Live data from Hacker News

Researchers have successfully teleported wave packets of light

abc.net.au

21–30 of 56 posts

Re: Researchers have successfully teleported wave packets of light

#21
post #2

I have no idea what that experiment does but the pic is cool! EDIT: The pic is not cool?

Downvotes probably due to people thinking that your comment adds nothing to the conversation, not necessarily disagreeing with you (I would think that the pic would be cooler if it were higher res; as it is, I can't make much sense of it).

Re: Researchers have successfully teleported wave packets of light

#22

One thing that isn't clear in this article is whether they really teleportated it, meaning that they were able to transfer information instantaneously from point A to point B (which would go against Einstein's relativity law that states that nothing can go faster than the speed of light), or if they just transported a light beam from one point to another with regular means of communication. It sounds more like it's t…

The speed limit of the universe isn't just some hypothesis waiting to be disproven. It can't be broken. It's impossible.

Re: Researchers have successfully teleported wave packets of light

#23
post #17

Can anyone explain what quantum teleportation is? Wikipedia does not help, aside from assuring me that it is not what I thought it was: Quantum teleportation, or entanglement-assisted teleportation, is a process by which a qubit (the basic unit of quantum information) can be transmitted exactly (in principle) from one location to another, without the qubit being transmitted through the intervening space. It is useful…

They entangled a q-bit with a packet of light, and then sent it from one place to another (presumably using fiber optic or something), without breaking entanglement.

This is important because it gets you the ability to route quantum information to different places.

Presumably a quantum bus in a computer or a quantum fiber-optic line.

I can see the marketing pamphlets now!

Re: Researchers have successfully teleported wave packets of light

#24
Why are people assuming that 'teleportation' means instantaneous travel?

To me, teleporting has always meant transferring the information that describes an object to another location, where the object is reproduced. This transfer of information occurs via light/radio waves or similar.

Re: Researchers have successfully teleported wave packets of light

#25
post #21
post #2

I have no idea what that experiment does but the pic is cool! EDIT: The pic is not cool?

Downvotes probably due to people thinking that your comment adds nothing to the conversation, not necessarily disagreeing with you (I would think that the pic would be cooler if it were higher res; as it is, I can't make much sense of it).

http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201104/r751650_6238699.jpg

reasonably high res

Re: Researchers have successfully teleported wave packets of light

#26
post #24

Why are people assuming that 'teleportation' means instantaneous travel? To me, teleporting has always meant transferring the information that describes an object to another location, where the object is reproduced. This transfer of information occurs via light/radio waves or similar.

I hate to post what is nearly a "me too", but I'd also like to ask that question, with the clarification that I do not mean it as a rhetorical equivalent of "No, of course it's not instantaneous, duh", I am genuinely curious where the sheer confidence of the definition of "teleportation" as "instantaneous in violation of relativity" suddenly came from. Is there some scifi show on TV that I'm not watching that is promulgating this interpretation or something? I've seen the belief that entanglement can be used for FTL communication going back unto yea the very beginnings of the internet but this solid and shared definition of instantaneous is new to me vs. even the iteration of this whole argument I saw a few months ago. (Fringe maybe? Haven't started that yet.)

Re: Researchers have successfully teleported wave packets of light

#27

So what's the meaning here? I've been reading similar (to a non quantum physicist) stories for years and RTFA. What will this change about my life?

Minimum round trip time between San Francisco and Tokyo is about 60ms due to the speed of light, which means in practice FPS games are unplayable across the ocean. If they manage to implement this shit, we'll be able to have FPS games hosted anywhere in the world!

If we could actually break causality, playing games would be the last thing on our minds.

Re: Researchers have successfully teleported wave packets of light

#28
post #17

Can anyone explain what quantum teleportation is? Wikipedia does not help, aside from assuring me that it is not what I thought it was: Quantum teleportation, or entanglement-assisted teleportation, is a process by which a qubit (the basic unit of quantum information) can be transmitted exactly (in principle) from one location to another, without the qubit being transmitted through the intervening space. It is useful…

I found it best described as such: you put a white marble and a black marble in separate paper bags. You send one to a friend. As soon as you open the bag, you instantaneously know what color the other marble is. That doesn't mean you can instantaneously communicate with your friend.

Re: Researchers have successfully teleported wave packets of light

#29

One thing that isn't clear in this article is whether they really teleportated it, meaning that they were able to transfer information instantaneously from point A to point B (which would go against Einstein's relativity law that states that nothing can go faster than the speed of light), or if they just transported a light beam from one point to another with regular means of communication. It sounds more like it's t…

It's explicitly clear in the article that this isn't "instantaneous" travel. As much as I hate the analogy, they basically were able to copy the box, the cat, the Geiger counter, and the radioactive trigger wholesale and transmit the copy somewhere else. Normally the process of copying would mean someone had to look in the box. This time they were able to copy the package without finding out if Heathcliff was alive or dead.

Re: Researchers have successfully teleported wave packets of light

#30
post #26
post #24

Why are people assuming that 'teleportation' means instantaneous travel? To me, teleporting has always meant transferring the information that describes an object to another location, where the object is reproduced. This transfer of information occurs via light/radio waves or similar.

I hate to post what is nearly a "me too", but I'd also like to ask that question, with the clarification that I do not mean it as a rhetorical equivalent of "No, of course it's not instantaneous, duh", I am genuinely curious where the sheer confidence of the definition of "teleportation" as "instantaneous in violation of relativity" suddenly came from. Is there some scifi show on TV that I'm not watching that is prom…

Not sure how anyone could of missed the whole teleport = instantaneous thing... Thankfully Wikipedia is here to save the day! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fiction_containing_tele...
Post reply on HN