One of the
underlying principles of quantum theory is that quantum objects can exist as
waves or particles. But, they do not exist as either until they are measured,
making it seemingly unachievable to identify or track quantum objects when
they're not being observed.
But
recently, physicists faced this issue and proved that it is not an
impossibility to track unobserved quantum particles.
David
Arvidsson-Shukur, the study's first author and a Ph.D. student at Cambridge's
Cavendish Laboratory, became interested in a physics premise called "the wave function."
While it
seemed to contain a wealth of information, it had been used more as a
mathematical tool than a representation of actual quantum particles,
Arvidsson-Shukur explained in a press release.
"That's
why we took on the challenge of creating a way to track the secret movements of
quantum particles."
Within this
new study, published in the journal Physical Review A, researchers from the
University of Cambridge demonstrated that, by examining the way a quantum
object interacts with its environment instead of measuring the object itself,
you can track unobserved quantum particles.
As particles
move, they "tag" their environment.
Each
"tag," or interaction with their environment encodes information within
the particles. So Arvidsson-Shukur and his co-authors developed a method to map
these "tagging" interactions without directly observing them.
Also, in
following these "tags," the researchers found that they could decode
the information from the particles at the end of an experiment when the
particles were observed.
This will
allow scientists to follow the movement of quantum particles, giving them much
more insight into their behaviors.
The
Forbidden Domain
This new way
to track unobserved quantum particles could allow scientists to test old
predictions in quantum mechanics.
These
include ideas like that a particle can exist in two places at the same time, or
suggestions like telepathy in which information can be transmitted between two
people without any particles traveling between them.
So, not only
does this research prove that what was once thought to be a physical
impossibility is, in fact, possible — it also could potentially allow
researchers to verify the potential reality of telepathy.
But, perhaps
even more importantly, this experiment expanded physicists' understanding of wave particles.
Previously,
they had been thought to be abstract computational tools, used only to predict
the outcome of quantum experiments. But the researchers in this study found
that the information encoded into each quantum particle after each
"tagging" interaction is directly related to the wave function.
"Our result suggests that the wave function is closely related to the actual state of particles," Arvidsson-Shukur explained in the press release.
"So, we have been able to explore the 'forbidden domain' of quantum mechanics: pinning down the path of quantum particles when no one is observing them."
This
research could help to support continuing efforts to understand the movement and behavior of quantum particles and wave particles.
The
fundamental "truths" of quantum physics could be tested by a wealth
of new information, and many exciting new discoveries could be down the road.
This article
was originally published by Futurism. Read the original article.
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