Sacred BBQ

Cooking up those juicy sacred cows with a side dish of whatever I feel like served cold.

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Teleportation and Einstein's Ghost

This is an interesting story to me for a couple of reasons. First, obviously the idea of teleportation itself is quite fascinating and for the last few years it seems we've been getting more and more hints that some form of real teleportation might ultimately be possible.

Secondly, and more personally, a few years ago I wrote a couple of stories where I needed faster than light communication across interstellar distances. While many authors have just waved their hand over this, or resorted to things like wormholes and messenger ships, I had heard of the EPR paradox and thought it might be useful. I was quickly disabused of the notion that phased-entanglement could be used to deliver information, however entanglement has reared it's ugly head again in this latest teleportation story. If data can be transferred between quantum bits in ion traps, it would seem that not just quantum computers but instantaneous interstellar communication could be possible as well.

While it may turn out that causality cannot be violated in this way after all, if I can just provide the suspension of disbelief long enough to get these stories published, I'll be happy.

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