Quantum Mechanical States

Two particles are said to be entangled if they share quantum mechanical states. E.g. quantum states in the hydrogen atom

The Superposition Principle

States that for all linear systems, the outcome at a specific point due to two different inputs is merely the sum of the two different outputs. That is, 1 + 2 = 1 + (2 )

Schrodingers Cat

Application to Quantum Theory

A singular particle within a given energy level can have two different quantum mechanical states. Until observed, it is safe to assume that it takes both states, just like the cat. Solutions to the Schrodinger equation are linear, thus we can apply the superposition principle.

Computing
Classical Classical bit either 0 or 1 Classical Register any string of these bits Example 001 Quantum Mechanical Quantum Mechanical bit or qubit either 0, 1, or a superposition of these two Quantum Mechanical Register 000, 001, 011, 101, 110, or 111

Cryptography
General idea: Alice sends a cryptic message to Bob. Eve and eavesdropper tries to read message. Bob decrypts message and gets the original text. Used in many different instances. Types: RSA, One-Time Pad, Quantum Key Distribution, etc.

Quantum Key Distribution

More secure than other methods Can identify eavesdroppers Spin in z-direction implies a value of 1 Spin in x-direction implies a value of 0 Alice and Bob each create a string of qubits Alice then sends Bob her string via quantum entanglement Values that are different are thrown out

Mathematics

Bells Inequality Informal

1 X X X X 2 X X X X 3 X X X X AB12 AB13 AB23 S S D D D D S S S D S D D S D S S D D S S D D S

In an experiment with two entangled photons and three different polarizers we can analyze whether or not the photons have hidden variables Alice and Bob can choose from three different polarizers S is defined as the number of times Alice (A) and Bob (B) experience the same outcome with different polarizers Ignoring top and bottom rows, = 1 3 Thus, 1 3 Experimentally, 1 4

Sources
Knight, Peter. ""Trust Me, I'm a Physicist" - the Weird World of Quantum Entanglement."YouTube. YouTube, 17 June 2011. Web. 04 Apr. 2013. The Penguin Dictionary of Physics, ed. Valerie Illingworth, 1991, Penguin Books, London Hughes, Richard J. "Quantum Cryptography." Cornell University Library. Ed. D. M. Alde, P. Dyer, G. G. Luther, G. L. Morgan, and M. Schauer. University of California, n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2013.