From Star Trek to Doctor Who, the idea of teleportation has dominated our thoughts for the past several centuries. In one form or another, each culture has an idea or concept that revolves around instantaneous travel from place to place. Although this notion seems as fantastical as magic or alchemy, breakthroughs in physics and quantum mechanics have led to a startling new chance to realize this daydream.
Among the many of the relatively new discoveries in the vast field of physics, one of the more thought-provoking ones is the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Argument in Quantum Mechanics, also known as the EPR Paradox. The basic idea of this paper is that the universe, or as we see it, is incomplete. Every particle has a double. These two particles are quantum-entangled- although they are two different particles, they are identical. Not even mirror images - they are exactly the same, from chemical structure to appearance. So much so in fact, that their state of being is described not as two halves, but one whole. Things really start to get interesting is when the two particles are observed. They are never actually in existence at the same time. One can be present, then at a random time, it will blink out of the universe and the other one will appear, in a different spot. The real debate related to this issue is whether there are actually two particles, blinking in and out of existence, or if there is truly only one, moving at an irrational speed from one spot to the other. Hence, the paradox. This is one of the most debated issues in the entire field of quantum mechanics, and more and more convincing pieces of evidence appear in support of each side.
Now imagine if a lever was found to change which set of particles was in existence at one given time. As the lever was pressed, they would theoretically be teleported to another location. Unfortunately, all of the alternate particles of the transported object could be scattered anywhere throughout the universe, and there is no way to tell where they actually are. Since they are actually not within the universe, there is no possible way to detect them. Doing the switch without considering the consequences could end up with you, dear reader, as 7x1027 particles floating aimlessly around the vast expanse of the cosmos.
But not to fear, Star Trek fans, because through all the setbacks there is still some possibility of this concept being realized. In fact, scientists have been teleporting photons since 1997. In 2010, a Chinese research team was able to teleport single photons 16 kilometers. In the years since, this record has been broken time and time again - the furthest distance has increased to 97 kilometers. But before you get too excited, don’t think this means we are in any way close to teleporting people, or even objects. However, teleporting information is soon to be possible. Though this may not sound all too thrilling, communication rates would skyrocket, and since there is little to no way to trace the photons’ paths, the information would be confidential. This method may yet be used by the military and even information agencies. Although it may not be in the way we thought it would be, photon teleportation could end up a key part of our everyday lives.
Beam Me Up, Scotty!
By Angelina Z.