1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 601: Transmitting objects at the speed of light? Instant teleportation! Quantum teleportation! Shocking the audience!

If super powers were also divided into levels, then teleportation would definitely be a first-tier ability.

In later generations, the concept of teleportation is mentioned in various science fiction movies and fantasy novels.

With just a thought, the protagonist can instantly appear in any distant place.

But, is it really possible in reality?
Or, how much can be achieved.

From the essence of scientific principles, what is the maximum instant that humans can achieve?

The answer lies in quantum entanglement.

At this moment, Li Qiwei said:

"The second technology is what I call quantum teleportation."

“In a sense, it is true quantum communication.”

Wow!
Everyone was shocked!
Quantum teleportation, just hearing the name, has a sense of mystery and grandeur.

Definitely future technology!

"It feels a bit like a technology for teleporting objects."

“Could it be that quantum entanglement is used to transmit physical objects?”

"impossible."

“Quantum entanglement can’t even transmit information, so how can it transmit matter?”

The Western world has had legends of magic scrolls for a long time, so teleportation is no stranger to it.

Ridgeway continued:
"Quantum teleportation is to add a quantum channel to classical communication."

"The speed of transmission is still limited to the speed of light."

"But what's significantly different from classical communication is that quantum teleportation can transmit physical objects at the speed of light!"

Wow!
The whole audience was shocked!

Everyone exclaimed it was incredible!

"This is impossible!"

“This is something straight out of science fiction!”

"No object can reach the speed of light."

"How is it possible for physical objects to be transported to another place at the speed of light?"

At this time, everyone thought of the concept of "wormhole" proposed by Professor Bruce before.

Wormholes can even easily span the vast distances between galaxies.

But the essence of a wormhole is the bending, folding and connectivity of space.

The speed of matter itself does not exceed the speed of light.

Moreover, a wormhole is merely a space-time structure derived mathematically, and its existence is unknown.

Now, Professor Bruce claims that quantum teleportation can transmit physical objects at the speed of light, which is incredible.

This is completely different from a wormhole.

Questions were soon raised.

"Professor Bruce, if physical objects can be transmitted at the speed of light, doesn't that violate the theory of relativity?"

Li Qiwei heard this and smiled slightly, saying:

"Yes, physical objects cannot exceed the speed of light."

"In fact, the 'teleportation' in quantum teleportation does not refer to the object itself, but the quantum state of the object."

"for example."

"At this time, I want to transfer an electron from point A to point B instantly at the speed of light."

"If it is true teleportation or teleportation, the electron itself should cross space, disappear at point A, and then appear directly at point B."

"Unfortunately, this method currently has no physical basis."

"Even a wormhole requires the space between the two places to be folded and connected first."

"But teleportation is when electrons disappear out of thin air and appear out of thin air."

"We don't know what physical changes occur during this process."

"And the quantum teleportation I'm talking about uses a trick."

"We can't just teleport the electron itself to another place."

"But its [quantum state] can be teleported instantly."

"And then, a new electron inherits these quantum states."

"Since there is no difference between electrons, electrons with the same quantum state can be considered the same electron."

"In this way, we can achieve the purpose of teleportation in disguise."

Wow!
Everyone's face was filled with shock!

They immediately understood the concept and principle of quantum teleportation.

To put it in simple terms, it means: scan the appearance of the object, then transmit it to another place and restore its original appearance based on the new material.

"Why does this sound even more outrageous than teleportation?"

“Is it really possible?”

Everyone became interested.

Compared with the quantum encrypted communication just now, quantum teleportation is obviously more sci-fi!
Ridgeway continued:

“The specific operation process is as follows.”

"First, build a quantum channel between A and B. This quantum channel is a pair of entangled electrons."

"Say it with electron X and electron Y, where electron X is at A and electron Y is at B."

"Then, the electron to be transmitted is somehow correlated with electron X so that the quantum states of the two are exactly the same."

