Dance of the Photons: Einstein, Entanglement and Quantum Teleportation
£9.40£10.40 (-10%)
A Nobel Laureate explains quantum entanglement and teleportation and why Einstein was wrong about the nature of reality
What is the true nature of reality? To find out, Nobel Laureate Anton Zeilinger takes us (along with his fictional students Alice and Bob) on a voyage through a quantum wonderland, explaining entanglement, teleportation, time-travel paradoxes and why our view of the world must change.
Originally published in America in 2012, a new Afterword in the light of the author’s 2022 Nobel Prize means the book brings readers up-to-date with the most recent developments in quantum teleportation. This describes the author’s collaboration to perform the first intercontinental video call encrypted using quantum cryptography, and how Chinese scientists teleported entangled quantum states to an orbiting satellite. Readers also learn how both volunteer humans and astronomical objects billions of light years away have been part of experiments to conclusively prove that quantum states cannot provide a full description of reality at a local level.
Einstein had always refused to accept aspects of quantum theory, deriding the notion of instantaneous communication between faraway ‘entangled’ particles as ‘spooky action at a distance’. However, this playful yet deep book takes readers through a series of ingenious experiments conducted in various locations that demonstrate entanglement is indeed real, and speculates that information is an essential part of reality.
From a dank sewage tunnel under the River Danube to the balmy air between a pair of mountain peaks in the Canary Islands, with various time-travel paradoxes explained along the way, the author and his fictional physics students Alice and Bob demonstrate the true nature of quantum entanglement and teleportation using photons, or light quanta, created by laser beams. The ideas described have laid the foundations for a new era of quantum technology, including the development of quantum computers and much more.
Read more
Additional information
| Publisher | Penguin (25 May 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 320 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1802063684 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1802063684 |
| Dimensions | 12.9 x 1.8 x 19.8 cm |
by Ling Zhang
I was suggested by my friend to read this book. To be honest, my background is not quantum physics. However, it is not difficult for me to read it.
by Mr. M. J. Reynolds
Well I’ve read two thirds of this book and I’ve found it very heavy going. It introduces two undergraduates, Alice and Bob. These undergraduates are simply the voice of Professor Zeilinger and do not facilitate the understanding a great deal. History has a lesson for Professor Zeilinger; once you’re sure you’ve wrapped up a subject, as Anton Zeilinger seems to feel he has, it will turn round and bite you in the bum. Quantum nonlocality is a deep mystery which will keep scientists busy well into the 21st century and possibly beyond. Don’t believe this propaganda.
by Doug Jay
Yet another book attempting to explain the unexplainable, but credit to the author for his style of writing which blends two fictional experimentalists Bob and Alice and elements of the author’s own researches. As quoted in the text, Richard Feynman said that nobody understands quantum mechanics, and this attempt by another Nobel laureate, although laudable does nothing to undermine that view. Pursuing the true nature of reality via ultra-complex optical experiments, probability theory, statistics, and a hint of philosophy makes for an interesting read the first time around, but so many books on this subject fail to come to any meaningful conclusion which leaves the non-academic with any clarity. For most people, the only reality is the one they personally experience and no amount of scientific research will ever prove otherwise. However, if you are keen to know the apparent ‘spooky’ behaviour of photons, especially entangled ones (whatever that means), and the perplexing attempts at teleportation, you may gain some enlightenment from this book, as its approach is a welcome change from the many books that assume the reader already possesses prior knowledge of the subject.
by Aristidis Papadopoulos
Professor Zeilinger drops a hint,helping the public unravel the mysteries of quantum teleportation by means of various experiments and clarified images,in very simplistic way,easy to comprehend by anyone familiar with elementary knowledge of quantum mechanics and without degree in the physical sciences.
In the first half of the book fictional characters and famous protagonists (Alice and Bob) entangled in a world with real experiments dialogue to grasp the key concepts of quantum information.The reader faces the principles of quantum teleportation (EPR source,entanglement,Bell-state measurement,quantoclassical channels,flipiti-flapati,Bell’s theorem,comes across Bell’s inequalities (an appendix on them),scores,and strive to understand the meaning of locality,reality,etc and their loopholes.
The other half is focused on generalizing the complex mechanisms and experiments needed to achieve this Odyssey of teleported information,spontaneous parametric down-conversion to create polarization-entangled photons,teleportation at the Danube river,multiphoton entanglement,teleporting entanglement and many more fantabulous ideas.Written with clarity and pellucid style it’s the perfect book for noobies as introduction.I loved it.