Quantum teleportation is a process by which quantum information (e.g. the exact state of an atom or photon) can be transmitted (exactly, in principle) from one location to another, with the help of classical communication and previously shared quantum entanglement between the sending and receiving location. Because it depends on classical communication, which can proceed no faster than the speed of light, it cannot be used for faster-than-light transport or communication of classical bits. While it has proven possible to teleport one or more qubits of information between two (entangled) quanta, this has not yet been achieved between anything larger than molecules.
Although the name is inspired by the teleportation commonly used in fiction, quantum teleportation is limited to the transfer of information rather than matter itself. Quantum teleportation is not a form of transportation, but of communication: it provides a way of transporting a qubit from one location to another without having to move a physical particle along with it.
The term was coined by physicist Charles Bennett. The seminal paper first expounding the idea of quantum teleportation was published by C. H. Bennett, G. Brassard, C. Crépeau, R. Jozsa, A. Peres, and W. K. Wootters in 1993. Quantum teleportation was first realized in single photons, later being demonstrated in various material systems such as atoms, ions, electrons and superconducting circuits. The latest reported record distance for quantum teleportation is 1,400 km (870 mi) by the group of Jian-Wei Pan using the Micius satellite for space-based quantum teleportation.
Non-technical summary
In matters relating to quantum or classical information theory, it is convenient to work with the simplest possible unit of information, the two-state system. In classical information, this is a bit, commonly represented using one or zero (or true or false). The quantum analog of a bit is a quantum bit, or qubit. Qubits encode a type of information, called quantum information, which differs sharply from "classical" information. For example, quantum information can be neither copied (the no-cloning theorem) nor destroyed (the no-deleting theorem).
Quantum teleportation provides a mechanism of moving a qubit from one location to another, without having to physically transport the underlying particle to which that qubit is normally attached. Much like the invention of the telegraph allowed classical bits to be transported at high speed across continents, quantum teleportation holds the promise that one day, qubits could be moved likewise. As of 2015, the quantum states of single photons, photon modes, single atoms, atomic ensembles, defect centers in solids, single electrons, and superconducting circuits have been employed as information bearers.
The movement of qubits does not require the movement of "things" any more than communication over the internet does: no quantum object needs to be transported, but it is necessary to communicate two classical bits per teleported qubit from the sender to the receiver. The actual teleportation protocol requires that an entangled quantum state or Bell state be created, and its two parts shared between two locations (the source and destination, or Alice and Bob). In essence, a certain kind of quantum channel between two sites must be established first, before a qubit can be moved. Teleportation also requires a classical information channel to be established, as two classical bits must be transmitted to accompany each qubit. The reason for this is that the results of the measurements must be communicated, and this must be done over ordinary classical communication channels. The need for such classical channels may, at first, seem disappointing; however, this is not unlike ordinary communications, which requires wires, radios or lasers.[ further explanation needed ][ citation needed ] What's more, Bell states are most easily shared using photons from lasers,[ citation needed ] and so teleportation could be done, in principle, through open space, i.e., without the need to send the light through cables or optical fibers.
The quantum states of single atoms have been teleported. An atom consists of several parts: the qubits in the electronic state or electron shells surrounding the atomic nucleus, the qubits in the nucleus itself, and, finally, the electrons, protons and neutrons making up the atom. Physicists have teleported the qubits encoded in the electronic state of atoms; they have not teleported the nuclear state, nor the nucleus itself.[ citation needed ] It is therefore inaccurate to say "an atom has been teleported". The quantum state of an atom has.[ clarification needed ] Thus, performing this kind of teleportation requires a stock of atoms at the receiving site, available for having qubits imprinted on them.[ citation needed ] The importance of teleporting nuclear state is unclear:[ citation needed ] nuclear state does affect[ how? ] the atom, e.g. in hyperfine splitting, but whether such state would need to be teleported in some futuristic "practical" application is debatable.[ according to whom? ]
An important aspect of quantum information theory is entanglement, which imposes statistical correlations between otherwise distinct physical systems. These correlations hold even when measurements are chosen and performed independently, out of causal contact from one another, as verified in Bell test experiments. Thus, an observation resulting from a measurement choice made at one point in spacetime seems to instantaneously affect outcomes in another region, even though light hasn't yet had time to travel the distance; a conclusion seemingly at odds with special relativity (EPR paradox). However such correlations can never be used to transmit any information faster than the speed of light, a statement encapsulated in the no-communication theorem. Thus, teleportation, as a whole, can never be superluminal, as a qubit cannot be reconstructed until the accompanying classical information arrives.
Understanding quantum teleportation requires a good grounding in finite-dimensional linear algebra, Hilbert spaces and projection matrixes. A qubit is described using a two-dimensional complex number-valued vector space (a Hilbert space), which are the primary basis for the formal manipulations given below. A working knowledge of quantum mechanics is not absolutely required to understand the mathematics of quantum teleportation, although without such acquaintance, the deeper meaning of the equations may remain quite mysterious.
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