Quantum Entanglement Camera Images Object With Photons That Never Come Near It

Posted by Zenphamy 9 years, 6 months ago to Science
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More Quantum 'magic' to try to wrap your mind around, while others use it to make things happen.

From the Article:
"In their experiment, green laser light is twice split into entangled infrared twins, one of which is in the short-wave infrared (SWIR), the other of which is in the near infrared (NIR). One of the SWIR photons then illuminates the object being imaged. Both SWIR photons are ultimately discarded, never to be observed.

But their NIR twins are the ones in the existential cage match: If the imaged object blocks its corresponding SWIR counterpart, then the NIR counterpart gets to exist. It ultimately appears as a pixel on the quantum camera’s image. If SWIR passed through the object, its NIR twin doesn’t exist. Its absence is recorded by the camera as a dark spot.

The end-result is that NIR photons create the image, although no NIR photons illuminated the object. And SWIR photons exclusively illuminated the object, although no SWIR photons are ever detected or observed.

One application of the quantum entanglement camera, Barreto Lemos says, is that the light that illuminates an object can be completely separate from the light that forms the image in the camera."


All Comments

  • Posted by $ jbrenner 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Indeed it is a pleasure once the student gets to that point. It usually happens about the fourth year of grad school.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I can't be an expert on everything. He is quite competent at fiber optics. He knows enough to be ready to graduate, but he needs to do about one more year's worth of work.
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  • Posted by 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Yeah, but isn't it fun to work with someone that knows more about something than you do. The challenges must be invigorating.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The grad student says that the real problem is getting the source right in the first place. It is not a standard green laser that is needed, as the summary you quoted suggests. I co-advise this student, and on this topic, he knows far more than I do.
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  • Posted by 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    That's what's so cool about this. I don't think there's anyone that claims to have a complete understanding of what's going on, yet experimenters world wide keep making use of the phenomena.
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  • Posted by 9 years, 6 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Well, understanding what's really going on, I think, will change a great deal of what and how we know and deal with physics and the physical world we inhabit.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 9 years, 6 months ago
    This is actually something that my PhD student could do in our lab. The laser and laser detector, the splitter, and the fiber optic cable are all standard parts that we have.
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  • Posted by Mitch 9 years, 6 months ago
    Imagine the advances after we figure out what the heck is going on here. Quantum entanglement would allow for instantaneous communication across a solar system, galaxy or even the universe. Quantum computing will allow for endlessly powerful computers, solving problems that we can’t even imagine now. A true understanding of our physical work will open the door to endless advances in in technology and innovation.
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  • Posted by khalling 9 years, 6 months ago
    It looks exactly like how my grandpa showed me how to draw cats.
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 9 years, 6 months ago
    Very cool. The author borrow's Einstein's description of entanglement being "spooky".

    I can't get my mind around it. That makes pseudoscientists use it to sell What the Bleep Do We Know while real scientists use it make real things happen.
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