Entanglement, ftl communication and destruction of the entangled state

In summary, the no-communication theorem in quantum mechanics states that it is not possible to send information through entangled particles due to the randomness of measurements and the subsequent destruction of entanglement. Even if it were possible to control the polarization of entangled photons, the entanglement can only be used once and any attempt to measure it would destroy it. This makes it impractical for communication purposes, and any potential breakthrough in this area would have to overcome fundamental principles of physics.
  • #1
mix609
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my question is about the no-communication theorem in quantum mechanics:
Assume that i have a pair of entangled photons which are entangled on their polarization. also assume that i send one to alice and another to bob. and alice wants to send a message to bob. no communication theorem states that communication is not possible because the polarization when measured by the sender(alice) will be random and while alice can know what result bob will get if he measures the polarization of his photon, it does not imply communication because alice would have to use a classical channel to communicate what result she got upon measurement, to bob. that defeats the very purpose of the experiment

my question is, what if its possible to control the polarization on alice's side by some means(assuming physicists find out some new novel way to do this 5 or 10 years from now. i know this is a very BIG assumption but perhaps possible after a decade more of QM research). can the no communication theorem be said to be violated now? my other question is: even if it were possible to control the polarization, would it be possible to reuse the photon pairs for communicating more than once?(cause any attempt to measure the entanglement will also destroy it. hence only 1 bit of data can be sent and the entanglement is subsequently and immediately destroyed). so can it be said that: not only is the randomness a problem, the other problem is that the entanglement can be used only once per photon pair and in order to communicate 1 byte(1 byte=8 bits) of data, one would require 8 entangled photon pairs?
 
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  • #2
mix609 said:
my question is, what if its possible to control the polarization on alice's side by some means(assuming physicists find out some new novel way to do this 5 or 10 years from now. i know this is a very BIG assumption but perhaps possible after a decade more of QM research).

So your question is why isn't it possible to send information FTL if some way was discovered on how to do it?

That's tautological and as such not really saying anything.

If such was possible it would violate a very basic principle of physics called the cluster decomposition property and would be a revolution in physics earning its discoverer an instant Nobel prize. You can't predict the future, but such seems highly unlikely because it would mean violating causality which in effect is predicting the future.

Thanks
Bill
 
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  • #3
bhobba said:
So your question is why isn't it possible to send information FTL if some way was discovered on how to do it?


and my other question was: can an entangled photon pair be reused to send information or is it possible not more than once coz when alice measures, the entangled state is destroyed due to the act of measuring?
 
  • #4
mix609 said:
and my other question was: can an entangled photon pair be reused to send information or is it possible not more than once coz when alice measures, the entangled state is destroyed due to the act of measuring?

The measurement ends the entanglement.
 
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  • #5
Nugatory said:
The measurement ends the entanglement.

which suggests that its pretty useless even if it were possible to communicate ftl coz its like having a cell phone which let's u say "hello" and then self destructs itself and now a brand new phone has to be purchased to say the next word after which it again self destructs and so on...

So if one day if its somehow possible to overcome the randomness barrier, an entangled photon pair can still be used to send only 1 bit and then it expires. yeah, one cud use several such pairs to send longer messages but all of them would be "exhausted" rapidly
 

What is entanglement?

Entanglement is a phenomenon in quantum physics where two or more particles become connected in such a way that the state of one particle is dependent on the state of the other, even if they are separated by large distances.

How does entanglement allow for ftl (faster-than-light) communication?

Entanglement does not actually allow for ftl communication. It is often mistakenly thought that measuring the state of one entangled particle can instantly affect the state of the other, regardless of the distance between them. However, this does not violate the speed of light limit since the measurement results cannot be used to transmit information.

What is the difference between classical and quantum entanglement?

Classical entanglement refers to the correlation between two classical particles, where their states are connected but can still be described by classical physics. In contrast, quantum entanglement involves particles that are connected in a way that cannot be described by classical physics, and their states can only be fully understood through quantum mechanics.

Can the entangled state be destroyed?

The entangled state itself cannot be destroyed, as it is an inherent property of the particles. However, the entanglement between two particles can be disrupted or lost if they interact with other particles or if their states are measured. This is known as decoherence, and it can cause the entangled particles to no longer exhibit correlated behavior.

What are some potential practical applications of entanglement?

Entanglement has potential applications in quantum computing, quantum encryption, and quantum teleportation. It could also be used in future technologies for improved communication and sensing capabilities. However, much more research and development is needed before these applications can become a reality.

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