There is a question that keeps many physicists awake: if we can teleport subatomic particles, why can't we do the same with more complex objects, such as the human body? human teleportation has become the last frontier of quantum physics, a field where reality and science fiction often mix.
There's just one tiny problem: our body contains about 10^27 atoms, each with its own quantum state, a challenge that is more than titanic. Theoretically, however, it is not impossible.
The first stone of human teleportation
It was the 1993 when a team of researchers from IBM published in the magazine Physical Review Letters a revolutionary study: they had demonstrated that quantum teleportation was possible. It was not about moving physical objects, but about transferring quantum states. Five years later, in 1998, the physicists of the California Institute of Technology and University of Wales they turned this theory into reality by teleporting a photon through one meter of coaxial cable.
These early experiments paved the way for increasingly significant advances. In 2002, the scientists of theUniversity of Innsbruck and National Institute of Standards and Technology Americans have succeeded in teleporting particles using quantum entanglement, without any direct connection between the starting point and the destination.
In 2016, the physicists of theUniversity of Calgary they went a step further, teleporting a particle through 6 kilometers of the city's fiber optic cables. The following year, in 2017, a Chinese team has set a new record, teleporting a photon from Earth to an orbiting satellite at over 300 kilometers altitude. It's still a photon, but in 20 it has come a long way.
The most advanced step
So far, as mentioned, the experiments more advanced teleportation methods have been based on photons, but in 2020 Scientists have discovered that it may be possible to teleport even electrons, able to maintain their quantum states for longer periods of time.
So will the transportation of more complex matter be next? If we can move particles of light and electrons from Point A to Point B instantaneously, we could teleport entire atoms, molecules, living cells. and finally, some brave human test subjects? I have my doubts.
The Crucial Role of Quantum Entanglement
Quantum entanglement is the key phenomenon that could make human teleportation possible. As cosmologist and theoretical physicist explains Paul Davies, Director of Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science ofArizona State University, it is a mysterious bond that keeps the physical states of distant particles synchronized.
In practice, this means that two photons can form a single quantum state even if they are separated by large distances. Albert Einstein he called this phenomenon “spooky action at a distance,” because it seemed to violate the principles of classical physics.
The process of quantum teleportation involves three particles: when two of them are “entangled”, it is possible to transfer physical properties from the first to the third particle, without them ever coming into direct contact. It's as if information is instantly teleported from one point to another. But there's still a long way to go from this to teleporting a grain of sand. Let alone teleporting a person.
The Challenges of Human Teleportation
The complexity of the human body presents the greatest challenge. With all the atoms we are made of, each in turn composed of electrons, protons, and neutrons, and with each subatomic particle having its own quantum state, the amount of information to process is (literally) astronomical.
Not to mention my obsession, ethics. The Nobel Prize John Clauser raises two fundamental questions in this regard: if the teleportation process requires the destruction of the original to create a perfect copy, can we really consider it teleportation? And most importantly, would that copy still be “us”?
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle adds a further complication: it is impossible know the position and velocity of a particle simultaneously with absolute precision. This means that no matter how accurate the scan of our quantum state, We will never achieve 100% loyalty. Unless there are discoveries that we can't even imagine today.
Beyond the frontier of the possible
Despite these seemingly insurmountable challenges, advances in quantum computing are opening up new possibilities. Unlike traditional computers that rely on electronic bits with two possible states (0 or 1), you know, quantum computers use qubits that can exist in both states simultaneously.
A qubit can perform two calculations at the same time, and by connecting multiple qubits through quantum entanglement, the computing power increases exponentially. To give you an idea, in 2019 Google showed that a quantum circuit could perform in less than 3 minutes a calculation that would have taken the fastest supercomputer in existence 10.000 years.
This computing power could be the key to overcoming the technological challenges of human teleportation. But even if we could solve all the technical problems, a fundamental question would remain: Are the atoms in our bodies and their quantum states really all that makes us who we are?
