[People’s Daily] China continues to lead in quantum communication research
Thousands of kilometers away, quantum entanglement is still there. China experiment answers Einstein’s puzzle
China continues to lead in quantum communication research.
On June 16th, Chinese scientists took the lead in successfully realizing the two-way quantum entanglement distribution between the satellite and the ground in the world by using the "Mozi" quantum science experimental satellite, and on this basis, they realized the nonlocality test of quantum mechanics that strictly met the "Einstein localization condition" on the spatial scale, which laid a reliable technical foundation for the future experimental research on large-scale quantum networks and quantum communication, as well as the experimental test of the basic principles of physics such as general relativity and quantum gravity in outer space.
This achievement was made by a research team composed of Pan Jianwei, a professor at China University of Science and Technology, and Peng Chengzhi, a colleague, in collaboration with Wang Jianyu Research Group of Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Institute of Microsatellite Innovation, Institute of Optoelectronic Technology, National Astronomical Observatory, Purple Mountain Observatory, National Space Science Center, etc., with the support of the strategic pilot science and technology project of space science of China Academy of Sciences. On the same day, relevant achievements were published in the international authoritative academic journal Science in the form of cover papers.
Two entangled quanta, no matter how far apart, can affect each other instantly.
On August 16th, 2016, China successfully launched the first quantum science experimental satellite "Mozi", which is one of the first scientific experimental satellites in the space science pilot project of China Academy of Sciences.
Quantum is the smallest and indivisible unit of energy in the physical world. Quantum entanglement is one of the two wonderful properties of quantum. "It is a quantum state composed of two (or more) particles. No matter how far apart the particles are, measuring one of them will inevitably affect other particles. Two entangled quanta are like a pair of telepathic twins. No matter how far apart they are, on the order of thousands of kilometers or more, as long as the state of one of them changes, the state of the other person will also change. " Pan Jianwei said, "This phenomenon is called nonlocality of quantum mechanics. The nonlocality of quantum entanglement is one of the most magical phenomena in quantum mechanics. "
Einstein called quantum entanglement "ghostly action at a distance", and he thought that this effect may be manipulated by some so-called "hidden variable" that people may not understand for the time being. So, is Einstein right?
In 1964, physicist john bell put forward an experimental scheme, which can be tested. "This is the quantum entanglement distribution experiment. Let a machine emit the prepared pairs of entangled particles (usually photons) in two directions, and then randomly measure the polarization direction of entangled photons at different angles. " Peng Chengzhi, a researcher at the University of Science and Technology of China, the chief engineer of the scientific application system of the quantum science experimental satellite and the deputy chief engineer of the satellite system, said, "If the measurement results meet the Bell inequality, Einstein is right; Otherwise, it is proved that the nonlocality of quantum mechanics is real. "
To verify whether quantum entanglement exists at a longer distance, we need to experiment in space.
In the quantum entanglement distribution experiment, in order to ensure the space-like separation of measurement events, scientists always place two detection devices at a certain distance. Every time they finish a round of experiments, they will think, if the distance is farther, does quantum entanglement still exist?
However, because quantum entanglement is very fragile, it will decay with the transmission distance of photons in optical fiber or in the surface atmosphere. In other words, if this experiment is done on the ground, the transmission distance cannot be too long.
"Even with the most advanced ideal single-photon detector, point-to-point quantum communication in 1200 km optical fiber can only transmit one bit every 30,000 years. Just like a team with 1 million people, there may be only a few people left in the end, and it took a long time to reach the destination. " Pan Jianwei said, "This leads to the low efficiency of information transmission over a long distance, so the previous quantum entanglement distribution experiment only stayed at a distance of 100 kilometers."
How can we further extend the distance of quantum entanglement distribution? Pan Jianwei said that there are two ways in theory at present. One is to use quantum relay, that is, to divide the transmission into several segments to reduce the loss of each segment, and solve this problem by means of "quantum relay". However, at present, this approach is still seriously restricted by factors such as quantum storage life and readout efficiency, so it can not be applied in practice.
"The other is to use the satellite platform. Because in space, there is basically a vacuum near the orbit of the satellite, and most of the air is attached to the surface of the earth. Therefore, if entangled photons are emitted from space to the ground, the interference will be relatively small and the loss will be small. Combined with the transfer of satellites, it is expected to realize ultra-long-distance quantum entanglement distribution on a global scale. " Pan Jianwei said, "Our research team decided to use this way to extend the distance of quantum entanglement distribution, and in 2003, we proposed a scheme to realize long-distance quantum entanglement distribution by using satellites."
When the satellite transits through the border, it realizes the two-way quantum entanglement distribution between the satellite and the ground in 1200 kilometers.
How is this experiment conducted?
"When the Mozi crossed the border, it established optical links with two ground stations, Delingha Station in Qinghai and Gaomeigu Station in Lijiang, Yunnan." Wang Jianyu, a researcher at Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, executive deputy chief engineer of quantum science experimental satellite engineering and commander-in-chief of satellite system, said that the entanglement source load on the satellite generates 8 million entangled photon pairs per second, and the establishment of optical link can establish quantum entanglement between two stations over 1,200 kilometers on the ground at the speed of one pair per second, and the transmission attenuation of this quantum entanglement is only one trillion times that of the lowest loss ground optical fiber of the same length.
Pan Jianwei said: "Under the condition of closing the localization loophole and measuring the selective loophole, the experimental results we obtained violated Bell’s inequality with four standard deviations, that is, the quantum mechanical nonlocality test that strictly meets Einstein’s localization condition was realized on the spatial scale of thousands of kilometers."
Reviewers of Science magazine praised the achievement as "a major technological breakthrough with potential practical application and the importance of basic scientific research".
Pan Jianwei said that using the developed quantum entanglement distribution technology, the research team is conducting experiments to create keys to realize information transmission between heaven and earth. At present, one of the main challenges of quantum communication is how to distinguish and receive the signals of quantum satellites when there are a large number of optical photons in the daytime, so as to realize quantum communication. Other important scientific experimental tasks of Mozi satellite, including high-speed satellite-ground quantum key distribution and teleportation of satellite quantum, are also under intense and smooth progress. It is expected that more scientific achievements will be released one after another this year.
Our reporter Wu Yuehui People’s Daily (June 17, 2017, 04 edition)
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2017-06/17/nw.D110000renmrb_20170617_7-04.htm









