QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENTISTS are still mapping out the broad topography of their nascent field. Some simpler processes, such as teleportation and quantum cryptography, are well understood. In contrast, complex phenomena such as quantum error correction and Peter W. Shor's factorization algorithm are surrounded by large tracts of terra incognita. One effort to bridge the gaps between the simple and the complex is work on a comprehensive theory of entanglement, analogous to the theory of energy embodied in thermodynamics.

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