New photons carry 1.63 bits of info
In other twisted technology news, researchers report they have boosted the amount of information sent in a single photon to 1.63 bits, just by giving its electromagnetic field a good twist. The team—yet again from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign—was trying to come up with a way to pack more than one bit of information into the polarization of a single photon, which is normally polarized either vertically (0) or horizontally (1). Photons that share the faster-than-light quantum link known as entanglement could mix their polarizations to transmit up to two bits each, but imperfect technology has limited researchers to sending a mere 1.58 bits in this way. The scientists imparted photons with orbital angular momentum, which gives them a corkscrew-like shape that helped in decoding the entangled information. (Nature Physics; U.I.U.C. press release)

2 Comments

1. 1. Quasimodo 01:37 AM 3/31/08

   WHY is this geologic article the leading story on the Technology page?? Somebody a little hazy on the definitions? Doesn't anybody on your end care how it makes sci am look? Pity, that.

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2. 2. wsugaimd 04:30 PM 4/4/08

   Good question quasi..but since this volcano is in my backyard, I enjoyed it. By the way, the snow covered mountain in the background is Mauna Loa, another active volcano.

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