A Russian scientist spoke about the teleportation of an image from 15 points

This was achieved thanks to improved quantum technologies

The quantum “teleportation” of an entire image was first transmitted over the network to a group of scientists from Spain and South Africa. An article about this was recently published in Nature communications. We asked a specialist in quantum technologies at the Physics Institute to explain the essence of the work. Lebedev RAS Ilya Semerikova.

Photo: Still from the film

The difference between quantum data transmission over optical fiber and the classical one that we all use now is, by and large, is that in the classical case information is encoded in billions of photons, and in the quantum case — in the state of single photons.

This method of transmitting information is by far the most reliable, since it is impossible for a third party to invade a network with quantum entanglement at the time of information transmission. The transmission involves elementary particles (quanta), the state of which cannot be “read” unnoticed without destroying them.

Currently, branches of quantum communications are already being created abroad and in Russia between banks for the transfer of secret information , for example, about stock exchange quotes. The new work of scientists will increase the throughput channel for information in one unit of time.

“If earlier specialists teleported one point from point A to point B using entangled photons, now, using the same two photons, they were able to immediately transmit an entire picture of up to 15 points in the same period of time,” explains Ilya Semerikov. – This is a bit like encoding a large amount of information into one photon from the science fiction book “The Three-Body Problem”.

— Yes.

< p>– An article published by colleagues talks about the use of more complex devices — not just a detector, which was usually used in quantum telecommunications, but a detector with a nonlinear crystal and a special spatial modulator. That is, they managed to convey a larger amount of information per unit of time, complicating the installation. Technically, the work is very cool, it opens the way to the transfer of states of complex quantum systems, for example, the register states of a quantum computer.

– To the teleportation of more complex images. This certainly expands the possibilities of information teleportation. Its essence can be explained using the following allegory: one photon sees a vase, the other talks about this vase, although he has never seen it.

– So far we are talking only about 100 km. This limit is predetermined by the capabilities of fiber optic networks, in which quantum information fades after a certain distance. It will be overcome only through the appearance of quantum repeaters, which will be located every 100 kilometers. Their role will be played by small quantum computers, copying the state of photons and transmitting them further.