Physicists Use Quantum Mechanics to Pull Energy out of Nothing
The quantum energy teleportation protocol was proposed in 2008 and largely ignored. Now two independent experiments have shown that it works
While studying black holes, Hotta came to suspect that an exotic occurrence in quantum theory — negative energy — could be the key to measuring entanglement. Black holes shrink by emitting radiation entangled with their interiors, a process that can also be viewed as the black hole swallowing dollops of negative energy. Hotta noted that negative energy and entanglement appeared to be intimately related. To strengthen his case, he set out to prove that negative energy — like entanglement — could not be created through independent actions at distinct locations.
Hotta found, to his surprise, that a simple sequence of events could, in fact, induce the quantum vacuum to go negative — giving up energy it didn’t appear to have. “First I thought I was wrong,” he said, “so I calculated again, and I checked my logic. But I could not find any flaw.”
The trouble arises from the bizarre nature of the quantum vacuum, which is a peculiar type of nothing that comes dangerously close to resembling a something. The uncertainty principle forbids any quantum system from settling down into a perfectly quiet state of exactly zero energy. As a result, even the vacuum must always crackle with fluctuations in the quantum fields that fill it. These never-ending fluctuations imbue every field with some minimum amount of energy, known as the zero-point energy. Physicists say that a system with this minimal energy is in the ground state. A system in its ground state is a bit like a car parked on the streets of Denver. Even though it’s well above sea level, it can’t go any lower.
And yet, Hotta seemed to have found an underground garage. To unlock the gate, he realized, he had only to exploit an intrinsic entanglement in the crackling of the quantum field.
My understanding is that this is Einstein’s ‘spooky action at a distance’ in full play.
Something else regarding this weird situation is the idea of video conferencing at vast distances. We see it in action in Star Trek movies all the time but never really connect the two. I’m thinking we should.
Light speed is a very slow medium if we ever want to explore the galaxy and I think this may be exactly the type of thing which would be very important to a ‘United Federation of Planets’ wherein the big bosses want to relay orders to ‘Starship Discovery’.
Meanwhile, while we get this working (keeping busy mind you), let’s steal Russia’s energy from their power plants and turn on the lights in Toronto for nothing.
Just sayin’ (I’m no physicist but it’s fun to think like one)…