to understand it a little  bit better. And that’s coming up right now… 

play01:51

Entanglement sounds sort of like entangled pairs  of people. If Alice and Bob get married – they  

play01:57

literally become entangled by tying the  knot. Suppose then that Bob tragically  

play02:03

dies. Alice goes from being a wife to a widow.  What happens to Bob changes Alice’s status too. 

play02:11

But what entanglement means for quantum particles is a lot stranger than this. Here’s why: 

play02:17

Imagine the particles are electrons, which have  a quantum property called spin that makes them  

play02:22

act like little magnets. If we measure this spin  for an electron, we’ll always find it pointing  

play02:28

in just one direction or the opposite: up or  down, say. Now, we can imagine entangling two  

play02:34

electrons so that their spins are always pointing  in opposite directions. If electron 1 has spin up,  

play02:41

electron 2 must have spin down, and vice  versa. The two spins are said to be correlated.  

play02:49

They are like a pair of gloves – if one is  right-handed, the other must be left-handed. 

play02:54

So now let’s say we entangle the two electrons in  this way, and fire them in opposite directions.  

play03:00

We don’t know which of the pair is up and which one is down until we make a measurement.  

play03:06

If we find that electron 1 is spin up. We  know the spin of electron 2 must be down. 

play03:13

This is not remarkable because we could  do the same thing with the gloves.  

play03:17

We could put one in a package and send it to  Alice, and the other to Bob. The moment Alice  

play03:24

opens her package and finds the right-hand glove,  she knows Bob must have the left-hand glove.  

play03:30

The handedness of the gloves, like the  spins of the electrons, is correlated. 

play03:35

But there is a crucial difference in this analogy.  The handedness of the gloves in the package  

play03:41

was the same from the start. It never changed.  It was always the right-hand glove that got sent  

play03:47

to Alice. If someone had intercepted the parcel  before Alice got it, that person would have seen  

play03:54

that it was the right handed glove. With entangled particles  

play03:57

that’s not the case. Remember, all we did at  the outset was ensure that the entanglement  

play04:04

made them correlated so that their spins point in  opposite directions. We didn’t specify whether the  

play04:10

spin-up electron is number 1 or number 2. You  might think, well OK, but it’s obviously one  

play04:16

or the other – it’s just that we didn’t know  which was which until we measured one of them. 

play04:22

Well, that’s not quite so.  Say we set up an electron  

play04:26

so that it could have either spin up or spin down when we measure it. That’s called a superposition.  

play04:32

Then, the electron’s spin orientation simply  isn’t determined until the measurement is made.  

play04:39

It’s not just that we don’t know it yet – there  is no definite answer one way or the other. 

play04:46

How do we know superposition is real and not  just an illusion due to our ignorance? Well, one  

play04:51

experimental clue comes from the double  slit experiment. This experiment shows  

play04:57

that a particle is indeed spread out like  a wave that can be in many locations,  

play05:02

prior to measurement. But after measurement,  the particle becomes distinct and localized. 

play05:07

This phenomenon is weird enough just for a  single particle. But with entangled particles  

play05:12

it’s even weirder, because it then seems that  a measurement on one particle determines the  

play05:18

outcome not just for that particle, but for  both of them. When we only measured electron 1,  

play05:26

the measurement not only forced the universe to  choose between spin up and spin down for that  

play05:32

particle – it also forced the opposite choice  for electron 2, because of their correlation. 

play05:39

Albert Einstein thought up an experiment like  this in 1935, in collaboration with two younger  

play05:45

scientists, Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen. They  are referred to as EPR for short by combining the  

play05:52

first letters of their last names. They didn’t  do it to show how weird quantum mechanics is.  

play05:56

They did it to show that quantum mechanics  could be incomplete. 

play06:00

In this experiment it looks as though, by  making a measurement on particle 1, we’re  

play06:06

triggering some effect that influences the spin  of particle 2. And according to quantum mechanics,  

play06:12

this happens instantaneously: it takes no time  for the effect to be felt by the other particle.  

play06:19

But that’s impossible because Einstein’s  theory of special relativity, devised 20  

play06:23

years earlier, said that no influence can be  transmitted faster than the speed of light.  

play06:28

It was as if, as Einstein said, there was some  

play06:31

impossible spooky action at a distance that passed instantly between particle 1 and particle 2. 

play06:38

Because of this, EPR reasoned that the  whole idea of properties of quantum objects  

play06:44

remaining undetermined until one measures them, didn’t make sense. They figured that there must be  

play06:51

something – what Einstein called hidden  variables – that fixes the orientations  

play06:56

of the spins all along. And that we couldn't  actually measure these variables to find out the  

play07:01

orientations of the spins. That’s why they are  hidden. But they must exist, according to EPR. 

