It was in the year 1993 scientists considered teleportation is feasible. IBM has released a paper about teleporting a quantum state in Physical Review Letters — the paper talked about teleporting a quantum state, rather than just an object. In 1998, this was put into practice by the physicists from the California Institute of Technology and the University of Wales, UK by teleporting a photon — a particle that carries light. It was done through coaxial cabling used to connect satellite signals and broadband internet.
The ability to move something across physical space is amazing. Scientists are sure that a breakthrough in quantum computing could make this possible.
Though the experiments have relied on photons, in 2020, it was discovered that even electrons could be teleported. Electrons would be able to sustain their quantum state for longer periods of time.
This could lead to transportation of more complex bodies. The porting could be applicable to whole atoms, molecules and some human test object. Whole humans? Is it possible that the collectivity of the particles inside the human body can be reassembled at its destination? Can the body which has broken up atom by atom, cell by cell add up to one intact body after teleportation?
Quantum computing, as we have observed in previous write ups, is based on quantum entanglement. It is an area of quantum mechanics where matter and energy behave weirdly at the sub-atomic level. The state of physical properties between entangled particles are transferred from one particle to the other, regardless of distance. Such properties include position, momentum, spin or polarization.
Classical computers are based on two states — 1 or 0. Quantum computing runs on qubits or quantum bits, where the two states exist simultaneously. It is called (coherent) superposition.
A qubit can perform two computations at once. If these qubits are linked together using quantum entanglement, it will enhance computing power exponentially. What a supercomputer can take thousands of years, a quantum circuit could calculate in 200 seconds. This is a practical example of the leverage of entanglement. The other application is its use as a tool of teleportation.
In 2002, scientists teleported particles using quantum entanglements. In 2016, a particle was teleported in Canada for six kms. In 2017, Chinese scientists teleported photon from earth to a sabellite orbiting the earth above 186 miles. There was a critical milestone in teleportation in 2012. Photons were teleported between two land masses in Spain’s Canary Islands. It was teleportation through open air, and no other medium such as cable was used. This is akin to teleportation in science fiction.
Teleportation is based on a mysterious force that keeps the physical states of distant particles in sync.
If there are more than two particle (say particle A, B and C), then properties of particle A could be transferred to C, after A and B get entangled. This occurs though A and C are not in contact. In other words, A has teleported to C. Einstein called such effects ‘spooky action at a distance.’
Researchers think that entangled particles communicate through wave function.
When a quantum state is applied to an entangled particle, the original particle’s quantum states is destroyed.
This collapse of the original properties makes teleporting humans an ethical issue. This is the holy grail of teleportation.
It is to be noted we are not transporting matter, but the information that characterizes quantum state.
John Clauser, Nobel laureate, 2022 asks you a thought-provoking question. If teleporting atoms in the body are disassembled so that you are destroyed, would it be okay that a replica of yours starts moving around afterwards?