The magic of Quantum entanglement
Orsay (Paris), 1982.
This is the story of a photon that had a twin.
It is well-known that photons are tiny particles of energy that can be emitted from the atom's nucleus. The photons we are about to tell are two special ones, developed by Professor Alain Aspect at the CNRS (Center National de la Recherche Scientifique). Today’s experiment consists of a pair of correlated photons (generated by the "disintegration" of the same atomic source) which are separated and sent off in opposite directions to distant detectors.
These detectors had to measure the behavior of the photons: the twist is that, along the trajectory of the first photon, a "filter" was inserted to deviate its trajectory. The expected result (as feared by Einstein himself) is that when one of the two photons changed direction following the interaction with the "filter”, it instantly deflected the other, even though it was far away in space. It’s almost like one of the finest messes Laurel and Hardy ever got themselves into: Stan steps on a banana peel while Ollie, clearly distant from him, falls on the ground pie-in-the-face.
This funny thing is called Quantum entanglement and, as you might understand, it concerns with the wholeness of the physical reality. By that, we mean that apparently separated things can be connected and influence each other whatever is the distance that parts them. In physics, this phenomenon has been called “nonlocality”, to indicate that, at in the deepest level of reality (at Quantum level), the speed of light is not anymore a limiting factor because phenomena are instantaneously connected no matter what is the distance.
To many, it may sound bananas, and indeed, plenty of physicists have different views about this phenomenon. In the front row Einstein himself, who began his venture of Quantum Physics as a poacher but then turned into gamekeeper to demonstrate its limits in explaining the true nature of reality. The burning smell of the entanglement phenomenon was indeed felt by Einstein, but he used it as a clear proof of the non-correctness of Quantum physics. Why?
For the simple fact that to be able to influence each other, the two "entangled" particles must exchange information in some way. If the two particles are placed at a very large distance, and each variation of a particle must immediately influence the other, it means that this information can travel faster than light. As you might imagine, this result viciously clashes with Einstein's theory of relativity, which poses the maximum limit of speed to that of light in vacuum. Einstein, unfortunately, did not live long enough to be able to ascertain the validity of the principle of non-locality, remaining skeptical until the end. He even used to mock the entanglement by defining it as: "spooky action at distance."
Although this may seem crazy, there are curious metaphors in every day's life conveying surprising similarities to the phenomenon of entanglement. In English, a term has even been coined to define a similar condition: it is "serendipity."Have you ever thought of someone whom you had not seen for years and then met him casually or received a sudden phone call from this person? Or has it ever happened to take a trip to the mall, noticing a particular person, and after having traveled far and wide to the city, to be in front of this person again while parked the car?
A surprising example of serendipity is the special relationship that twins share with each other from birth. Over the centuries, a certain magical aura has always surrounded the twins. In the Middle Ages, they were sometimes viewed with suspicion or even worshiped as people with mystical powers. Some say the twins share a kind of mental connection or even feel the other's pain. There are stories of twins who gave birth to babies on the same day, and twins who were separated at birth, but reunited decades later to discover that they both married someone with the same name, and even drive the same car. Fans of the big screen surely remember the brilliant comedy "Twins" interpreted by the wiry Schwarzenegger and his improbable twin D. Devito. Also in this film, two twins separated at birth follow a different trajectory in their life, eventually ending up to share the same destiny.
Psychic powers have never been scientifically proven to exist, and the extraordinary qualities of the twins are no exception. However, as we move from science to anecdotal evidence, we find fascinating parallels between psyche and Quantum physics. If you happen to travel to Australia, for example, you might meet a weird community of aborigines called Arunta. Although threatened by brutal colonization policies, they represent the last outpost of prehistoric civilizations, linked to the cult of ancestors and primordial spirits. The use of verbal communication has partly evolved this community, albeit not entirely deprived of their ancient powers.
Even today, people visiting this tribe tell us of extraordinary things happening there: they can see whoever arrives a few hours before actually appearing. There are those who can follow other members of the tribe on a journey and say by a telepathic vision in which places they are and what they are doing. Somebody whispers they are able to perform “soul flights” too. As we are moving on in our narration, we find more and more surprising connections between science and psyche we cannot ignore. Are these connections just an accident or maybe there is some hidden force actively at work? Right now close your eyes and pretend you are driving your car without a precise destination. Just focus on the sights and the smell you can sense as you let your mind zigzag across uncharted routes. Be prepared to embrace happenstance!