play07:07

So the phenomenon they had discovered,  which became known as entanglement,  

play07:11

seemed to blow a hole in the logic of quantum  mechanics. But others, like Danish physicist  

play07:17

Niels Bohr, said that Einstein was just wrong.  Bohr said there were no hidden variables,  

play07:23

and the fact that entanglement seemed to create  these weird correlations between particles was  

play07:29

just something we had to accept as reality. There was no obvious way to tell who was right.  

play07:34

Scientists remained divided. It was no good  just doing the experiment that EPR had proposed  

play07:39

because simply measuring the spins wouldn't tell  you if those spins had been fixed all along,  

play07:45

like EPR thought, or whether they snapped  into place after measurement, as Bohr thought. 

play07:50

It wasn’t until almost 30 years later, in 1964,  that Irish physicist John Bell figured out how to  

play07:58

set up a clever experiment to determine who was  right. It involved running the experiment again  

play08:04

and again on pairs of entangled particles  while the experimenters themselves – Alice  

play08:09

and Bob – change exactly how they made those measurement each time. Then you look at how  

play08:15

strong the correlation is between the outcomes of measurement as those changes are being made. 

play08:21

Bell proved that quantum mechanics predicted  stronger statistical correlations in the  

play08:28

outcomes of these measurements than any  hidden variable theory possibly could.  

play08:33

I made a video about how Bell’s inequality works if you want to learn more about this.

play08:37

Suffice it to say that when Bell’s experiment  was first done in a lab in the 1970s by  

play08:43

physicists John Clauser and Stuart Freedman  at the University of California Berkeley,  

play08:48

it showed that there was no sign of hidden  variables, and that indeed, outcomes are  

play08:53

determined only by the act of measurement itself.  And in the ensuing years, this aspect of quantum  

play09:00

mechanics has proven to be correct over and  over again. Bohr was right, and EPR were wrong.

play09:07

Now you might be thinking how exactly do you  entangle two quantum objects to begin with?  

play09:12

The simplest way to make these is to entangle  them from birth – like twins you could say.  

play09:19

Typically, researchers make the pair  of photons in a single quantum jump,  

play09:24

for example when an atom that has been given some extra energy sheds it by emitting two photons at  

play09:31

once. There are clever ways of doing this with lasers, which is how Freedman and Clauser did it. 

play09:36

But there are other ways of creating entanglement,  between objects like atoms or electrons. The  

play09:40

simplest way is to simply bring the particles together and let them interact. If you arrange for one  

play09:45

particle to affect the final state of a second  particle, then, when you put the first particle  

play09:50

in a quantum superposition, the pair of particles  can end up in a joint superposition – an entangled  

play09:56

pair. That’s really what entanglement is: a  quantum superposition of more than one object. 

play10:02

So do Bell tests mean that Einstein’s  spooky action at a distance is real?  

play10:07

You might hear that claim, but it's not right. EPR  were thinking about entanglement the wrong way. 

play10:14

That’s not surprising, because what they were  assuming was just common sense – so much so that  

play10:19

they didn’t even realize it was an assumption.  They were thinking of the two particles as  

play10:23

separate objects. And why wouldn’t they? After  all, they are sent flying in opposite directions  

play10:28

in space. And in principle you can wait until they are many light years apart before measuring them. 

play10:34

But once objects are entangled, they’re  not separate. They are, in a sense,  

play10:40

two parts of a single object. Here’s  what that means. In quantum mechanics,  

play10:44

objects are described by wave functions:  mathematical expressions that encapsulate  

play10:51

all that can be said about the object. This  wave function can be spread out in space. This  

play10:56

is why particles can act as if they are waves. Yet if we entangle two particles, they are then  

play11:02

described by a single wave function. And  since two entangled objects are being  

play11:08

described by the same wave function, they  are mathematically speaking the same object. 

play11:13

That’s really what entanglement means,  and it’s why the particles’ properties  

play11:18

are then interdependent. If you do something  to one of the particles, such as measure it,  

play11:23

you change the wave function and so you  alter the other particle too, since it  

play11:28

is also described by the same wave function. Now, the question you might ask is: How can two

play11:33

initially separate particles, by interacting, somehow combine their two wave functions into one?  

play11:40

It really comes down to the math. Before the particles interact, we can separate  

play11:45

the wave function of the whole system of both particles into a part that describes particle 1  

play11:52

and a part that describes particle 2. But after  they’ve interacted, that’s no longer true.  

play11:56

We can’t point to any part of the total wave  function and say, that bit is particle 1,  

play12:02

and the other bit is particle 2. This mixing up happens for almost any kind of interaction between them. 

