TELEPORTATION 63
the information content of atom A is transferred to atom B. A and B become entangled in the process. But since B and C were originally entangled, the information within A has now been transferred to atom C.
In conclusion, atom A has now been teleported into atom C, that is, the
information content of A is now identical to that of C.
Notice that the information within atom A has been destroyed (so
we don't have two copies after the teleportation). This means that anyone being hypothetically teleported would die in the process. But the
information content of his body would appear elsewhere. Notice also
that atom A did not move to the position of atom C. On the contrary, it
is the information within A (e.g., its spin and polarization) that has
been transferred to C. (This does not mean that atom A was dissolved
and then zapped to another location. It means that the information
content of atom A has been transferred to another atom, C.)
Since the original announcement of this breakthrough, progress
has been fiercely competitive as different groups have attempted to
outrace each other. The first historic demonstration of quantum teleportation in which photons of ultraviolet light were teleported occurred in 1997 at the University of Innsbruck. This was followed the
next year by experimenters at Cal Tech who did an even more precise
experiment involving teleporting photons.
In 2004 physicists at the University of Vienna were able to teleport
particles of light over a distance of 600 meters beneath the River
Danube, using a fiber-optic cable, setting a new record. (The cable itself was 800 meters long and was strung underneath the public sewer
system beneath the River Danube. The sender stood on one side of the
river, and the receiver was on the other.)
One criticism of these experiments is that they were conducted
with photons of light. This is hardly the stuff of science fiction. It was
significant, therefore, in 2004, when quantum teleportation was
demonstrated not with photons of light, but with actual atoms, bringing us a step closer to a more realistic teleportation device. The physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in
Washington, D.C., successfully entangled three beryllium atoms and
the information content of atom A is transferred to atom B. A and B become entangled in the process. But since B and C were originally entangled, the information within A has now been transferred to atom C.
In conclusion, atom A has now been teleported into atom C, that is, the
information content of A is now identical to that of C.
Notice that the information within atom A has been destroyed (so
we don't have two copies after the teleportation). This means that anyone being hypothetically teleported would die in the process. But the
information content of his body would appear elsewhere. Notice also
that atom A did not move to the position of atom C. On the contrary, it
is the information within A (e.g., its spin and polarization) that has
been transferred to C. (This does not mean that atom A was dissolved
and then zapped to another location. It means that the information
content of atom A has been transferred to another atom, C.)
Since the original announcement of this breakthrough, progress
has been fiercely competitive as different groups have attempted to
outrace each other. The first historic demonstration of quantum teleportation in which photons of ultraviolet light were teleported occurred in 1997 at the University of Innsbruck. This was followed the
next year by experimenters at Cal Tech who did an even more precise
experiment involving teleporting photons.
In 2004 physicists at the University of Vienna were able to teleport
particles of light over a distance of 600 meters beneath the River
Danube, using a fiber-optic cable, setting a new record. (The cable itself was 800 meters long and was strung underneath the public sewer
system beneath the River Danube. The sender stood on one side of the
river, and the receiver was on the other.)
One criticism of these experiments is that they were conducted
with photons of light. This is hardly the stuff of science fiction. It was
significant, therefore, in 2004, when quantum teleportation was
demonstrated not with photons of light, but with actual atoms, bringing us a step closer to a more realistic teleportation device. The physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in
Washington, D.C., successfully entangled three beryllium atoms and