This is the story of a photon that had a twin.
It is well-known that photons are tiny particles of energy that can be emitted from the atom's nucleus. The photons we are about to tell are two special ones, developed by Professor Alain Aspect at the CNRS (Center National de la Recherche Scientifique). Today’s experiment consists of a pair of correlated photons (generated by the "disintegration" of the same atomic source) which are separated and sent off in opposite directions to distant detectors.
These detectors had to measure the behavior of the photons: the twist is that, along the trajectory of the first photon, a "filter" was inserted to deviate its trajectory. The expected result (as feared by Einstein himself) is that when one of the two photons changed direction following the interaction with the "filter”, it instantly deflected the other, even though it was far away in space. It’s almost like one of the finest messes Laurel and Hardy ever got themselves into: Stan steps on a banana peel while Ollie, clearly distant from him, falls on the ground pie-in-the-face.
This funny thing is called Quantum entanglement and, as you might understand, it concerns with the wholeness of the physical reality. By that, we mean that apparently separated things can be connected and influence each other whatever is the distance that parts them. In physics, this phenomenon has been called “nonlocality”, to indicate that, at in the deepest level of reality (at Quantum level), the speed of light is not anymore a limiting factor because phenomena are instantaneously connected no matter what is the distance.
To many, it may sound bananas, and indeed, plenty of physicists have different views about this phenomenon. In the front row Einstein himself, who began his venture of Quantum Physics as a poacher but then turned into gamekeeper to demonstrate its limits in explaining the true nature of reality. The burning smell of the entanglement phenomenon was indeed felt by Einstein, but he used it as a clear proof of the non-correctness of Quantum physics. Why?
For the simple fact that to be able to influence each other, the two "entangled" particles must exchange information in some way. If the two particles are placed at a very large distance, and each variation of a particle must immediately influence the other, it means that this information can travel faster than light. As you might imagine, this result viciously clashes with Einstein's theory of relativity, which poses the maximum limit of speed to that of light in vacuum. Einstein, unfortunately, did not live long enough to be able to ascertain the validity of the principle of non-locality, remaining skeptical until the end. He even used to mock the entanglement by defining it as: "spooky action at distance."
Although this may seem crazy, there are curious metaphors in every day's life conveying surprising similarities to the phenomenon of entanglement. In English, a term has even been coined to define a similar condition: it is "serendipity."Have you ever thought of someone whom you had not seen for years and then met him casually or received a sudden phone call from this person? Or has it ever happened to take a trip to the mall, noticing a particular person, and after having traveled far and wide to the city, to be in front of this person again while parked the car?
A surprising example of serendipity is the special relationship that twins share with each other from birth. Over the centuries, a certain magical aura has always surrounded the twins. In the Middle Ages, they were sometimes viewed with suspicion or even worshiped as people with mystical powers. Some say the twins share a kind of mental connection or even feel the other's pain. There are stories of twins who gave birth to babies on the same day, and twins who were separated at birth, but reunited decades later to discover that they both married someone with the same name, and even drive the same car. Fans of the big screen surely remember the brilliant comedy "Twins" interpreted by the wiry Schwarzenegger and his improbable twin D. Devito. Also in this film, two twins separated at birth follow a different trajectory in their life, eventually ending up to share the same destiny.
Psychic powers have never been scientifically proven to exist, and the extraordinary qualities of the twins are no exception. However, as we move from science to anecdotal evidence, we find fascinating parallels between psyche and Quantum physics. If you happen to travel to Australia, for example, you might meet a weird community of aborigines called Arunta. Although threatened by brutal colonization policies, they represent the last outpost of prehistoric civilizations, linked to the cult of ancestors and primordial spirits. The use of verbal communication has partly evolved this community, albeit not entirely deprived of their ancient powers.
Even today, people visiting this tribe tell us of extraordinary things happening there: they can see whoever arrives a few hours before actually appearing. There are those who can follow other members of the tribe on a journey and say by a telepathic vision in which places they are and what they are doing. Somebody whispers they are able to perform “soul flights” too. As we are moving on in our narration, we find more and more surprising connections between science and psyche we cannot ignore. Are these connections just an accident or maybe there is some hidden force actively at work? Right now close your eyes and pretend you are driving your car without a precise destination. Just focus on the sights and the smell you can sense as you let your mind zigzag across uncharted routes. Be prepared to embrace happenstance!