"At this time, the quantum state of electron Y at B also changes due to quantum entanglement."

"But the person at B doesn't know what kind of connection the electron to be transmitted has with electron X."

“Therefore, the person at A needs to tell the person at B through the classic channel what kind of connection he has made.”

“The classic channel could be a phone call or a telegram.”

"After the person at B receives the relevant information, he immediately performs the same transformation on electron Y, making its quantum state the same as that of the electron to be transmitted."

"Finally, the electron Y at B becomes exactly the same electron as the one to be transported."

"Because of the indistinguishability of electrons, it is as if the electrons were teleported from A to B."

“This is quantum teleportation.”

"It transmits the quantum state of matter, not the matter itself!"

"The speed of its transmission depends on the speed of the classical channel."

"But instead of just transmitting information, it can be used to transmit matter."

Wow!
After hearing this, everyone's faces were filled with disbelief!

Can quantum entanglement be used in this way?

“If humans can invent superluminal communication one day, quantum teleportation will also be able to achieve superluminal transmission.”

"Although it can only transmit quantum states, it is actually safer."

"From a quantum perspective, there is no essential difference between the matter after teleportation and the matter to be teleported."

It is obvious that quantum teleportation is definitely a technology that only advanced civilizations can possess!

Wu Youxun looked shocked.

Compared with Professor Li's imagination, the research at Alpha Lab is like childish play.

It’s totally not the same level of technology!
Quantum encrypted communication and quantum teleportation, two technologies based on quantum entanglement theory, subverted his imagination.

He murmured to himself:

“I wonder when these two technologies can be truly realized?”

In later generations, quantum encryption communication has already been realized.

Although it has not yet been widely used, a closed research loop has been achieved from the principle to the technical operation level. One of the best ways is to launch a dedicated satellite.

Photons are emitted by satellites to information stations on the ground to achieve quantum entanglement encryption.

Quantum teleportation is more difficult.

In real history, physicists first completed the principle verification of quantum teleportation in 1997, which became a classic in the field of quantum experimental information.

In this experiment, the researchers successfully transmitted "one quantum state", which is the so-called "single-dimensional quantum teleportation".

Taking electrons as an example, they have many quantum states, such as momentum, angular momentum, spin, and so on.

So it is obvious that being able to transmit only one quantum state at a time is only of pioneering significance and has no practical significance.

It cannot accomplish the feat of teleporting objects instantly.

It was not until 2015 that Chinese physicist, Academician Pan Jianwei, led a team to successfully realize "multi-dimensional quantum teleportation"!
This is another major breakthrough in the field of quantum information experimental research since the first realization of single-dimensional quantum teleportation in 1997.

This experimental result ranked first among the ten major breakthroughs in the field of international physics in 2015 announced by Physics World!

This shows the importance of multi-dimensional quantum teleportation.

Academician Pan Jianwei has achieved many world-first records in the field of quantum teleportation and is a true master of quantum mechanics.

It is said that the author of a certain book at a certain point is a graduate student of Academician Pan.

The boss is so scary!
In a recent study in 2024, experimenters further proved that quantum teleportation and classical channel signals can coexist in the same cable.

Perhaps in the near future, mobile phones will not only be able to send voice and pictures, but also directly send physical objects.

Just thinking about it is exciting!
At this moment, many physics giants present also showed great interest in quantum teleportation.

Although it is just a derived technology, not a physical principle.

But this technology is related to quantum entanglement, which is the most cutting-edge theory at present.

Perhaps in the process of researching technology, it can in turn help physicists gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of quantum entanglement.

At this time, Schrödinger suddenly asked a question.

"Professor Bruce, do you think quantum teleportation can transport a real person?"

Wow!
Everyone was shocked!
Once it involves people, things become complicated.

Because human beings are definitely the most special existence in the universe!
Li Qiwei looked at Schrödinger with emotion.

He was well aware of the implication of the other party's question.

"In theory, humans are also made up of countless atoms."

