Is Quantum Teleportation Possible: A Magic Jaunt From Fiction to Reality

Teleportation is a common technique in sci-fi. The hero jumps from one place to another, covering a distance that would have taken days or even years if he had used conventional means of transport in an instant. Is teleportation real? Can we actually teleport? Unfortunately or fortunately, no, as it contradicts the laws of common physics as we know them. But what if we apply a different kind of physics — quantum physics? 

In this article, we will tell you the full history of quantum teleportation: how and why it works and what opportunities it opens up for mankind. So, let’s jump from ordinary reality to quantum reality.

What is quantum teleportation?

Quantum teleportation (or jaunt) is the process of transferring the quantum state of one particle to another particle without physically moving the particle.

In our familiar world, quantum teleportation technology can be clearly explained using the example of a photocopier or fax: the sender sends not the document itself but the information about its contents in digital form — and the recipient ends up with a copy. Here’s how it looks schematically.

However, we are not talking about the world of macro-objects we are accustomed to, but about the quantum world, in which objects are micro-particles: molecules, atoms, and subatomic particles: electrons, protons, neutrons, photons, etc. And in this microscopic world, everything works a little differently.

How does quantum teleportation work in simple terms? 

The sender measures all the information about the quantum state of his particle and transmits it to the receiver so that he can reconstruct this state of his particle. In this case, the copied particle is necessarily destroyed since the quantum measurement process changes its state.

Confused? That’s okay. Now, we’re going to confuse you even more.

Is quantum teleportation possible?

Unlike classical teleportation, which involves the transfer of physical objects, jaunt is possible and has been experimentally proven many times. We will provide evidence a little later, but for now, let’s look at the conditions necessary for a jaunt to be successful. And here, the so-called quantum teleportation law comes in.

What is the law of quantum teleportation?

The jaunt is based on the key principles of quantum mechanics, without which the process of transferring information about the state of a particle and its subsequent reconstruction cannot be carried out. Let’s consider these principles in order.

Quantum entanglement

Can quantum entanglement be used for teleportation? The particles involved in teleportation must be in a state of quantum entanglement. That is, a relationship must be established between them in which the state of one particle instantly affects the state of the other, regardless of the distance between them. Such a relationship is called correlation.

Imagine two entangled coins in different places. When you flip one coin, and it lands on heads, the other coin instantly lands on tails. This doesn’t work in real life, but in the quantum world, entangled particles behave exactly like this. Don’t ask why, no one can explain it yet.

Superposition principle

Before the moment of measurement, a quantum particle can be in several states simultaneously. This is called superposition. The state of superposition is perfectly explained by the experiment with Schrödinger’s cat. In one box, there is a cat, a radioactive atom, a radiation detector, and a poisonous gas. If the atom decays, the detector is triggered and releases the gas, killing the cat. If the atom does not decay, the cat stays alive.

According to quantum mechanics, until we open the box and see what happened, that is, until we make a measurement, the atom is in a superposition state — it has simultaneously decayed and not decayed. This means that the cat in the box is also in a superposition state — it is simultaneously alive and dead, which is the quantum analogue of a particle existing simultaneously in two opposite states.

Measurement and wave function collapse

When we measure the quantum state of a particle, we interact with its wave function. The wave function describes all possible states of the particle and their probabilities. A measurement causes the wave function to collapse, which means that the particle transitions to one of the possible states corresponding to the measurement result. In other words, a measurement destroys the initial state of the particle, but its result contains information about the particle’s state before the measurement, which we can pass to another particle to reconstruct that state.

No-cloning principle

In quantum mechanics, there is a no-cloning theorem, which states that it is impossible to create an exact copy of the same state. Just as there cannot be two originals of the same object in the macro world, such as a painting or a piece of music. The original will always remain the original, and the copy will always remain a copy. Thus, the no-cloning principle guarantees that a quantum state cannot be copied without changing the original state.

Classical information channel

To complete the quantum teleportation process, it is necessary to transmit the measurement results via a classical information channel (e.g., Internet, radio, or satellite communications).

This allows the recipient to perform the appropriate actions to restore the original quantum state. Why so and not via quantum space? Because the measurement results are classical information that we can encrypt into digital data (0 or 1) and which do not obey quantum laws.

What is an example of quantum teleportation?

Now that we roughly understand how everything works let’s try to detail the jaunt process and depict it schematically.

Let’s imagine that there is a particle A, and its quantum state needs to be transferred to a particle C. To do this, an entangled particle pair of B and C is created. Particles A and B are held by the sender, and C is held by the receiver. The sender measures particles A and B together. This measurement destroys the state of particle A, but creates a certain state for the particle pair of A and B. The results of the measurement are sent to the receiver via a classical communication channel. These results contain information about how the state of particles A and B has changed. The receiver processes the information received and applies it to particle C, thereby creating a replica of the original state of particle A.

Who discovered quantum teleportation?

The term “teleportation” itself was first used by the American writer Charles Fort in his book Lo! in 1931. By analogy with “television,” which comes from the Greek τῆλε (“far”) and the Latin video (“to see”), he came up with a word describing the hypothetical instantaneous movement of objects over any distance.

In 1935, Albert Einstein, Boris Podolsky, and Nathan Rosen proposed the ERP paradox to the world, describing quantum entanglement. Einstein was sceptical about the probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics and believed that the theory should be deterministic. He called the phenomenon of quantum entanglement “spooky action at a distance” and, for many years, argued about it with one of the founding fathers of quantum theory, Niels Bohr. During one of these arguments, Einstein uttered the phrase that became famous: “God does not play dice with the Universe,” to which Bohr replied: “Albert, don’t tell God what to do!”

