“Spooky action at a distance” on the ISS
10 Apr 2013 by Evoluted New Media
The International Space Station (ISS) will reportedly host quantum entanglement experiments that may eventually change the way we communicate on Earth. Despite being described as ‘spooky action at a distance’ by Einstein, experiments that examine this peculiar aspect of physics have so far been limited to relatively small distances on Earth.
The researchers plan to use equipment already installed on the space station to understand the nature of quantum entanglement. They intend to perform a quantum key distribution experiment which will use the ISS as a relay point to send out a secret encryption key across much larger distances than have so far been achieved using optical fibres on Earth.
“During a few months a year, the ISS passes five to six times in a row in the correct orientation for us to do our experiments. We envision setting up the experiment for a whole week and therefore having more than enough links to the ISS available,” explained co-author Professor Rupert Ursin from the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
The only equipment needed aboard the space station would be a photon detection module, which could be attached to an existing motorised commercial photographer’s lens.
In the proposed quantum key distribution experiment, a secret cryptographic key will be generated in a photon stream and shared between two parties, safe in the knowledge that if an eavesdropper intercepts it, this would be noticed.
Around the world, researchers are looking into building quantum satellites that could act as a relay between the two parties which would significantly increase the distance that a secret key could be passed.
The team also intend to perform a Bell-type experiment to test the theoretical contradiction between the predictions of quantum mechanics and classical physics. For this, two entangled photons would be generated on the ground; one sent from the ground station to the modified camera, while the other would be measured locally on the ground for later comparison.
“According to quantum physics, entanglement is independent of distance. Our proposed Bell-type experiment will show that particles are entangled, over large distances – around 500 km – for the very first time in an experiment,” said Professor Urwin.
The research is published in the Institute of Physics and German Physical Society’s New Journal of Physics.
