Entanglement is a strange feature of quantum physics, the science of the very small. It’s possible to link together two quantum particles – photons of light or atoms, for example – in a special way that makes them effectively two parts of the same entity. You can then separate them as far as you like, and a change in one is instantly reflected in the other. This odd, faster than light link, is a fundamental aspect of quantum science – Erwin Schrödinger, who came up with the name “entanglement” called it “the characteristic trait of quantum mechanics.”
It's fascinating because this "spooky action" ignores the otherwise-seemingly-inviolable universal speed limit: the speed of light in a vacuum.
Taking a different tack, researchers have now built a macro, human-scale electromechanical device that lets radio waves also break the speed of light barrier.
Device Makes Radio Waves Travel Faster Than Light
It's different from entanglement, which involves individual particles: If I'm reading the article right, they're making radio wavefronts move superluminally, although no single radio photon does so. In other words (and again, if I'm reading it right), the radio beam operates normally, but information could move across the beam at speeds greater than the beam itself, much like ripples in a stream can move faster than the stream itself.
Faster than light "subspace radio" or "hyperspace radio" has been a staple of science fiction for decades, although the writers rarely take a shot at explaining how it might work. But oddly, I remember this exact technique--- manipulating wavefronts across an established radio link-- proposed in a science fiction story many years ago. Anyone remember the story?
In any case, it's another chink in the armor of classical quantum mechanics. Einstein was 100 years ago: we need another Einstein now!
Fred, here's a response from my manager's brother (PhD in Physics):
ReplyDeleteSorry, but this is nonsense.
First off, the article correctly states that information cannot travel faster than light (the blog guy seems to have missed that point).
This is true with entanglement as well. So we are still stuck with the laws of the universe (!). In order words, you can set up clever situations, but you can never actually profit by it (because information transfer is still constrained).
All that this article says is they can coordinate a wave front to travel faster than light.
1) I bet it only works for the span of space encompassed by the dielectric wave guide.
2) Correspondingly, it would only apply for an infinitesimal time span.
A better solution is to change the electric permittivity of space itself. Then the speed of light changes and then you can do really cool stuff like take advantage of higher velocity situations which can simulate accelerated time travel, et al.