Breakthrough Experiment at University of Twente Demonstrates Coexistence of Quantum Mechanics and Thermodynamics

Breakthrough Experiment at University of Twente Demonstrates Coexistence of Quantum Mechanics and Thermodynamics

(IN BRIEF) Researchers at the University of Twente have resolved a paradox between quantum mechanics and thermodynamics using an experiment with photons in an optical chip. In quantum mechanics, time can be reversed and information is always preserved, while thermodynamics has a direction of time and allows for information loss. By entangling subsystems, the researchers demonstrated that individual channels followed thermodynamic laws while the overall system remained consistent with quantum mechanics. This breakthrough experiment sheds light on the coexistence of these theories. The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.

(PRESS RELEASE) ENSCHEDE, 3-Jul-2023 — /EuropaWire/ — Scientists at the University of Twente have successfully resolved a long-standing quantum paradox by conducting an experiment with photons in an optical chip. Their findings, published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Communications, demonstrate how quantum mechanics and thermodynamics can coexist.

In the realm of quantum mechanics, time can be reversed, and information is always preserved, enabling the retrieval of previous states of particles. This seemingly contradicts thermodynamics, where time has a defined direction and information can be lost. Lead author Jelmer Renema explains, “Think of two photographs left in the sun for too long; eventually, they become indistinguishable.”

While a theoretical solution and experiments with atoms existed, the Twente researchers have now demonstrated the paradox with photons. Renema notes that “Photons have the advantage of easy time-reversal.” In the experiment, an optical chip with channels allowed photons to pass. Initially, researchers determined the number of photons in each channel, but subsequently, the photons rearranged their positions.

Through the entanglement of subsystems, the researchers observed that while individual channels obeyed thermodynamic laws and exhibited disorder, the overall system remained consistent with quantum mechanics. Renema explains, “Based on measurements from one channel, we couldn’t determine the number of photons remaining in that specific channel, but the missing information seemed to ‘disappear’ to other entangled subsystems.”

The research was conducted by Dr. Jelmer Renema, an assistant professor in the Adaptive Quantum Optics research group at the University of Twente, along with a team that included the research group of Prof. Dr. Jens Eisert from Freie Universität Berlin, who played a crucial role in demonstrating the experiment’s reversibility. Their groundbreaking work titled “Quantum simulation of thermodynamics in an integrated quantum photonic processor” was recently published in Nature Communications.

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SOURCE: University of Twente