What's the name of that theory?

[nboy22]

There was a theory about how you can manipulate a photon in one area and another photon will be manipulated very far away, defining that there is a speed faster than light. What is this theory named?

Thanks!

 

[SlitheryDee]

Wasn't there something about this in a relatively recent scifi novel? "Ender's Game" maybe?

 

[nboy22]

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
Wasn't there something about this in a relatively recent scifi novel? "Ender's Game" maybe?

not too sure.. actually my psychology teacher was talking about it.. and my dad and I were discussing it further tonight. I'd like to actually find out more on the theory.

 

[TuxDave]

I believe you're thinking of quantum entanglement. I haven't reviewed it lately but the last I heard was that yes, if you manipulate/observe one of the photons you'll alter the oberservation of another photon somewhere far away instantly. However no information can be obtained from that exchange of observations so no information has been transmitted faster than the speed of light.

 

[f95toli]

Originally posted by: nboy22
There was a theory about how you can manipulate a photon in one area and another photon will be manipulated very far away, defining that there is a speed faster than light. What is this theory named?

Thanks!

Yes, this is a consequence of quantum entanglement. However, there is no special "theory" as such; it is just a part of quantum mechanics.
Also, there is as far as a we know no speed faster than c(the speed of light) involved. You can definitly NOT use entanglement to transfer information faster than the speed of light.
We know that quantum mechanics is non-local meaning two particles can "interact" over some distance without exchanging (classical) information (how you measure one particle affects the state of the other). However, according to some recent experiments it is also possible that QM is non-realistic, which in this case means that there aren't really two separate particles: Just one two-particle STATE, i.e. is meaningless to speak of them as seperate entities before they have been measured.

And yes, this is quite weird but it might nevertheless be how the world works.