In 1964, John Bell developed inequalities that allowed the experimental testing of quantum entanglement. And in 1993, a group of physicists led by Charles Bennett mathematically proved the theoretical possibility of a jaunt. The work of Bennett and his team became a sensation, serving as a starting point for further research in this area.

In the list below, we present the main successful experiments proving that jaunt is an objective reality and its possibilities are limitless.

The main successful quantum teleportation experiments  

Conducted by	Year	Experiment Summary
Sandu Popescu and Anton Zeilinger	1997	First experiment to jaunt a photon at a distance of 1 m
Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen	2006	Teleportation of a quantum state over a distance of 2 feet between objects of different nature: laser radiation quanta and caesium atoms
Anton Zeilinger and a group of scientists from the University of Vienna	2012	Teleportation of the quantum state of a photon over a distance of 143 kilometres between two islands in the Canary Islands
University of Science and Technology of China	2012	Transferring a quantum state of a photon 97 kilometres across Qinghai Lake
University of Science and Technology of China	2017	Teleportation of the quantum state of a photon from a ground station to the orbital satellite Mo-Tzu over a distance of over 1200 kilometres
Quantum Engineering Technologies Lab (QET Labs) at the University of Bristol	2019	The world’s first teleportation between two programmable chips. The data transfer accuracy was 91%, which is a significant achievement for quantum communication technologies
Chinese and Finnish scientists (University of Science and Technology of China and University of Turku, Finland)	2024	Successfully overcoming environmental noise to achieve high-fidelity (90%) teleportation using multi-particle hybrid entanglement (between two different degrees of freedom — polarisation and frequency)

How fast is quantum teleportation?

In science fiction movies, characters teleport faster than the speed of light, but is quantum teleportation faster than light? No. Although quantum entanglement implies instantaneous correlation of particles, the correlation itself does not transmit information. As mentioned above, a jaunt requires classical communication channels, which are limited by the speed of light. The maximum speed of quantum teleportation achieved by China during an experiment in 2024 is 7.1 qubits per second (a qubit is a quantum analogue of a bit).

This may seem like a small amount, but it is important to understand the difference between a bit and a qubit. Unlike a bit, which can only take one of two values ​​0 or 1 (off-on), a qubit can be in a superposition of 0 and 1 states, allowing it to store more information. In a system of n qubits, (2^n) different states can be stored simultaneously. Thus, a qubit has a much greater information capacity compared to a bit, making it a powerful tool for quantum computing.

What are quantum teleportation applications?

Quantum mechanics is already finding applications in various fields, from computers, cryptography, and energy to defence, medical, and space technologies (e.g. sensors, scanners, lasers). The jaunt will be able to improve the speed of computing, increase the level of information security, quality of sensors, speed of energy transfer, data transfer via the Internet, and much more.

The most powerful quantum computer to date is the IBM Quantum Condor, which was unveiled in 2023. Its power is over eight times greater than the quantum supremacy threshold of 50 qubits, meaning that such a system can solve problems that cannot be solved on classical computers. Quantum teleportation will increase the power of quantum computers several times, which means that we will have unprecedented data processing capabilities and a level of AI development. All that remains is to use these gifts for creation, not destruction.

Will human teleportation ever be possible?

Although the jaunt opens up exciting prospects for science and technology, human teleportation is still science fiction and will likely remain so for a long time.

The thing is, our body is an incredibly complex structure, consisting of approximately seven octillion atoms (that’s a number with 27 zeros). To teleport a person, it is necessary to measure the state of each atom and transmit this information. This is a colossal amount of data that exceeds all current transmission and processing capabilities.

But that’s not all that matters. Even if we imagine that such a transfer would be possible, another problem arises — to recreate all these atoms in the ideally correct order because any mistake could lead to irreversible consequences.

And finally, the most important thing. We know that for a jaunt to occur, the original particle must be destroyed. This means that, on the other hand, we do not get the original but a copy of ourselves. Will the personality of this copy be the same as the personality of the original?

In Stephen King’s short story Jaunt, during teleportation, people were put to sleep to avoid irreversible changes in consciousness. However, the main character holds his breath when they put an anaesthetic mask on him and remains conscious. He returns from the jaunt completely mad, constantly repeating that he has seen more than eternity. Of course, this is only fiction, but if quantum teleportation of human beings ever becomes a reality, who knows what awaits us on the other end of the jaunt?

References and Additional Information:

• An Introduction to Quantum Teleportation  arxiv.org/pdf/quant-ph/0302114
• Quantum teleportation https://www.britannica.com/science/quantum-teleportation
• The Mysteries Of Quantum Teleportation Explained https://thequantuminsider.com/2023/05/24/quantum-teleportation/
• Quantum teleportation takes big leap forward in new experiment  https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-teleportation-takes-big-leap-forward-new-experiment/
• Quantum Entanglement and Its Application in Quantum Communication https://www.mdpi.com/journal/entropy/special_issues/5F69JCV0U4
• Even with quantum entanglement, there’s no faster-than-light communication https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/quantum-entanglement-faster-than-light/
• The Applications and Challenges of Quantum Teleportation https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346212289_The_Applications_and_Challenges_of_Quantum_Teleportation