All articles tagged with #quantum entanglement
Researchers at the University of Florence have successfully entangled a 100-nanometer glass nanosphere with a light field at room temperature. Published in Science, the study demonstrates that quantum correlations can be sustained and transferred to light propagating through space, offering a potential pathway for quantum memory and communication networks.
Physicists from Kyoto and Hiroshima universities have achieved the first experimental measurement of W-state quantum entanglement in three photons, a capability that had remained theoretical for over 25 years. Published in Science Advances in September 2025, the study introduces a one-shot measurement technique using a custom discrete Fourier transform optical circuit. This method bypasses the inefficiencies of traditional quantum tomography, which requires exponentially more measurements as particle numbers increase. The team achieved a measurement discrimination fidelity of 0.871, exceeding the 66.7% threshold required to prove three-particle entanglement. This breakthrough offers a more efficient path for developing quantum communication, teleportation, and computing technologies.
CERN’s ATLAS collaboration has reported strong evidence that Z bosons produced in Higgs-boson decays are quantum entangled. Using data from the Large Hadron Collider, researchers confirmed that these massive, short-lived particles exhibit entangled spin states, marking the first such observation for vector bosons at the electroweak scale. The result, published in Physical Review Letters, reaches a statistical significance of 4.7 sigma, falling just short of the 5-sigma threshold required for a formal discovery.
Physicists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider have confirmed that quantum entanglement persists in pairs of Z bosons produced by Higgs boson decays. Using the ATLAS detector, researchers analyzed data from proton collisions at 13 trillion electron volts, reconstructing the spins of short-lived Z bosons by tracking their decay products, electrons and muons. The findings, published in Physical Review Letters, demonstrate that entanglement survives extreme high-energy conditions, extending the phenomenon beyond delicate laboratory settings into violent particle collisions. This result provides strong evidence, reaching a statistical significance of 4.7 sigma, that quantum links remain intact even when one particle in the pair is virtual.
Physicists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider have detected strong evidence of quantum entanglement between pairs of Z bosons produced by the decay of a Higgs boson. This marks the first time entanglement has been observed in elementary particles acting as qutrits, distinct from the two-state qubits of top quarks. The finding, published in Physical Review Letters, suggests that even 'virtual' particles, which cannot be directly observed, may possess genuine quantum properties like spin entanglement. Although the statistical significance reached 4.7 sigma, just short of the 5-sigma discovery threshold, the data provides compelling evidence for this phenomenon.
British physicist Jim Al-Khalili argues in On Time that the arrow of time is real and rooted in quantum decoherence and entanglement that occur when we observe systems, rather than being explained mainly by entropy; observation ties quantum systems to the environment and irreversibly fixes their state, while the many-worlds view remains a possibility. The piece also notes limits on time travel and points readers to related interviews and the Fiction Science podcast.
A team used a Fresnel-lens concentrator to focus sunlight onto a crystal, generating polarization-based entangled photons without a laser. The photons achieved ~94% similarity to a perfectly entangled state and violated Bell’s inequality, marking a proof-of-principle step toward cheaper, energy-efficient quantum tech for satellites and remote stations—though a practical, deployable sun-powered entangler remains to be built and improved.
Physicists in China entangled two quantum memories separated by 420 kilometers of optical fiber, using rubidium atom clouds (Alice and Bob) and a middle node (Charlie). By converting photons to telecom wavelengths, stabilizing phases, and employing a single-photon interference scheme, they achieved matter-to-matter entanglement beyond the direct-transmission limit (PLOB bound), demonstrating a memory-based quantum network can outperform direct fiber links and marking a milestone toward long-range quantum networking, even as practical quantum internet remains a future goal.
Physicists from ISTA and TU Munich have experimentally confirmed a 20-year entanglement theory by using a quantum bath of light to autonomously entangle distant qubits, achieving stable entanglement over arbitrary distances and paving the way for scalable quantum networks and computing; the work is published as a proof-of-concept in Physical Review X.
A theoretical study revisits the Page and Wootters idea and argues that time may not be a fundamental backdrop but arises from the entangled relationship between a clock and a system. Using a two-system model (a clock and an oscillator), the work shows that when these subsystems are properly entangled, ordinary quantum motion can emerge and, in the macroscopic/classical limit, the familiar time of classical physics and Schrödinger dynamics appears. The research also notes the clock’s limits in fully quantum regimes and emphasizes the need for the clock to behave classically for time to emerge, while stressing that experimental confirmation remains out of reach and the idea remains speculative.
ETH Zurich researchers built a “perfect die” by entangling two qubits across a 30-meter link and refining the output with a two-source extractor to produce randomness whose unpredictability is certified by quantum physics, with potential applications in cryptography, gaming, and secure computing, showcasing quantum advantage over classical generators.
Researchers at the University of Chicago propose a theoretical, cabinet-QED–based method to generate and control a wide range of entangled quantum states by applying selective energy shifts to different groups of atoms, breaking symmetry while preserving controllability. This approach enables robust, highly sensitive quantum sensors that can use standard Ramsey measurements and can stabilize unusual states like the AKLT state, with potential implications for quantum sensing, fundamental physics, and computing; experimental tests are being planned and the work is supported by Q-NEXT.
Researchers from Kyoto and Hiroshima universities demonstrated a symmetry-based entangled measurement for three-photon W states, enabling direct state identification in a single operation rather than resource-heavy tomography. By exploiting cyclic shift symmetry and a Fourier-transform photonic network, the method can distinguish different W states with a stable, extended-running setup, potentially boosting quantum teleportation, secure communications, and distributed quantum computing, with plans to scale to larger systems and chip integration.
Researchers directly measured the birth of quantum entanglement on attosecond timescales by exciting atoms with intense laser pulses, showing the departure timing of one electron is linked to the energy state of the remaining electron (roughly 232 attoseconds on average). They developed a two-laser measurement protocol to capture this ultrafast entanglement, with potential implications for quantum technologies and communications.
This week’s science roundup covers the first observation of singularities in combined light and sound waves traveling faster than light, the discovery of quantum entanglement between moving atoms, ongoing debates about the universe’s expansion and a seven‑dimensional twist to Hawking’s information paradox, new evidence that natural selection has continued shaping West Eurasians over the last 10,000 years (traits like lighter skin and red hair), and reports that some polar bears are adapting to melting habitats by getting fatter, highlighting a broad mix of physics, cosmology, evolution, and wildlife research.