Einstein dubbed the idea of quantum entanglement as “spooky action at a distance.” Now for the first time ever, scientists have taken a picture of it.
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Today we understand quantum entanglement as when a pair of particles that cross paths and interact with each other can become connected and stay that way, even when the particles are spaced very far apart.
Once particles are intertwined in this way, changes to one particle can immediately shape the other particle, an odd scientific phenomenon that has been proven through experiments with atoms and molecules, and more recently through entangled objects of even larger scales.
Quantum entanglement is a key part of quantum mechanics, which forms the basis for fields such as quantum computing and cryptography, so there is considerable interest in advancing our understanding of it.
For scientists at the University of Glasgow, this led them to study a form of quantum entanglement known as Bell entanglement, described by late physicist John Stewart Bell.
Albert Einstein conceived of special and general relativity, but when it came to the idea that two particles can be entangled, and an impact on one particle could be instantaneously felt by the other particle, even over vast distances, for Einstein that was simply unbelievable.
Einstein even went to his grave a skeptic, but since then, quantum entanglement has been demonstrated time and time again, and now for the first time ever, researchers from the University of Glasgow have taken a picture of it.
Learn more about these photographed entangled photons and quantum entanglement on this episode of Elements.
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A ‘spooky’ effect of physics that Einstein couldn’t believe has been photographed for the first time
“The picture represents the first photograph made by quantum entanglement, or the “spooky” pairing of particles. ‘The image we’ve managed to capture is an elegant demonstration of a fundamental property of nature, seen for the very first time in the form of an image.'”
Imaging Bell-type nonlocal behavior
“A BBO crystal pumped by an ultraviolet laser is used as a source of entangled photon pairs.The two photons are separated on a beam splitter (BS). An intensified camera triggered by a SPAD is used to acquire ghost images of a phase object placed on the path of the first photon and nonlocally filtered by four different spatial filters that can be displayed on an SLM (SLM 2) placed in the other arm.”
‘Spooky’ Quantum Entanglement Finally Captured in Stunning Photo
“Recently, a group at the University of Glasgow used a sophisticated system of lasers and crystals to capture the first-ever photo of quantum entanglement violating one of what’s now known as ‘Bell’s inequalities.'”
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