Gooday Gaming Guests - The Next Quantum Internet

Episode Date: January 3, 2025

2 stories in one.

All right, here's a fun article I just read, just found this morning, right up my alley. If it's up my alley, I'll share it with you. It says, scientists achieve quantum teleportation using existing internet cables. So it's not the teleportation of like Star Trek, but it is something like that engineers at Northwestern University have achieved quantum teleportation using fiber optic cables already carrying internet traffic this milestone

could simplify the path to secure quantum networks by levering existing infrastructure this is incredibly exciting because nobody thought it was possible. A study says, from a guy in Northwestern, shows how classic and quantum communications can coexist on the same network,

paving the way for further applications like quantum computing and advanced sensing technologies. Very exciting. How quantum teleportation works. At the heart of quantum teleportation lies a phenomenon called entanglement. I'm reading a lot about entanglement and superposition. Where two particles can remain linked regardless of the distance. By manipulating these particles, researchers can transfer information without moving physical matter,

because they're connected. Pretty interesting. This connection is not dependent on traditional methods of information transfer, such as light or sound, but instead seems to operate outside the constraints of time and space. Albert Einstein called it the spooky action at a distance. Imagine two entangled particles created in a laboratory, then separated, the one particle sent to location A and the other two location B. When a specific property such as a polarization or spin is measured on the particle on location A,

the corresponding property of that particle at location B is instantly known. That's pretty wild. This connection occurs regardless of the physical distance between the particles, whether they are a few meters or light years apart. So that's why I think we're more entwined with the universe than we realize. In quantum

communication, this property of entanglement allows for quantum teleportation. Unlike classic communications, where information is transmitted via signals, such as electric pulses or light waves, quantum teleportation transfers the quantum state

of a particle from one location to another without physically moving the particle itself. This is achieved through a protocol involving entangled particles in a classic communications channel. For instance, when a quantum state is measured in a particular way at one end, the information about this state can be transmitted to the other end of the entangled pier, effectively recreating the original quantum state remotely.

So you're saying, I don't know, if you scan A and it's 10, instantly on the other side of the world, 10 pops up, basically. So that's your transportation teleportation so it's not like you're going to send something over but could we start in optical communications all signals are converted to light

I didn't know that while conventional signals typically comprise millions of particles of light quantum information uses single protons the process involves transferring light. Quantum information uses single protons. The process involves transferring a quantum state from one proton to another through a technique known as destructive

measurement. The photon itself does not have to be sent over the long distance. The study says its state ends up encoded onto a distant proton. The exchange of quantum states over a vast distance could pave the way for the ultra-secure, ultra-fast data sharing, potentially transforming how we connect and communicate. Pretty exciting. The security advantage of this system lies in the inherent properties.

If an outsider attempts to intercept or measure the quantum state during transmission, the act of the observation disrupts the the community parties, making the quantum entanglement an ideal foundation for secure communication systems such as quantum key distribution, QKD. Overcoming challenges in a crowded tunnel. Integrating quantum and classic communications on the same cable poses a unique challenge. Fiber optic cables are already bustling with light signals carrying conventional internet traffic. In this chaotic environment, delicate quantum signals risk being drowned out. Noise, any sort of a noise for the quantum.

It would be like a flimsy bicycle trying to navigate through a crowded tunnel of speeding heavy duty trucks to solve this uh kevin's team studied how light shatters scatters within the cable they identified a wavelength with a minimum interference and place their protons there reducing noise from the classic communications with special filters. So they're filtering it out, finding one way that they can ride them on, basically. The experiment involved a 30-kilometer-long fiber optic cable with quantum information at high-speed internet traffic sent simultaneously. By executing the teleportation protocol at the midpoint,

researchers confirmed successful quantum information transfer despite the heavy traffic. Although many groups have investigated the coexistence of quantum and classic communications in fiber, this work is the first to show quantum teleportation in this new scenario. Towards a quantum internet. Looking ahead the team aims to extend the range of their experiments, explore real-world infrastructure and advanced techniques like entanglement swapping.

These steps could enable even more sophisticated quantum applications. Quantum teleportation has the ability to provide quantum conductivity securely between geographically distant nodes by integrating quantum capabilities into existing internet cables. Researchers could sidestep the cost needed for specialized infrastructure. I mean, they'd have to rewire the whole world. So if you don't have to rewire the whole world,

then you can use what's already there. But there's still a lot of places that are just cable like copper cable not everything is fiber optic I don't know how many years they've been running that stuff the achievement signals a future with a classic in quantum

communication coexists seamlessly potentially unlocking the full potential of quantum technologies for our society. So this reminds me of the original modems over the phone line, right? And then we had that big jump from the phone line, a modem, to the Internet with an Ethernet, which was originally with cable,

and then they upgraded to fiber optics so now listen they can take the fiber optics and find a wave on that's riding it and shoot quantum teleportation through it that's pretty cool kind of get out of that yeah so so it's just a short story I I'll connect it with something else later. If I only find a short story, I'll save it, and then when I see something else around the same, I put it together as a double shot. All right, so that's my little thing for a little while.

