• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Tuesday, October 7, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Chemistry

‘Quantum negativity’ can power ultra-precise measurements

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
July 29, 2020
in Chemistry
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0
IMAGE
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: Hugo Lepage

Scientists have found that a physical property called ‘quantum negativity’ can be used to take more precise measurements of everything from molecular distances to gravitational waves.

The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, Harvard and MIT, have shown that quantum particles can carry an unlimited amount of information about things they have interacted with. The results, reported in the journal Nature Communications, could enable far more precise measurements and power new technologies, such as super-precise microscopes and quantum computers.

Metrology is the science of estimations and measurements. If you weighed yourself this morning, you’ve done metrology. In the same way as quantum computing is expected to revolutionise the way complicated calculations are done, quantum metrology, using the strange behaviour of subatomic particles, may revolutionise the way we measure things.

We are used to dealing with probabilities that range from 0% (never happens) to 100% (always happens). To explain results from the quantum world however, the concept of probability needs to be expanded to include a so-called quasi-probability, which can be negative. This quasi-probability allows quantum concepts such as Einstein’s ‘spooky action at a distance’ and wave-particle duality to be explained in an intuitive mathematical language. For example, the probability of an atom being at a certain position and travelling with a specific speed might be a negative number, such as -5%.

An experiment whose explanation requires negative probabilities is said to possess ‘quantum negativity.’ The scientists have now shown that this quantum negativity can help take more precise measurements.

All metrology needs probes, which can be simple scales or thermometers. In state-of-the-art metrology however, the probes are quantum particles, which can be controlled at the sub-atomic level. These quantum particles are made to interact with the thing being measured. Then the particles are analysed by a detection device.

In theory, the greater number of probing particles there are, the more information will be available to the detection device. But in practice, there is a cap on the rate at which detection devices can analyse particles. The same is true in everyday life: putting on sunglasses can filter out excess light and improve vision. But there is a limit to how much filtering can improve our vision — having sunglasses which are too dark is detrimental.

“We’ve adapted tools from standard information theory to quasi-probabilities and shown that filtering quantum particles can condense the information of a million particles into one,” said lead author Dr David Arvidsson-Shukur from Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory and Sarah Woodhead Fellow at Girton College. “That means that detection devices can operate at their ideal influx rate while receiving information corresponding to much higher rates. This is forbidden according to normal probability theory, but quantum negativity makes it possible.”

An experimental group at the University of Toronto has already started building technology to use these new theoretical results. Their goal is to create a quantum device that uses single-photon laser light to provide incredibly precise measurements of optical components. Such measurements are crucial for creating advanced new technologies, such as photonic quantum computers.

“Our discovery opens up exciting new ways to use fundamental quantum phenomena in real-world applications,” said Arvidsson-Shukur.

Quantum metrology can improve measurements of things including distances, angles, temperatures and magnetic fields. These more precise measurements can lead to better and faster technologies, but also better resources to probe fundamental physics and improve our understanding of the universe. For example, many technologies rely on the precise alignment of components or the ability to sense small changes in electric or magnetic fields. Higher precision in aligning mirrors can allow for more precise microscopes or telescopes, and better ways of measuring the earth’s magnetic field can lead to better navigation tools.

Quantum metrology is currently used to enhance the precision of gravitational wave detection in the Nobel Prize-winning LIGO Hanford Observatory. But for the majority of applications, quantum metrology has been overly expensive and unachievable with current technology. The newly-published results offer a cheaper way of doing quantum metrology.

“Scientists often say that ‘there is no such thing as a free lunch’, meaning that you cannot gain anything if you are unwilling to pay the computational price,” said co-author Aleksander Lasek, a PhD candidate at the Cavendish Laboratory. “However, in quantum metrology this price can be made arbitrarily low. That’s highly counterintuitive, and truly amazing!”

Dr Nicole Yunger Halpern, co-author and ITAMP Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University, said: “Everyday multiplication commutes: Six times seven equals seven times six. Quantum theory involves multiplication that doesn’t commute. The lack of commutation lets us improve metrology using quantum physics.

“Quantum physics enhances metrology, computation, cryptography, and more; but proving rigorously that it does is difficult. We showed that quantum physics enables us to extract more information from experiments than we could with only classical physics. The key to the proof is a quantum version of probabilities — mathematical objects that resemble probabilities but can assume negative and non-real values.”

###

Media Contact
Sarah Collins
[email protected]

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17559-w

Tags: Atomic PhysicsAtomic/Molecular/Particle PhysicsChemistry/Physics/Materials SciencesOpticsParticle Physics
Share13Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Bright Red-NIR Glow from Carbodicarbene Borenium Ions

Bright Red-NIR Glow from Carbodicarbene Borenium Ions

October 6, 2025
blank

Transforming Biogas Waste into an Effective Solution for Ammonium Pollution Cleanup

October 6, 2025

Scientists Incorporate Waveguide Physics into Metasurfaces to Unlock Advanced Light Manipulation

October 6, 2025

Scientists Develop “Knob” to Control Topological Spin Textures in Materials

October 6, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    95 shares
    Share 38 Tweet 24
  • New Study Indicates Children’s Risk of Long COVID Could Double Following a Second Infection – The Lancet Infectious Diseases

    94 shares
    Share 38 Tweet 24
  • Ohio State Study Reveals Protein Quality Control Breakdown as Key Factor in Cancer Immunotherapy Failure

    74 shares
    Share 30 Tweet 19
  • New Insights Suggest ALS May Be an Autoimmune Disease

    72 shares
    Share 29 Tweet 18

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Exosomal RNAs: Linking Cancer and Stem Cells

Enhancing Dementia Care: Voices of Family Caregivers

Comparing Mental Health Services: Refugees vs. General Population

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 63 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.