Quantum Physics Works in the Macro World

Two diamonds the size of stud earrings have been made to share quantum entanglement,meaning that spooky action at a distance works at the classical level. This experiment suggests that the more we become aware that quantum mechanics functions also on the large scale, the more we are going to come to see Newtonian Physics not as a reality, but as an organizing illusion that we are imposing on reality.

Quantum entanglement, which was previously thought only to work at the atomic level, means that two or more particles are intertwined, even when they are physically far apart. When something happens to one of them, it instantly happens to the other, no matter how far apart they are. The researchers placed two diamonds in front of an ultrafast laser, which zapped them with an incredibly quick pulse of light. If the diamonds behaved as quantum mechanical objects, the laser would cause them to vibrate at equal rates, as if they were both vibrating and not vibrating at the same time.

In New Scientist, Lisa Grossman quotes quantum physicist Ian Walmsley as saying, "Quantum mechanics says it’s not either/or, it’s both/and. It’s that both/and we’ve been trying to prove. This is an interesting avenue for thinking about how quantum mechanics can emerge into the classical world." And it looks as if they’ve done it.

Entangled diamonds could be used to create quantum computers in the future, which could use entanglement to carry out many calculations at once. It will be a complete transformation in the way we see things and do things.

Grossman quotes quantum physicist Erika Andersson as saying, "We want to push and see how far quantum mechanics goes. The reported work is a major step in trying to push quantum mechanics to its limits, in the sense of showing that larger and larger physical systems can behave according to the ‘strange’ predictions of quantum mechanics."

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