See if I can find something else fun. That was a good one. All right, so here's another thing about quantum computers. Again I'm like really really into it. It says the key to enhancing microwave powered magnetic fields for quantum sensors may be coming. The party trick performed using fruit in a microwave oven could lead to more sensitive detectors of microwave radiation.

With applications in fields such as dark matter detection, quantum computing, and satellite satellite communication. Adding a pair of grapes either side of a dope diamond might seem an eccentric habit, but it could signal a low-cost path to improved sensors. So let's see what kind of sensors we're talking about here. In the 1990s, a curious craze swept the world of science nerddom, revived in later decades through YouTube videos. If a grape is cut, almost, but not entirely in half and placed in a microwave oven, it will often produce plasma, creating an impressive glow

and accompanying sparks. Unfortunately, it will sometimes also destroy the microwave oven. But that is a small price to pay to wow and intrigue your friends, right? Although proposed physics explained quickly, follow the discovery many were contradictory or either disapproved with further testing. It took more than 20 years before a rigorous research settled the question.

A university doctorate student and colleagues realized that while the plasma itself may not be useful, the reason it is produced indicates grapes might enhance the capacity of quantum sensors. They now demonstrate the efficiency of this approach with the right grapes, that is. So grapes, this must be the acid in the grapes. I wonder why. With previous studies looked at the magnetic fields causing the plasma effect, we showed that grape pairs can also enhance magnetic fields, which are crucial for quantum sensing applications.

But the grapes at a supermarket put the rest on his equipment was a bit fascinating. Pure diamonds are colorless, but when certain atoms replace the carbon atoms they can form so-called detect centuries with optical properties. The nitro vacancy in the nano diamonds we use in the study act like teeny magnets that we could use for quantum sensing. When a green laser is shown on these nanodiamonds, they glow red with a brightness proportional to the magnetic field. Amplification of the fields allows the sensor to detect even more effects, which is where the grapes come in.

So this is a nanodiamond, the grapes. A grape-induced plasma was explained as a consequence of grapes acting as a microwave resistor, whose shape stored electric fields inside, producing hot spots in which plasma forms. Suggested that the accompanying magnetic field would be useful where microwave oven radiation is used to trigger a field of nanodiamonds to detect. We found the magnetic field of the microwave radiation becomes twice as strong when we add grapes i don't know how everybody would figure that out um there is a romantic appeal to the

idea that grapes varieties with just the right sugar concentrate or flavor modules would work best. Leading scientists to scrawl vineyards for the perfect amplifier. We're sorry to bust your bubble but anyone dreaming of a foundry trip to the wine region... Hold on one second. Alright, so let's get back to our grapes here. The reason this works is because grapes are primarily made of water. It has a high refractive index

that allows the grapes to behave as resistors. The wave bounces around inside the grapes because of a jump in perimetry between the inside and the outside. So it's the shape of the grape. Sugars and other impurifiers contribute to the absorption, decreasing the effect rather than enhancing it. Bags of water held together at some sort of membrane would probably do better but not so

easily available so it's the grapes in a certain shape the main great criteria is shape and size a length of 27 millimeters 1.6 1.06 inches is perfect for the microwave used. A width of 17 millimeters, 0.7 inches, proved appropriate. But most important of all was that the two grapes placed either side of the detector to match in size. Other grapes might also work if they were suitably sized and enclosed, but it's unlikely that they would improve on grapes by much, if at all. So interesting.

Water is actually better than sapphire at concentrating microwave energy but it's also less stable and loses more energy in the process that's our key challenge to solve although the craze that started this used a cut grape that isn't necessary except perhaps to make the plasm more visible. For that purpose, it would just ensure the grapes would dry out faster. For example, the reason microwave centers are in demand is that in most quantum systems, we manipulate the spins using microwave fields. The goal is to cause particles to interact coherently, which requires coupling them

to fields. The state of such systems is sensitive to magnetic fields. Temperature and the pressure can therefore be used as a sensor for all of these. The sparks that drew attention to this phenomenon are charging, jumping between metallic ions in the great plasma spots. Some ovens have been destroyed when the sparks got out of hand. This study was done using microwave sources far less powerful than a household oven, so it wasn't a concern he cannot confirm rumors that the demonstration can be run safely in a microwave of water in placed in the

microwave at the same time absorbing enough of the microwave waves to protect the oven so don't don't drive this at home that's what I'm saying that was kind of interesting all right so well'm going to put that one with my other one. So, two quantum computings. I do two short ones into one

podcast. All right, so I'll talk to you guys later. All right, bye.