Quantum entanglement has been demonstrated in top quarks, according to physicists at CERN, who say the discovery offers new insights into the behavior of fundamental particles and their interactions over distances unreachable by light-speed communication.
Research led by Professor Regina Demina of the University of Rochester extends the phenomenon known as “spooky action at a distance” to the heaviest particles recognized by physicists, offering important new insights into high-energy quantum mechanics.
Top quarks were originally discovered nearly three decades ago and are the most massive elementary particles that have been observed. The mass of these unique particles comes from their association with the Higgs boson, the famous particle predicted in the theory regarding the unification of the weak and electromagnetic interactions. According to the Standard Model of particle physics, this coupling is the largest that occurs on the scale of weak interactions and interactions above it.
In the past, quantum entanglement has been observed in stable particles, including electrons and photons. In their new research, Demina and her team demonstrate entanglement between unstable top quarks and their antimatter counterparts, revealing spin correlations that occur at distances that exceed the speed of light.
The findings present new challenges to existing models and expand our understanding of particle behavior at extreme energies.
The experiment was performed at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) within the Compact Muon Solenoids (CMS) collaboration. CERN is home to the famous Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a facility that propels high-energy particles at speeds approaching the speed of light through a 17-mile underground track.
Due to the amount of energy required to produce top quarks, such processes can only be achieved at facilities such as CERN. The results of Demina’s recent study could help shed light on how long the entanglement persists, as well as whether it can be extended to “daughter” particles or decay products. The research may also help determine whether the entanglement between the particles can be broken.
It is currently believed that the universe was in an entangled state after the initial phase of rapid expansion. Uncovering the entanglement in top quarks can help scientists like Demina better understand what factors may have contributed to the quantum entanglement in our world shrinking over time, ultimately leading to the state in which our reality exists today.
In addition, the results of the experiment could have applications in the growing field of quantum information science. While top quarks are not suitable for use with quantum computers, the recent findings may nevertheless be useful in providing researchers with a better understanding of their entanglement properties, which could also shed light on how quantum connections are either maintained or broken.
Ultimately, the new insights made possible by CERN could challenge our current widely accepted understanding of quantum mechanics, while setting the pace for future studies of quantum phenomena that can help add missing pieces to the puzzle of our cosmic origins and the fundamental laws that govern reality.
Micah Hanks is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by e-mail at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work at micahhanks.com and on X: @MicahHanks.