Event

Science: Anton Zeilinger: Paradoxes of the Quantum Realm

The photon, the basic unit of light, is a familiar but still-puzzling elementary particle: As quantum physicists have long known, a suitably outfitted laser can produce peculiar pairs of photons that influence each other's properties instantaneously, no matter how far apart from each other they travel. This phenomenon, called entanglement, was first identified by Erwin Schrödinger in 1935; Albert Einstein derided it as "spooky action at a distance." Physics Professor Anton Zeilinger, author of Dance of the Photons, demonstrates the reality and characteristics of entanglement, and ponders how its power might help create the first generation of quantum computers. Presented as part of Seattle Science Lectures, with Pacific Science Center and University Book Store. Series sponsored by Microsoft. Series media sponsorship provided by KPLU.