The team of scientists from the South Ural State University (participant of Project 5-100, which aims to increase the competitiveness of Russian universities), have looked into conditions, required for quantum transfer of information and determined the possibility of establishment of creating conditions in reality.
This task poses interest both from the basic standpoint (whether such a thing is possible) and from the applied one because light signals can transmit information using the entangled (connected) particles. The scientists have proposed an algorithm for the generation of light in the ‘Schroedinger’s cat’ state’.
In 1935, Austrian physicist Erwin Schroedinger, one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics, conducted a now-famous thought experiment. He proposed to lock a cat in a box and condition its life on the decay of an atom.
Should the atom decay, a relay would go off, killing a cat with poisonous gas; however, should the atom stay intact, the cat will stay alive. When an observer opens the box, they would see only one specific state: either the atom decayed and the cat has died, or the atom has not decayed and the cat is alive. Before the box is open, the cat effectively stays both dead and alive at the same time.
Schroedinger’s illustration describes the main paradox of quantum physics: particles, such as electrons, photons, and even atoms can exist in both states at the same time. The creation of optical elements for quantum computers using elementary particles is considered a very promising field these days.
The Schroedinger’s Cat optical state decreases losses during quantum processing of information, the researchers say, adding that such states could be created in any environment and with large amplitudes. However, a number of problems arise when working with them. For example, such a state must be made stable, and quantum operations must happen very quickly. In the future, the scientists intend to conduct experiments using the algorithm they’ve developed.
A quantum computer is a potentially possible device that would efficiently crunch through complicated algorithms, such as the prompt selection of a correct decision out of millions of possibilities, or search through unsorted data, which classical computers cannot perform efficiently.