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Physics

Lasers fired at crystals could uncover quantum nature of the vacuum

Ultra-short laser pulses may allow us to measure entanglement in a way that answers questions about the quantum nature of the vacuum

By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

17 November 2023

Abstract fractal illustration

The vacuum is not as empty as it might appear

ElessarDesign/Shutterstock

We may be able to harvest the quantum property of entanglement from apparently empty space, according to a group of researchers. If their proposal can be realised, it has the potential to reveal new information about the fundamentally quantum nature of the vacuum.

According to quantum physics, what we consider empty space is not actually empty. Instead, nearly imperceptible flickers of quantum fields are always present. Over a large volume, these fluctuations of quantum fields cancel each other out to…

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