A study by theoretical physicist Arjun Berera of the University of Edinburgh suggests that quantum communication networks could exist in space and function without decay.
Despite the fact that the search for aliens has been going on for years, humanity has not yet found solid evidence that there are other intelligent civilizations in the universe. But scientists are convinced that it is only a matter of time before that happens.
Meanwhile, researchers are working on some other theories. One of them is how extraterrestrial civilizations could communicate with each other in space. In research published in the journal Physical Review, a group of scientists presented a mathematical model that, they claim, shows how aliens could potentially communicate through quantum physics.
The question of quantum communication is something scientists around the world have been working on for years. The idea is that quantum mechanics provides certain properties that would make the transfer of information inherently faster and more reliable than ordinary systems… if we could make it work.
Recently, researchers from the Ruđer Bošković Institute and their colleagues have shown that quantum communication is possible. They established a quantum link between Trieste, Rijeka, Zagreb and Ljubljana and made sure that the communication was secure (thanks to quantum encryption) and extremely fast.
But a study by theoretical physicist Arjun Berera of the University of Edinburgh suggests that such quantum communication networks could exist in space and function without decay.
Quantum states are generally considered very fragile, so any external interaction destroys that state in some way, Berera told Science News.
Berrera and his fellow theoretical physicist Jaime Calderón-Figueroa performed calculations on the movement of X-rays through the void of space to check for potential decoherence.
They found that if photons were used as quantum particles, they could be transported at least hundreds of thousands of light-years, allowing them to travel across the entire Milky Way. As they explained in the study, this would be possible because the average density of matter in space is much lower than on Earth, and this “cleaner” environment means less chance of mixing. Not even the force of gravity would be enough to disrupt the quantum communication network.
It is likely that quantum communication using photons could be established at interstellar distances, especially for photons in the X-ray region below the electron mass, the researchers said.
Although the idea that aliens could use quantum networks to talk to each other is still in the realm of theory and speculation, for astronomers it could be another potential clue to follow in space.
The researchers point out that “significant information transfer” is possible with a quantum signal, but decoding it would require a fully functional quantum computer. Additionally, even in the case of quantum communication, information cannot travel faster than the speed of light, which would mean that any message that would potentially be detected would be several years old.
However, this research paper also drew attention to quantum communication as another potential way of communication between aliens and other civilizations. Well, maybe with us.
In principle, it should be possible to detect a quantum signal coming from an astrophysical body or an intelligent signal coming from an extraterrestrial civilization, the researchers write.
Now we just need to catch such a signal and manage to decode it.
