AI-generated summary
Quantum teleportation is a method of transmitting information between two entangled quantum particles, regardless of the distance separating them. Unlike sci-fi teleportation, which moves matter, quantum teleportation transfers information using the phenomenon of quantum entanglement—where two particles act as a single system, instantly reflecting changes in one particle onto the other. This process, sometimes called “spooky action at a distance,” still respects the universal speed limit since information cannot travel faster than light.
In late 2020, NASA researchers successfully teleported quantum information by sending qubits, such as photons, over 44 kilometers while preserving 90% of the data’s integrity. This achievement is significant because it required creating entangled particles, transporting one particle over a long distance, and reading the information on the receiving end without disturbing the quantum state—an exceptionally difficult task. This breakthrough demonstrates high-fidelity quantum information transfer, a critical step toward practical applications.
Looking ahead, quantum teleportation could revolutionize communication by enabling the quantum internet. Unlike current networks that rely on fiber optics and require intermediate error correction, a quantum internet would transmit information at the speed of light without stops or degradation, offering a transformative leap akin to historic advances from telegraphs to digital telephony. This technology promises to dramatically enhance the speed, security, and efficiency of global information exchange.
Quantum teleportation will allow the opening of the quantum internet, infinitely faster than conventional
Quantum teleportation allows information to be transmitted between two linked quantum particles regardless of the distance separating them. Unlike science fiction teleportation, which sends matter from one point to another in space, quantum teleportation sends information.
In late 2020, a team of researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed to teleport a small set of quantum information by transporting the qubits—like photons—over 44 kilometers. 90% of the information was preserved. Can you imagine the possibilities?
What is quantum teleportation?
Quantum teleportation is a way of sending information using the quantum entanglement technique by which two particles are linked through space. This quantum entanglement, called “spooky action at a distance” by Einstein, is a phenomenon by which two individual particles act as a single wave system.
This is a bit complicated, but to make it clear: what if two minds, instead of acting separately, shared exactly the same thoughts in real time? These two minds could do an interesting experiment: while one of them is sitting in class and listening to a teacher, the other can repeat in another class what the teacher is saying.
This effect goes beyond this walkie-talkie example, because the particles in question, although there are two, work as one. They behave as if they were the same thing in space. So whatever is done to one, the other reproduces, and vice versa. They are connected or intertwined.
Importantly, this transmission of information cannot go faster than the speed of light, which is the maximum speed at which it is possible to transport information around the universe. These correlations cause the other (entangled) to mimic that behavior when acting on one particle. It is this sending of information through space at the speed of light that is called quantum teleportation.
What has been achieved so far
As we mentioned, a team of researchers has managed to send several qubits of information (quantum bits) from one place in space to another. Sending information 44 kilometers away may not be a significant milestone — after all, there’s a mirror on the Moon on which experiments are done daily, and the signal sent from Earth travels 384,400 km one way at the speed of light — but it is.
The first key is in the way in which this information has been sent. On the one hand, it was necessary to unify two particles in the form of quantum entanglement, that is, that they work as one; on the other, to transport one of the two particles 44 kilometers, and, finally, to enable a system that reads the particle on the other side without influencing it with the measurement in the information.
The second key is precisely in that last point, in the very high fidelity with which the information has been sent (and decoded). This aspect is, perhaps, the most complex of the entire operation. It is not possible to measure a system without substantially altering it. To see what a particle does, photons must be thrown at it and see how they bounce back. In fact, that’s how we humans see: photons of light bouncing off objects that then reach our eye.
Reading the information of the second particle without modifying this information is a logistical challenge. And to do so with a 90% success rate, an impressive achievement of science. Of course, where does this whole experiment lead? What could it be used for?
What will quantum teleportation be used for?
The Internet works by connecting computers using electrical, radio, or photonic impulses. Although a physicist would say that they are three manifestations of the same mechanical phenomenon, in the field of engineering the how has a great influence. The fastest way to send information over the internet is through fiber optics on which the photons of light bounce until they travel through it.
The idea is fantastic, but fiber optics (like copper wires) have limitations and challenges. Every so often, for example, a device is needed to read the information, correct errors, and send it back to the next checkpoint. All this is done in fractions of a second, but compared to the speed of light it is slow and has significant errors.
An operational quantum teleportation would make possible the so-called quantum internet, a form of the internet in which enormous amounts of information are sent at the speed of light without the need for intermediate stops. To understand the magnitude of the proposal, we talked about the difference between the telegraph and the analogue telephone, between the analogue and digital telephone, or copper versus fibre optics. A qualitative leap of great importance.
