Quantum Teleportation Question from a Curious 10 year old

[Jacques Marrot]

I am doing a GT project for elementary school. The questions I have to ask are not too complicated, and I only have 2 questions. I know that during the teleportation of a particle the scientists are using quantum entanglement, but how do the scientists actually entangle the particles, and how does zapping the entangled sending particle with a laser actually set it off to teleport. Thank you so much for your time and help.

 

[PeterDonis]

Hi @Jacques Marrot and welcome to PF!

Is there a particular description of a quantum teleportation experiment that you are working from? It would help to have a specific reference.

 

[Jacques Marrot]

I am referencing photon teleportation for my project.

 

[PeterDonis]

I am referencing photon teleportation for my project.

Yes, I understand, but there are different photon teleportation experiments that have been conducted. Do you have a reference for the description of the specific experiment that you are using for your project?

 

[lekh2003]

I am doing a GT project for elementary school. The questions I have to ask are not too complicated, and I only have 2 questions. I know that during the teleportation of a particle the scientists are using quantum entanglement, but how do the scientists actually entangle the particles, and how does zapping the entangled sending particle with a laser actually set it off to teleport. Thank you so much for your time and help.

I'm not going to delve too deep into this question since it might be beyond my capabilities and your understanding as well. I'm going to try and answer your question regarding how the photons are entangled (I don't think I yet understand how they are teleport-ed).

All photons and elementary particles (neutrons, electrons, etc) have a spin state. This is not a physical spinning motion, but instead just a term used to describe the particles orientation. A particle can have an up-spin, down-spin, left-spin, right-spin, etc. These are different ways in which the particle is orientated. The idea behind photon entanglement is to separate a photon into two different orientations.

Scientists will pass lasers through special crystals which split photons. One of these photons will have an up-spin and the other will have a down-spin. The predictions were that these two photons with different orientations are linked together by some mysterious method and are linked together instantly. Even if they are millions of kilometers apart, they will be able to transport information between them. They are entangled. As for actual teleportation, I hope someone else can answer for you.

All I can say is, don't be afraid of these odd concepts which you come across. They will come to you naturally as you learn more about physics. No on expects you to fully grasp the concept of spin in your first go in elementary school, but you will eventually learn the concept in full detail and be able to explain it yourself.

 

[entropy1]

Are you new to quantum teleportation, or have you read about the subject already, Jacques?

 

[Jacques Marrot]

I have read up on it, with 30 second quantum theory which explains everything from quantum spin, to when the the longest recorded photon was teleportated, from one island of the Canaries to the other.

 

[Jacques Marrot]

Thank you very much for your help, I will read up on quantum spin, and hopefully get a better understanding of quantum entanglement, which would help greatly. Thank you very much for your time, and help.

 

[lekh2003]

Thank you very much for your help, I will read up on quantum spin, and hopefully get a better understanding of quantum entanglement, which would help greatly. Thank you very much for your time, and help.

You're welcome!

 

[gr71cj5]

Q: How do the scientists actually entangle the particles.
A: The particles are already entangled. It is a condition of their physical existence in nature. The scientists do no invoke this condition.

Q: How does zapping the entangled sending particle with a laser actually set it off to teleport.
A: Lasers are used to impose energy into a system. Lasers let you choose very precisely the frequency, amount, and duration of energy being applied (that is why there are so many different types of lasers). Hence, the scientists are manually manipulating the energy of a natural system to invoke a phenomenon and witness the behavior.

 

[PeterDonis]

The particles are already entangled. It is a condition of their physical existence in nature. The scientists do no invoke this condition.

This is not correct. The preparation procedures for quantum teleportation experiments do in fact entangle particles that weren't previously entangled.

Lasers are used to impose energy into a system.

That's one thing they can be used for, but not the only one. In typical quantum teleportation experiments, lasers are used to make Bell measurements and to communicate their results. Neither of these involve "imposing energy" into a system.

 

[lekh2003]

Q: How do the scientists actually entangle the particles.
A: The particles are already entangled. It is a condition of their physical existence in nature. The scientists do no invoke this condition.

Think about what you are saying. Two photons or elementary particles are already entangled. The very idea of quantum entanglement is that two entangled particles follow similar rules and the two share some kind of instantaneous bond. Whatever happens to one, could happen to the other. If everything is already entangled, imagine the repercussions. Everything would be related to each other in some magical instantaneous bond generated by nature.

This cannot be. The physicists have to give the photon a state of quantum entanglement, it just doesn't happen automatically.

 

[MichPod]

For your first question see the following links

• http://spookyactionbook.com/2016/02/21/faq-how-are-entangled-particles-created-video/
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/chadorzel/2017/02/28/how-do-you-create-quantum-entanglement

There are ways to entangle two existing particles, but first of all, one may just create two particles which are entangled.

 

[MichPod]

As for your second question, I am not sure if any simple popular explanation exists.
You may start with http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a25699/how-quantum-teleportation-works/
then go through as many youtube presentations as you can (chances are you'll get some wrong ideas there, though).
The bottom line - it is not worth to learn what quantum teleportation is without knowing the basics of quantum mechanics.

And... "how does zapping the entangled sending particle with a laser actually set it off to teleport" - this looks really weird.
Particles do not teleport. What is teleported is rather some sort of "information" which allows to "read" the state of the source particle and "assign" it to the target partilce.
It is like making a photocopy of a document (yet much more sophisticated and note that in teleporation when you make a "photocopy", the source "document" must be destroyed).
Don't take this description and analogy as 100% correct or a point to start any reasoning, this is just an imprecise description of what is happening.

 

[Jacques Marrot]

Thank you very much!