Aliens could communicate with earthlings using quantum messages
What's the story
If an intelligent alien civilization were to come across us, how do you think they'd communicate? New research suggests that aliens could reach us with the help of photons or light particles over interstellar distances. The report in Physical Review D says such messages would not lose their quantum property during transmission from a distant point in the universe.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Human beings now know more about the universe than they have ever known. However, we are still clueless in our quest to find other intelligent civilization like ourselves in interstellar space. That hasn't stopped us from searching for answers. The new findings suggesting quantum communication as a viable form of alien communication could also help in other research related to secure communication methods.
Communication
Quantum particles lose their quantumness after interacting with surroundings
Quantum communication has often been considered the most secure form of communication. In the report, researchers suggest that extraterrestrials may have adopted quantum communication if they are up there. However, the main concern when it comes to quantum communication is decoherence, in which quantum particles lose their quantumness or strength after interacting with their surroundings.
Decoherence
Photons can travel farther in space due to less density
Arjun Berera, one of the researchers said, "Quantum states you generally think of are very delicate, and if there's any kind of external interaction, you kind of destroy that state." Quantum particles can, however, travel farther in space before succumbing to decoherence since the average density of matter in space is less. Researchers calculated how far light, especially X-rays, could traverse the space unscathed.
Findings
X-ray photons can potentially travel hundreds of thousands of light-years
In the paper, Berera and his co-researcher Jaime Calderón Figueroa found that X-ray photons can potentially travel hundreds of thousands of light-years. They also looked at ways of spotting alien quantum dispatches. They suggested that quantum teleportation could be a potential type of communication. As it involves transferring the properties of one particle to another, scientists could look for simultaneous signals.