Vice reports that a physicist working at the University of Bristol in the UK has potentially discovered quantum wormholes. Researcher Hatim Salih has proposed an experiment that makes a type of teleportation called “counter-transportation” realistically feasible. However, this isn’t exactly the Star Trek transporter many sci-fi fans have dreamed of over the years. Here’s everything you need to know about Salih’s quantum wormhole experiment.

Salih’s quantum wormhole is a huge scientific breakthrough.

The general theory of relativity of the famous scientist Albert Einstein affirms that hypothetical “bridges” are possible between two points in space-time. However, since 1935, when Einstein presented his theory, the existence of wormholes has been purely hypothetical. However, Salih’s experiment paves the potential way to achieve the longstanding goal of traversing a rift in space-time.

Counterportation comes from “counterfactual” and “transportation” and while similar to teleportation, the two terms are not synonymous. “Counterportation gives you the end goal of recreating an object in space,” Salih said. “[B] but we can make sure nothing happened.”

Although unfortunately, for Salih to achieve true counterportation, they’ll have to wait a few years. The quantum computers necessary to perform the task don’t exist yet in 2023. “If counterportation is to be realized, an entirely new type of quantum computer has to be built,” Salih said. However, development is underway, and Salih hopes to complete it in three to four years.

Wormholes are a classic trope of science fiction in popular media, if only because they provide such a handy futuristic plot device to avoid the issue of violating relativity with faster-than-light travel. In reality, they are purely theoretical. Unlike black holes—also once thought to be purely theoretical—no evidence for an actual wormhole has ever been found, although they are fascinating from an abstract theoretical physics perceptive. You might be forgiven for thinking that undiscovered status had changed if you only read the headlines this week announcing that physicists had used a quantum computer to make a wormhole, reporting on a new paper published in Nature.

Let’s set the record straight right away: This isn’t a bona fide traversable wormhole—i.e., a bridge between two regions of spacetime connecting the mouth of one black hole to another, through which a physical object can pass—in any real, physical sense. “There’s a difference between something being possible in principle and possible in reality,” co-author Joseph Lykken of Fermilab said during a media briefing this week. “So don’t hold your breath about sending your dog through a wormhole.” But it’s still a pretty clever, nifty experiment in its own right that provides a tantalizing proof of principle to the kinds of quantum-scale physics experiments that might be possible as quantum computers continue to improve.

“It’s not the real thing; it’s not even close to the real thing; it’s barely even a simulation of something-not-close-to-the-real-thing,” physicist Matt Strassler wrote on his blog. “Could this method lead to a simulation of a real wormhole someday? Maybe in the distant future. Could it lead to making a real wormhole? Never. Don’t get me wrong. What they did is pretty cool! But the hype in the press? 

The success of this experiment could change the field of physics forever. 

Additionally, Salih posits that this work is tantamount to the particle acceleration work at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN). “This work will be in the spirit of the multi-billion ventures that exist to witness new physical phenomena,” Salih said. “[…] But at a fraction of the resources.” 

The ultimate goal of the quantum wormhole experiment is to “explore fundamental questions about the universe,” Salih says. And if successful, the experiment could allow scientists to research “higher dimensions.” 

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