- 4599 - QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT - is it real? The best-ever observation of 'spooky action' between quarks is highest-energy quantum entanglement ever detected. The discovery of two entangled quarks at the large Hadron Collider is the highest-energy observation of entanglement ever made.
------------------------- 4599 - QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT - is it real?
- Physicists at the world's largest atom
smasher have observed two quarks in a state of quantum entanglement for the
first time. The observation, made at the
Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, near Geneva, revealed a top quark, the
heaviest fundamental particle, quantumly linked to its antimatter counterpart
in the highest-energy detection of entanglement ever made.
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- The ATLAS experiment (A Toroidal LHC
Apparatus) is the largest detector at the LHC, and picks out the tiny subatomic
particles created after beams of particles crash into each other at near light
speeds.
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- While “particle physics” is deeply rooted
in “quantum mechanics”, the observation of quantum entanglement in a new
particle system was made and at much higher energy than previously possible.
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- Particles that are entangled have their
properties connected to each other, so that a change to one instantaneously
causes a change to another, even if they are separated by vast distances.
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- Albert Einstein famously dismissed the idea
as "spooky action at a distance," but later experiments proved that
the bizarre, locality-breaking effect is indeed real. This “heaviest antimatter particle” ever
discovered could hold secrets to our universe's origins.
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- But there are many aspects of entanglement
that remain unexplored, and the one between quarks is one of them. This is
because the subatomic particles cannot exist on their own, instead fusing
together into various particle "recipes" called hadrons. Mixtures of
three quarks are called “baryons” , such as the proton and the neutron, and combinations of quarks and their
antimatter opposites are called “mesons”.
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- When individual quarks are ripped from
hadrons, the energy used to extract them makes them immediately unstable, and
they decay into branching jets of smaller particles in a process known as
“hadronization”.
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- This means that to observe the entanglement
of a top quark and an antiquark, scientists at the LHC's ATLAS and Compact Muon
Solenoid (CMS) detectors had to pick out the distinct particles that they
decayed into from billions of others.
They looked for particles whose decay products were emitted at a
distinct angle that occurs only between entangled particles.
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- By measuring these angles and correcting
for experimental effects that may have changed them, the team observed
entanglement between top particles with a large enough statistical significance
to be considered “real”. Now that the entangled particles have been spotted,
the scientists say they want to study them to further probe unknown physics.
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- With measurements of entanglement and other
quantum concepts in a new particle system and at an energy range beyond what
was previously accessible, we can test the Standard Model of particle physics
in new ways and look for signs of new physics that may lie beyond it
-
- The new space-based “atom interferometry”
will lead to exciting new discoveries and fantastic quantum technologies
impacting everyday life, and will transport us into a quantum future.
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- Scientists at NASA's Cold Atom Lab (CAL)
onboard the International Space Station (ISS) have announced that, for the
first time, they have successfully made high-precision measurements using a
quantum sensor based on ultra-cold atoms of the element Rubidium.
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- This is a significant achievement with
wide-ranging applications, as these sensors could surpass traditional ones in
sensitivity and accuracy, enabling advancements in fields like GPS technology
and telecommunications.
-
- Working versions of these sensors would
offer new opportunities for scientific discoveries through the study of quantum
phenomena, testing the limits of fundamental physics. Maybe even pushing beyond theories such as
general relativity and the Standard Model of particle physics.
-
- The atom interferometer technique is based
on the same principles as optical interferometry, where light is split into two
beams that travel along different optical paths before getting combined to
produce interference. Any differences between the beams' paths allows for
extremely precise detection of changes in the environment.
-
- Instead of light, however, atom
interferometry uses atoms cooled to near absolute zero (-459 degrees
Fahrenheit), and relies on their ability to exist in multiple positions and
motions at the same time due to quantum effects that become apparent at this
ultra-cold temperature.
-
- When atoms move through an interferometer,
they create patterns called “fringes”, which contain information about forces
like gravity or other environmental influences. And, because atoms move much
slower than light, they are affected by these forces for a longer time,
allowing for very precise measurements that are much more sensitive than their
optical counterparts.
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- On Earth, atom interferometers have allowed
scientists to achieve incredible feats, such as building absolute gravimeters
and investigating changes in fundamental constants of nature with baffling
accuracy. But physicists have been eager to apply atom interferometry in space,
where microgravity helps eliminate interference and allows scientists to take
even longer measurements that would actually improve the instrument's
sensitivity altogether.
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- The CAL scientists were able to run their
measurements remotely from Earth. It
will become possible to make even more precise measurements of gravity that
would allow us to investigate and understand our universe in greater detail than ever. They could reveal the composition of planets
and moons in our solar system, because different materials have different
densities that create subtle variations in gravity.
-
- This enhanced sensitivity could also enable
scientists to finally detect “dark matter”, an elusive substance that has
remained a cosmic mystery due to its weak interactions with particles and
gravitational fields.
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- Atom interferometry could also be used to
test Einstein's theory of general relativity in new ways. This is the basic theory explaining the
large-scale structure of our universe, and we know that there are aspects of
the theory that we don’t understand correctly. This technology may help us fill
in those gaps and give us a more complete picture of the reality we inhabit.
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- November 4, 2024 QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT
- is it real? 4599
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--------------------- --- Thursday, November 7,
2024
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