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| Science & Technology |
| Schrödinger's Cat Lives |
| 2007-08-25 |
| Australian and French scientists have made another breakthrough in the technology that will drive next generation computers and teleportation. The researchers have successfully superposed light beams, which produces a state that appears to be both on and off at once. Light beams that are simultaneously on and off are vital for the next-generation super computers which should be faster than current computers based on bits, that are either on or off. Previously, only smaller light particles had been superposed and the group has also proved a quantum physics theory known as Schrödinger's cat. This theory, named after an Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger, proposed that a large object such as a cat could be simultaneously alive and dead. Researchers from The University of Queensland and University of Paris South have published the latest breakthrough in the international journal NATURE. UQ Centre for Quantum Computer Technology researcher Dr Hyunseok Jeong devised the scheme to generate and superpose the beams which was tested and proved by his French collaborators. Dr Jeong said his group used special lasers, crystals, photon detectors, half-mirrors and other optical devices to generate and measure the superposition of light beams. "It has been known to be extremely hard to generate Schrödinger cat states, particularly with traveling light," Dr Jeong said. "Even though one could generate such Schrodinger cat states, it would be extremely hard to observe them because in a very short time, they would be reduced to either alive or dead states." He said his group's research findings would help speed up the development of quantum information technologies such as quantum computers, quantum cryptography and quantum teleportation. "Using Schrödinger cat states, quantum teleportation may be performed with nearly 100 percent success probability." |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #12 #2 Gorb,those nine lives may be shorter than dollar store batteries if there are Pumas around. |
| Posted by: GK 2007-08-25 16:20 |
| #11 Sounds like a first -- proving a theory. |
| Posted by: Perfesser 2007-08-25 14:04 |
| #10 SteveS: The bawdy end to that joke is, that when they get to the nightclub where they were going, they bragged to the other physicists that the reason they were late was because on the way, they knocked off a little pussy. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-08-25 14:00 |
| #9 Can we let the cat out of the box now? |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2007-08-25 12:47 |
| #8 Heisenberg and Schroedinger are driving down the road. Heisenberg says "Erwin, I think you ran over a cat." Shroedinger asks "Is it dead?" Heisenberg replies "I cannot be certain." |
| Posted by: SteveS 2007-08-25 12:02 |
| #7 Actually Schrödinger's cat has nine states of on and off. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-08-25 09:46 |
| #6 ...which was tested and proved by his French collaborators. Old habits are hard to break. |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2007-08-25 08:13 |
| #5 Light beams that are simultaneously on and off are vital for the next-generation super computers which should be faster than current computers based on bits, that are either on or off. Have you ever tried to corral your bits when they start to run hogwild all over your office? It's worse than hurding cats. Then you have to go down to the Bit Store and buy a bunch more to replace the ones that ran off. uff da |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-08-25 08:09 |
| #4 Schrödinger's cat actually has nine distinct quantum states Gorb, LOL! |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-08-25 07:23 |
| #3 Schrödinger's Cat Lives. Good to hear. I hope he mantains an even state. Many poor animals like Pavlov's Dawg still have the shakes. Now what has become of Schrödinger's Cat's fleas? Were they along for the ride? |
| Posted by: Thomas Woof 2007-08-25 04:20 |
| #2 Further research has proven that while light seems to have two distinct quantum states, Schrödinger's cat actually has nine distinct quantum states, making cats more desirable than light as a medium for memory and communication in the next generation of computers. The challenges now will be developing a computer architecture that can take full advantage of this principle, what form the batteries will take because this kind of computer will consume catfood, and how to minimize and dissipate waste kitty litter smells generated during high-intensity calculations. |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-08-25 01:57 |
| #1 ...quantum teleportation... "Great idea! You go first..." |
| Posted by: PBMcL 2007-08-25 01:49 |