Quantum Communication Could Work in Space, Aliens May Be Using It, Study Says
“…since this method of communications could work in space, extraterrestrial beings – assuming that they exist, of course – may be already trying to communicate with us that way…”
by Andrei Dergalin
via sputniknews
The new research suggests that X-ray photons could travel unscathed hundreds of thousands of light-years.
A pair of researchers from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Physics and Astronomy proposes that the kind of quantum communications scientists try to devise and implement on Earth could also be used to send information across interstellar distances.
According to Science News, the authors of the new study, Arjun Berera and Jaime Calderon-Figueroa, used mathematical calculations to gauge whether X-ray photons could travel across space unscathed.
As the media outlet points out, the so-called decoherence, when a quantum particle loses its “quantumness” due to interacting with its surroundings, serves as a major obstacle for quantum communications.
“Quantum states you generally think of as very delicate, and if there’s any kind of external interaction, you kind of destroy that state,” Berera explained.
The researchers, however, postulate that X-ray photons could travel hundreds of thousands of light years across space before succumbing to decoherence.
The science duo also suggested that, since this method of communications could work in space, extraterrestrial beings – assuming that they exist, of course – may be already trying to communicate with us that way, so scientists looking for signs of intelligent life out there may want to look for signs of quantum messages.
Andrei Dergalin
Sputniknews
