China en route to introducing quantum internet after setting new quantum entanglement record

Chinese scientists have set a new distance record for quantum entanglement, raising hopes of building an entirely new kind of hacker-resistant “quantum internet.” In a major breakthrough that opens up prospects for practical quantum communications, China has successfully experimented on beaming an entangled pair of photons to two ground stations in the country, each separated by more than 1,200 kilometres, without breaking the link between the photons. In a report about the experiment published in the journal “Science,” researchers said a laser on a satellite, orbiting 480 kilometres above the earth, produced the photons and then transmitted them to the stations. The experiment, led by Professor Jian-Wei Pan of Hefei University in China, achieved a distance 10 times greater than the previous record for photon entanglement. It is the first time these photons of light have been generated in space, reports News.com.au. [arve url="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nc9jPhEcJ8c?ecver=2"/] Despite being separated by a great distance, they behave like twins and experience the same things simultaneously. This principle, utilised in the experiment, is called quantum entanglement. In quantum communication, entangled particles are used to send ultra secure messages via fibre-optic cables or open air instead of mediums such as cables, wireless signals, or code. Therefore, the information carried in the quantum state of a particle cannot be copied or measured, without the information itself being destroyed. China hopes to launch a cluster of quantum-enabled satellites and thus create a super secure network of quantum internet that uses an encryption technique based on the principles of quantum communications. If everything goes according to plan, China will send more satellite to create this new communication system. University of Waterloo in Canada Physicist Thomas Jennewein said: “It’s a huge, major achievement.” [arve url="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4QlcKuxDGrs?ecver=2"/] “They started with this bold idea and managed to do it,” he said. According to China, the atmosphere in space will not cause gradual loss in the intensity of light, thus allowing the photos to travel further without disruption. China, in its five-year economic development plan released in 2016, has focused extensively on quantum technology. Though the country has not disclosed how much it invests in quantum research, basic research funding which includes quantum physics was $101 billion in 2015. China’s latest experiment puts the country well ahead in the quantum space race though scientists in the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan are also utilising particle physics to create secure communication networks.