play12:08

So once two particles are entangled, we can’t say  anything about one of them without considering  

play12:14

the whole wave function. It’s as if their  properties are now spread out over both. 

play12:18

This is why it doesn’t matter how far apart  entangled particles are located – they’re still  

play12:24

interwoven by their joint wave function.

play12:27

That’s the really strange thing. We are  used to the properties of an object being in  

play12:32

or on that object. If my t-shirt is blue, the  blueness is on the tshirt – it’s localized there.  

play12:38

If I have a coffee mug that’s blue,  that’s the coffee mug’s blueness,  

play12:43

not the tshirt’s. But for entangled quantum  objects, their properties can be nonlocal – spread  

play12:49

between both objects. Some of the tshirt’s blueness can be in the coffee mug's, and vice versa. 

play12:55

This brings us to why entanglement is at the heart of quantum mechanics, because  

play13:00

what it tells us is that the quantum  world has a feature called nonlocality.  

play13:05

Things at one place don’t depend just on what  happens in the neighborhood of that place,  

play13:12

as they do in the classical world. There seems  to be an instantaneous connection between  

play13:17

different regions and particles,  regardless of how far apart they are. 

play13:22

Why isn’t this “spooky action at a distance”  then? That’s because Einstein’s picture  

play13:26

was of something at one place somehow transmitting its effect to another place – faster than light.  

play13:33

But quantum nonlocality is an alternative to  that picture. What it really says is that we  

play13:39

can’t think of those two places as being distinct:  quantum mechanics collapses them into a single  

play13:45

thing. In this sense, quantum mechanics seems  to make nonsense of our normal sense of space.  

play13:51

In fact, some researchers suspect that quantum  entanglement is more fundamental than space  

play13:57

itself, and that our notion of space actually  emerges from the quantum entanglements that  

play14:02

connect objects in a vast web of interaction. What about using quantum entanglement for  

play14:08

communication? It’s tempting to imagine that  entanglement will let us communicate faster  

play14:13

than light. Let’s say we make a pair of entangled particles and separate them by thousands of miles,  

play14:19

so that Alice has particle 1 in China, and Bob has particle 2 the US. If Bob takes a measurement  

play14:25

in the US, doesn’t that mean Alice’s particle  in China is instantly affected? Well, yes it  

play14:31

seems so. But when Alice measures her particle it  will seem like a random collapse to her. There’s  

play14:37

nothing meaningful about a measurement Alice makes until she finds out how much it correlates with  

play14:43

what Bob measured. And the only way to do that is by exchanging information about their measurements,  

play14:49

by sending an ordinary message. Email, snail mail,  carrier pigeon – however they choose to do it.  

play14:55

They’ll never do it faster than  light. This is why it’s impossible  

play15:00

to use the correlation between entangled  particles to send any information instantaneously. 

play15:06

Now, there is at least one advantage to  using entangled particles to send messages:  

play15:11

you can encrypt the message in a way that  it can never be intercepted and decrypted  

play15:16

without that decryption being detected.

play15:18

And they’ll know their message wasn’t secure.  

play15:21

That’s why quantum-entangled photons sent along  optical fibers or by satellite signals are now  

play15:27

being used to encrypt sensitive messages, such  as financial data, in a tamper-proof quantum  

play15:32

internet that’s still under construction. Entanglement is also the key to quantum  

play15:36

computing. Quantum computers with just a few dozen entangled quantum bits  

play15:40

have been shown to do calculations in  seconds that would take conventional  

play15:45

supercomputers centuries. It’s probably going to play a big role in all our lives. 

play15:49

If you want to learn more about this  fascinating world of quantum computing,  

play15:53

there is a great course on Brilliant,  today’s sponsor, called Quantum computing. 

play15:57

It’s a hands-on, interactive course consisting of  33 short lessons, that walk you all the way from  

play16:03

some of the basic fundamentals such as the nature of computation and quantum bits, to building  

play16:08

entangled quantum circuits, to advanced concepts  such as actually creating quantum algorithms  

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using the programming language Q sharp. Along your journey, you’ll take quizzes and solve problems,  

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which will help you master and retain these  concepts long term. It’s a great way to learn. 

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Brilliant has a special off for Arvin Ash viewers  right now. If you are among the first 200 people  

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to click the link in the description, you  will get 20% off your subscription. If you  

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haven’t tried Brilliant already, this  is a great opportunity to start. So be  

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sure to click the link in the description. And if you have a question, please leave it  

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in the comments and I will do my very best to answer it. I will see you in the next video my friend.

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相关标签
Quantum MechanicsEntanglementSuperpositionUncertainty PrincipleWave-Particle DualityEinsteinSchrodingerQuantum ComputersQuantum CryptographyBell's InequalityNonlocality
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