Russia and China have just broken a record together in quantum communications. It's a milestone that changes everything

China is intractable in the field of quantum communications. This discipline uses the principles of quantum mechanics to enable the transmission of encrypted messages over impenetrable communications networks. The existence of this technology is Crucial for the great powersThis has prompted the United States, Europe and China to embark on a race to see which can develop large-scale quantum communications infrastructure first.

On June 15, 2020, a team of Chinese researchers published an article in nature He described the procedure he used to send an unbreakable encrypted message between two ground stations 1,120 kilometers apart. To achieve this, they turned to a fundamental property of quantum systems: entanglement. This phenomenon has no equivalent in classical physics, and consists of the state of the quantum systems or particles involved, which may be two or more, that are identical.

In this context, the distance over which the encrypted message was transmitted is essential because to create a global quantum communications network, which is the ultimate goal to which all powers aspire, it is necessary for this technology to work perfectly. Over very long distances. In general, the strategy used by Chinese researchers is to use quantum systems to generate private keys at different points on the planet by sending entangled photons emitted by the Missius satellite, which orbits at an altitude of about 500 kilometers.

Going forward, it seems that China and Russia will work side by side in the field of quantum communications

In fact, the entangled photons sent by the satellite to ground stations do not encrypt the encrypted message; What it contains is the key that allows the message to be decrypted when it is picked up at its destination. In fact, the message can be sent from one point to another using any other communication channel. The essence of this technology lies in the fact that each pair of entangled photons encodes one piece of basic information.

Their entanglement ensures that if a photon is altered, for example, because someone can observe it, its physical properties change immediately and the entanglement is broken, so the encrypted message cannot be violated. The biggest limitation this technology faces in practice is that transporting photons over very long distances is not easy, but the Chinese government has launched a five-year plan that is supposed to cost… 15 billion dollars To give a final boost to their quantum communications.

However, China is not on this path alone; Russia accompanies her. In fact, both countries are advancing side by side in the field of quantum communications. This at least reflects the achievement they have just reached by working side by side. Their cooperation began in 2020, and since then they have conducted several joint experiments that ended successfully. The last of them once again had the satellite Misius as the undisputed protagonist, although the distance over which the encrypted message was transmitted, on this occasion, broke the record held by China itself.

The two ground stations involved in this quantum communications experiment are located near Moscow, Russia, and Urumqi, China. They are separated by Distance 3800 kmSo the 1,120-kilometre experiment conducted by Chinese researchers in 2020 who published their results in the journal Nature is already far behind.

The ball is now in the court of the United States and Europe. The ancient continent plans to place its first satellite in low Earth orbit for quantum communications in space in 2024: Eagle-1. As expected, this project is led by the European Space Agency. We'll see how it goes.

Cover Photo: SpaceX

more information: Tom's devices

In Zataka: This theory reconciles general relativity with quantum mechanics. What he proposes is revolutionary