Physicists spooked by faster-than-light information transfer

Nature ^ | 8/13/08 | Geoff Brumfiel

[beezdotcom]

It also shows that humans have attached undue importance to the three dimensions of space and one of time we live in, he argues.

Add one dimension, recompute and remeasure. Repeat if necessary.

[Hoosier-Daddy]

Mr. Bell & Mr. Bohm were right.

[Steely Tom]

Open a subspace channel to Star Fleet Command, Lt. Uhura.

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[mewzilla]

The finding does not violate the laws of quantum mechanics, the theory that physicists use to describe the behaviour of very small systems. Rather, it shows just how quantum mechanics can defy everyday expectation, says Nicolas Gisin, the researcher who led the study.

Okaaaaay....I so do not get the distinction.

“Our experiment just puts the finger where it hurts,” he says.

Where it hurts? Snort. Namely my brain, from trying to figger this out.

[colinhester]

Bump for later read....C

[ovrtaxt]

This is news? The Demicans and Republicrats have been demonstrating ‘entanglement’ like this for decades.

[RedStateRocker]

“if you are not confused and annoyed by quantum theory you do not understand it”
-Richard Feynman

[mewzilla]

The bottom line, says Gisin is that “there is just no time for these two photons to communicate”.

Ummm...aren't photons, like, inanimate objects?

Dang, Mr. Mew just gave up trying to explain this to me, and he's usually got the patience of Job.

Aaaaaargh.

[Maelstorm]

I don’t know why they are surprised at this. There has been experiment after experiment showing this. I know many scientists have been in denial and have claimed for some time that entanglement would not allow faster than light information travel but it does. There has also been some very good experiments using entangled photons in remote scanning where two beams of photons are used. The one beam of entangled photons are used to scan a target while the other is directed to a sensor and from the resultant information of the second beam only there has been some success generating an image.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a crude quantum semaphore system couldn’t be devised to show clearly that information can be transmitted faster than the speed of light.

[hunter112]

You and me, Mew! I still can’t wrap my brain around the concept that the speed of light is constant, and any circumstance where the speed of light appears to be faster or slower, than time is either slower or faster, respectively. Why can’t it be the other way around?

[mewzilla]

“if you are not confused and annoyed by quantum theory you do not understand it”

-Richard Feynman

Hee hee. I feel better now!

Thanks! :)

[MHGinTN]

ker ping!

[LibWhacker]

You’re not alone, buddy, lol!

First they say that direct communication is impossible. Then they say that if it occurred it had to have taken place at least 100,000 times faster than light! Huh?

[js1138]

Not to pop any bubbles, but the comments start with this:

There was no FTL information transfer. The wavefunction instantaneouly collapsed into an observable, by the book, sourcing consistent data. Information existed only after opposite ends compared datasets - and that transmission happens no faster than lightspeed. Viewing one dataset allows no conclusions to be drawn. It won't even do FTL Morse code. The universe is causal.

[SatinDoll]

The secret lives of subatomic particles! I just love this stuff.

[LibWhacker]

I just wish I could stop thinking like a monkey!

[driftdiver]

complicated by the fact that observation has an impact on the outcome.

[Telepathic Intruder]

There are a few other examples in quantum physics of instantaneous effects, but to call it “information” is misleading. It can never be used for communication purposes, for instance, because the “information” is really only partial. Altering an entangled particle will effect the other one similarly, but also randomly. In order to compare the two, you still need to communicate the information at light speed (or less).