Quantum Leap: Scientists Close in on Real-Life Wormhole
Forget sci-fi fantasy – physicists are now closer than ever to creating a real, usable wormhole in the lab. Thanks to a groundbreaking new approach called ‘counterportation’, quantum teleportation just got a major upgrade, promising practical breakthroughs in how we understand space and time.
What Is Counterportation?
Developed by University of bristol/" title="Bristol" data-wpil-keyword-link="linked">Bristol physicist Hatim Salih, counterportation offers the first practical blueprint for building a wormhole that verifiably connects two points in space—without any particles actually travelling between them. This method uses a novel quantum computing scheme, detailed in Quantum Science and Technology, to reconstitute a small object remotely, defying long-held assumptions about communication and information transfer.
“This is a milestone we have been working towards for a bunch of years,” said Salih, who is also co-founder of the quantum tech startup DotQuantum. “It provides a theoretical as well as practical framework for exploring afresh enduring puzzles about the universe, such as the true nature of spacetime.”
Defying Physics Dogma: No Particles Crossing?
Traditionally, scientists believed communication required particles – photons in a fibre optic cable or neural signals in our brains. Even classic quantum teleportation, made famous beyond the realm of science, relies on transferring complete information allowing an object to be recreated elsewhere. But counterportation throws this idea out the window.
“While counterposition achieves the end goal of teleportation, namely disembodied transport, it remarkably does so without any detectable information carriers travelling across,” Salih explained.
This shatters previous limits and unlocks a ‘smoking gun’ that supports a physical reality beneath our universe’s surface; a discovery with immense implications for physics and quantum computing.
Building Wormholes: The Next Frontier
The concept of wormholes captured imaginations in the blockbuster movie Interstellar. Now, inspired by those cosmic shortcuts, Salih and his team, including collaborators in Bristol, Oxford and York, plan to physically build this quantum wormhole in the lab.
“If counterposition is to be realised, an entirely new type of quantum computer has to be built: an exchange-free one, where communicating parties exchange no particles,” Salih said.
This pioneering technology could revolutionise how we test rival theories of physics, including quantum gravity, and explore higher dimensions—all on a fraction of the budget of mega-projects like CERN or LIGO.
Professor Tim Spiller of the University of York praised the work, saying: “Quantum theory continues to inspire and astound us. Hatim’s latest work on counterposition provides another example of this, with the added bonus of a pathway towards experimental demonstration.”
John Rarity from the University of Bristol added: “This experiment can reveal that quantum particles can be correlated over distances without interacting. This correlation enables transporting quantum information without particles crossing space, effectively creating a traversable wormhole.”
The countdown to real-world wormholes has begun. Quantum sci-fi may soon become stunning reality.
