The Physics Of The Micro World Contains Two Well-known Strange Concepts. The First Concept Is That It Is Impossible To Know Exactly The Measurement Result Of A Particle Before Observation. Instead, The Particle Exists In A "superposition" Of Many Mutually Exclusive States.
Therefore, A Particle Can Appear In Two Or More Places At The Same Time, And What People Can Do Is To Calculate The Probability Of Finding It In A Certain Position During Observation. The Second Involves "entanglement", A Ghostly Connection That Combines Two Objects, No Matter How Far Apart They Are Physically. Quantum Theory Mathematically Describes Superposition And Entanglement.
But Many Physicists Believe That The Ultimate Theory Of Reality May Lie Outside Quantum Theory. Now, A Team Of Physicists And Mathematicians Has Found A New Connection Between These Two Strange Properties, Which Does Not Assume That Quantum Theory Is Correct. Their Research Report Has Been Published In Physical Review Letters.
Ludovico Lami, A Physicist At The University Of Ulm In Germany And A Member Of The Institute For Basic Problems (fqxi), A Physics Think-tank, Said: "we Are Really Happy To Find This New Connection Beyond Quantum Theory, Because It Will Be Effective Even For More Strange Theories That Have Not Been Found." In Addition, He Added: "this Is Also Very Important Because It Is Independent Of The Mathematical Formalism Of Quantum Theory And Uses Only Concepts With Direct Operational Interpretation." Lami Co Authored The Study With Guillaume Aubrun Of The First University Of Lyon, France, Carlos Palazuelos Of Comptons University In Madrid, Spain, And Martin Pl á Val Of Siegen University In Germany.
Although Quantum Theory Has Proved Extremely Successful Since Its Development A Century Ago, Physicists Have Been Trying To Unify It With Gravity To Create A General "theory Of Everything". This Shows That Quantum Theory May Not Be The Last Sentence To Describe Reality, Which Inspires Physicists To Find A More Basic Framework. However, Any Such Ultimate Theory Must Still Include The Probabilistic Properties Of Superposition, Entanglement And Reality, Because These Characteristics Have Been Repeatedly Confirmed In Laboratory Tests. Lami Pointed Out That The Interpretation Of These Experiments Does Not Depend On The Correctness Of Quantum Theory.
Quantum Cryptography
Quantum Entanglement Plays A Key Role In The Design Of Quantum Computers - This Machine Can Surpass Standard Computers In Some Tasks, And Also Plays A Key Role In Quantum Encryption Protocols. These Protocols Have Been Using And Using Quantum Rules To Provide Super Secure Communication On Channels That Are Theoretically Immune To Hackers. But If The Future Quantum Theory Eventually Needs To Be Replaced By Another More Basic Theory, Will We Find That These Rules Are Not Really Effective Or That These Encryption Protocols Are Not As Secure As Promised?
The Problem Is That To Find This, You Need To Analyze Superposition And Entanglement From Some General - Unclear - Theories, Rather Than Using The Mathematical Knowledge Of Quantum Theory. Lami And His Colleagues Solved This Problem By Studying "general Probability Theory" Rather Than Quantum Theory. This Research Was Partially Funded By Lami And Others From The Institute Of Fundamental Problems (fqxi) To Study The Characteristics And Limitations Of Intelligence In Generalized Probability Theory, Which Enables Them To Study How To Process Information In Abstract Classical, Quantum And "beyond Quantum" Systems.
In This New Paper Published In Physical Review Letters, The Team Shows That The Two Physical Theories Show Entanglement When Combined - If And Only If They Both Show Local Superposition. This Means That Entanglement And Superposition Are Equivalent In Any Physical Theory, Not Just In Quantum Theory. They Also Calculated That In The System Where This Equivalence Relationship Holds -- Whether Quantum Or Super Quantum -- The Law Of The Theory Can Be Used For Super Secure Encryption. In Particular, The Research Team Shows That A Popular Quantum Encryption Protocol, The So-called "BB84", Will Always Be Effective - Even If One Day It Is Found That Quantum Theory Is Not Completely Correct And Needs To Be Replaced By More Basic Theory.
"It's Comforting To Know That Cryptography Is Indeed A Feature Of All Non Classical Theories, Not Just A Quantum Circle, Because Many Of Us Believe That The Ultimate Theory Of Nature May Be Non Classical. Even If One Day We Find That Quantum Theory Is Incorrect, We Will Still Know That Secret Key Distribution Can Work In Principle," Lami Said.