Advance opens door for secure quantum applications without specialized infrastructure

  • JoShmoe@ani.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    18 hours ago

    If I understand it right, this could enable real time connectivity between client and server.

    • knightly the Sneptaur@pawb.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      28
      ·
      edit-2
      12 hours ago

      Nope, quantum entanglement can’t enable FTL communication. “Real time” still involves lightspeed lag.

      What it does is allows random bits of information to be transmitted in an entangled state. You send an entangled pair of photons, and find out afterwards who got a 1 or a 0 when the photons are observed at either end. They call it ‘quantum teleportation’ because both ends know what the other got, and the information about who got what can’t be intercepted without disrupting the enganglement.

      Once they can figure out how to preserve that uncertainty through repeaters, switches, and routers, then we can have a quantum internet that uses encryption based on shared quantum random numbers. It’s likely to be necessary soon since quantum computers might only be a few years from breaking current common encryption techniques.