“Spooky action at a distance”

Welp, I fell into the rabbit hole of quantum physics and have continued to spiral down into the “heart” of quantum entanglement. Do you know what quantum entanglement is? It is a state where two molecules become interlinked, and regardless of their distance can simultaneously interact with one another. That means one molecule, after being interlinked to the other particle, can travel over a distance, say light years, and still be connected.

This revolutionary breakthrough makes way for practical applications such as quantum computing, communications and newer simulators that far surpass their old counterparts. A team of physicists (Lawrence Cheuk and Connor Holland) from Princeton University had made the successful link between the individual molecules using a series of microwave pulses, making the individual molecules interact, which in turn implemented a two-qubit (quantum bit) gate that entangled the two molecules. Researchers at Harvard University (John Doyle and Kang-Kuen Ni) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Wolfgang Ketterle) recreated similar findings, verifying the work of the Princeton team was verifiable.

That is all great information Sam, but why does that matter to me, you might ask. Honestly, I am not sure if this excites you but for me, it is just another layer of information that I get to swim in. With the team’s findings, entanglement can be a huge development in quantum communication and in security and the world of cryptography.

As of right now, researchers and physicists are testing the theories of the technique of a device-independent Quantum Key Distribution. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a secure communication method that can transmit millions of photons (millions of polarized light particles) over a fiber-optic cable from one entity to another. Each photon has a random quantum state, and with all the photons combined they create a stream of 1’s and 0’s. Those 1’s and 0’s hold data which then is decrypted by the receiver who has the correct secret key and can produce the intel that was sent. If by chance during this transference of the photons, they are read or copied by a hacker, the state of the photon is changed. Therefore, alerting that the secret key has been tampered with. That will then initiate a new key to be sent.

Although, quantum key distribution is still in it’s mid-adolescent stage, the outcome of this technology in the future will change how securely we can transmit intelligence and data.

Seeking

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