Matter-light mixture in a diamond 'hole'

[icarus]

wonder where this leaves heisenberg uncertainty interpretations?

http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-10-phy ... amond.html

Using electrons trapped in a single atom-sized defect within a thin crystal of diamond, combined with laser light of precisely the right color, the scientists showed that it was possible to briefly form a mixture of light and matter. After forming this light-matter mixture, they were able to use measurements of the light to determine the state of the electrons.

Likewise, by separately examining the electrons, they showed that the electron configuration was not destroyed by the light. Instead, it was modified -- a dramatic demonstration of control over quantum states using light. "Manipulating the quantum state of a single electron in a semiconductor without destroying the information represents an extremely exciting scientific development with potential technological impact," said Awschalom.

[Giorgio]

wonder where this leaves heisenberg uncertainty interpretations?

In an "uncertain" position I would say......

[WizWom]

Exactly where it was before.

The Heisenberg limit is astonishingly small. You can know an awful lot about both position and energy without breaking it.

The position "within the size of an atom" is still a factor of 10^24 larger than the limit.

[rcain]

good find!
it will be fascinating to read further details, whenever those become available. whatever will happen next... i wonder...

[CaptainBeowulf]

I remember first reading about "weak measurement" of atomic states about a decade ago.

Amongst other things, what makes this interesting to me is that if you can measure the state of an entangled atom without breaking it, you have a FTL communication device... or what IIRC Ursula K. Leguin and Orson Scott Card have called an "ansible." (Entangle atoms, put them in two devices, carry one to one part of the universe and the other to another part).

Makes coordination across interstellar distances feasible, although presumably vehicles (automated or with people in them) will still be limited to sub-light speed... unless something like Heim theory turns out to have something to it.

[BenTC]

you have a FTL communication device...
...although presumably vehicles (automated or with people in them) will still be limited to sub-light speed...

But once you have communication, that might be coupled with a "Surrogate" like robot drone for effective telepresence. Or couple it with the ability to upload our mind to backup storage. Todays technology was also once science fiction...

[CaptainBeowulf]

IIRC the idea was proposed as far back as the 1950s or 1960s that with a FTL communications system the mind could be transferred (today we would probably say downloaded) into a replica or clone body light years away... There's also "teleportation" where you get scanned by a laser or something, disintegrating your body, get sent as information, and reassembled out of different atoms on the other side... Depends how squeamish people get about being disintegrated and downloaded, not to mention the tech advances you would need for accurately copying the consciousness out of the brain.

Right now I'll settle for sub-light field propulsion (based on some derivative of the Tajmar effect) and weak measurement of entangled quantum particles (for ansibles) as a reasonable possibility of the future in a few centuries from now. Other, more speculative technologies may or may not come to fruition.

We could guess that a sublight field propulsion system could achieve 70%-80% light speed. Combined with instantaneous FTL communication, you could have interstellar wars which are primarily about grand strategy, with rapid tactical or operational strokes prevented. Actually could be the basis of a good semi-hard SF universe... rather like the Ender's Game universe, but without the cumbersome rocket-based propulsion.

[Skipjack]

I would absolutely NOT like someone to desintegrate me. What will be reassembled will be perfect clone of myself, but not ME. I will have died on the spot when I was desintegrated.
Proof of that theory is that you could leave out the desintegration and just reassemble a clone elsewhere. Then there would be two "mes". But only one of them would actually be me.
I always hated the whole beaming idea because of that.

[Betruger]

A few of us debated that a while back..
viewtopic.php?t=702

[rcain]

could also have big implications for maximization of existing bandwidth infrastructure - a heavily discussed concern at present, that without some order-of-magnitude improvements, we could quite quickly run out of fibre space.

so if the telecoms industry realy gets behind this sort of research, we could see very rapid theoretical advancements as well as hard technology.

[krenshala]

could also have big implications for maximization of existing bandwidth infrastructure - a heavily discussed concern at present, that without some order-of-magnitude improvements, we could quite quickly run out of fibre space.

so if the telecoms industry realy gets behind this sort of research, we could see very rapid theoretical advancements as well as hard technology.

Don't forget that the only instantaneous portion of the comms link would be the ansible connection itself. Any other hardware would introduce both switching and processing delays. Of course, depending on how the "network" was structured this wouldn't (normally) be noticeable to most people.

Oh, and the game Starfire is pretty much what you describe, Capt Beowulf -- sublight travel (but also comms) but systems interconnected via Warp Points (i.e., worm holes) for instantaneous travel between systems. Now if only it wasn't such a comprehensive rules-set that it scares away the more casual gamers.

[KitemanSA]

If this works, that would suggest that the largest single class of space ships would be "Bit Barges".