NIST physicists have demonstrated that pairs of beryllium ions can exhibit “spooky action at a distance,” a phenomenon that challenges classical physics and supports the validity of quantum mechanics. The researchers entangled two ions and performed a series of manipulations on their quantum states before measuring them. The results showed strong correlations between the ions’ states, indicating a high level of quantum entanglement.
The experiment, known as a chained Bell test, involved randomly selecting manipulations for each ion from sets of two to 15 options. This approach produced stronger statistical results than conventional Bell tests, which typically use only two options. The NIST team closed two of the three main loopholes that could undermine the results, making their findings more robust.
The experiment was conducted using the same ion trap setup as previous quantum computing experiments at NIST. The researchers believe their work demonstrates the high quality of their trapped ion quantum computing technology and showcases what can be achieved with this approach. Quantum computers, which rely on quantum bits (qubits), are expected to solve complex problems that are currently intractable, such as simulating superconductivity and breaking encryption codes.
Keywords: entanglement, ion, quantum, spooky, manipulations
