Jun 17, 2025 04:26 PM
https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-tech...giant-leap
EXCERPT: Quantum entanglement is arguably the strangest feature of quantum physics. This is the phenomenon whereby particles can seem to affect one another instantly, no matter how far apart they are. To put it another way, it’s as though some properties of particles are ‘nonlocal’, meaning they’re not confined to the particle itself.
As such, quantum entanglement seems to ignore conventional notions of space. It’s as if two entangled particles simply don’t notice that they’re separated and behave as parts of a single quantum object.
What, though, if quantum particles aren’t really objects located in space at all, but form an entangled web of interacting entities, and what we think of as space emerges from that web?
It sounds odd, but some theoretical physicists have shown one mathematical description of a special kind of space to be equivalent to what the ‘shadow’ of a web of entangled particles looks like when projected onto their boundary. Imagine the entangled web as a room full of objects and space is the dappled shadows they throw onto the walls.
The basic idea is that entanglement weaves quantum objects together into what looks like ordinary space, so that the distance between them is really a measure of how entangled they are. If we can find ways to test this speculative idea, it could transform our notion of what reality is fundamentally composed of.
Thermodynamics is, in essence, the science of how efficiently machines can be made to work. Developed in the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution, it’s all a matter of how well an energy source (such as coal) can be used to do work (like pumping water), given that some energy is always lost as heat.
But that doesn’t take entanglement into account. Scientists now realise that the usual limits on efficiency imposed by the laws of thermodynamics might be beaten in ‘quantum engines’, where the component parts, which might be individual atoms, are entangled.
Think of it like the improvements in efficiency that can come from having two people coordinating their actions rather than working independently. Ultra-efficient quantum heat engines have already been demonstrated, in which the switching of atoms between quantum states can, like a steam-powered piston, be harnessed to do work.
The same idea can be inverted to make quantum refrigerators. Then there are quantum batteries. With energy stored in the quantum states of atoms, these can charge more quickly and discharge more efficiently if operated in arrays of entangled copies.
All these devices are microscopic, but could be useful for powering and cooling microelectronic devices on silicon chips... (MORE - details)
EXCERPT: Quantum entanglement is arguably the strangest feature of quantum physics. This is the phenomenon whereby particles can seem to affect one another instantly, no matter how far apart they are. To put it another way, it’s as though some properties of particles are ‘nonlocal’, meaning they’re not confined to the particle itself.
As such, quantum entanglement seems to ignore conventional notions of space. It’s as if two entangled particles simply don’t notice that they’re separated and behave as parts of a single quantum object.
What, though, if quantum particles aren’t really objects located in space at all, but form an entangled web of interacting entities, and what we think of as space emerges from that web?
It sounds odd, but some theoretical physicists have shown one mathematical description of a special kind of space to be equivalent to what the ‘shadow’ of a web of entangled particles looks like when projected onto their boundary. Imagine the entangled web as a room full of objects and space is the dappled shadows they throw onto the walls.
The basic idea is that entanglement weaves quantum objects together into what looks like ordinary space, so that the distance between them is really a measure of how entangled they are. If we can find ways to test this speculative idea, it could transform our notion of what reality is fundamentally composed of.
Thermodynamics is, in essence, the science of how efficiently machines can be made to work. Developed in the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution, it’s all a matter of how well an energy source (such as coal) can be used to do work (like pumping water), given that some energy is always lost as heat.
But that doesn’t take entanglement into account. Scientists now realise that the usual limits on efficiency imposed by the laws of thermodynamics might be beaten in ‘quantum engines’, where the component parts, which might be individual atoms, are entangled.
Think of it like the improvements in efficiency that can come from having two people coordinating their actions rather than working independently. Ultra-efficient quantum heat engines have already been demonstrated, in which the switching of atoms between quantum states can, like a steam-powered piston, be harnessed to do work.
The same idea can be inverted to make quantum refrigerators. Then there are quantum batteries. With energy stored in the quantum states of atoms, these can charge more quickly and discharge more efficiently if operated in arrays of entangled copies.
All these devices are microscopic, but could be useful for powering and cooling microelectronic devices on silicon chips... (MORE - details)