"Quantum teleportation can only transmit the quantum state of microscopic particles such as electrons at the beginning."

"But as technology develops, it will sooner or later be possible to achieve quantum teleportation at the atomic level."

“Teleport the quantum states of all the atoms in a person’s body to a distant place, and then combine the atoms with the same quantum states into [the same person].”

"This is equivalent to teleporting people to another place."

"That doesn't seem to be a problem."

"but!"

"It will involve an extremely critical ethical issue!"

“People are conscious!”

“Is a person who is assembled from completely new atoms still the same person?”

"While the composition of the two is exactly the same, we cannot guarantee that the consciousness is also the same."

"So far, no one knows the relationship between consciousness and matter."

“Perhaps the person who is being teleported has a completely different personality from the person who is to be teleported.”

"In short, this is a very complex issue."

“The existence of consciousness determines the special status of human beings in science.”

Wow!
Everyone was shocked!

Quantum teleportation is terrifying when you think about it.

It's just like the taboo of Adam and Eve in the Bible.

Humans can directly create a "person" by manipulating atoms.

This is countless times more terrifying than medical cloning.

Some bigwigs even lamented:
“Is the end of scientific development a good thing or a bad thing?”

"After humans have mastered powers close to those of gods, will their consciousness still follow human morality and social rules?"

However, the bosses were just expressing their feelings and were not very worried.

At least in the foreseeable future, it seems extremely difficult to achieve quantum teleportation that can transport people.

Just when everyone was thinking about the relationship between science and ethics.

However, because of Schrödinger's problem, Li Qiwei thought of another crucial point.

What happens when we introduce consciousness into quantum mechanics?
No one can tell.

The corner of his mouth tilted slightly, and he smiled inwardly:

“Perhaps, it’s time for the fourth beast of physics to be unveiled ahead of time!”

“Let this be the climax of this meeting!”

Li Qiwei made up his mind.

Among the crowd, Schrödinger was still thinking about the relationship between quantum teleportation and consciousness.

Suddenly, he saw a mysterious smile on Professor Bruce's face.

His heart suddenly trembled, as if he had lost something precious.

Schrödinger couldn't help but wonder.

"Strange, what was that feeling just now?"

"Why did Professor Bruce's eyes change after I mentioned consciousness?"

“Is there any connection between consciousness and quantum mechanics?”

After watching the single-electron double-slit interference experiment, Schrödinger began thinking about the relationship between consciousness and measurement.

Unfortunately, the time was too short and he couldn't come up with any clues.

"Forget it, maybe I'm just overthinking it."

“Since the Fourth Bruce Conference began, there have been many shocking results.”

“This will definitely be the most sensational session.”

At this moment, everyone had this idea.

Soon, the meeting on November 11nd officially ended.

The most important content of today's meeting is undoubtedly the verification of quantum entanglement and the technical concepts related to quantum entanglement.

Once these contents are released, they will definitely shock the entire physics community.

Everyone has even become numb.

There is so much that was accomplished at the Fourth Bruce Conference.

Each item taken individually is at least Nobel Prize level.

The most terrifying thing is that all these achievements were accomplished by Professor Bruce alone.

The man's strength is so terrifying that it is unimaginable!
Someone teased:
"If Professor Bruce had not announced that he would not accept the Nobel Prize unless he proposed a completely new theory that went beyond relativity and quantum mechanics."

"I'm afraid the Nobel Prize will have to be renamed the Bruce Prize."

Next, there is only the last day of meetings tomorrow.

According to the temporarily revised agenda, several key core issues will be discussed on November 11.

Professor Bruce gave the final closing speech.

Look back on the past, summarize the present, and imagine the future!
This is also the responsibility of the big guys, to open up the future for physics and fill young scholars with hope!

At the same time, the crowd waiting outside for the meeting results were excited again!
"What is so special about the Fourth Bruce Conference?"

"It's been extended for another day?"

(End of this chapter)