- Research
- 21/12/2023
Unwrapping quantum teleportation with Santa Claus
Quantum teleportation looks set to reshape communication technologies and guide the future of the quantum internet. Such potential for quantum teleportation makes it even more important to share this concept in a clear and transparent way with high school students – the future users and developers of the technology. So, Barry W. Fitzgerald, Patrick Emonts, and Jordi Tura have turned to the Christmas gift-bringer Santa Claus for a little help on the matter by designing a classroom narrative involving Santa Claus to explain the key aspects of quantum teleportation.
In September 2022, Jordi Tura i Brugués of Leiden University was awarded the Heineken Young Scientists Award 2022 in the field of Natural Sciences for his work on quantum entanglement. At a lavish ceremony at the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam, Tura received the award to a big applause. Hosting the event that day was Barry Fitzgerald – physicist and science communicator at TU/e, and he was immediately drawn to Tura’s quantum endeavours.
Fascinating and confusing
“Quantum physics is just one of those fields in physics that I find fascinating and confusing at the same time,” says Fitzgerald who combines his position as a science communicator at TU/e with scientific research for University College Dublin (Ireland) and via his company BW Science. “In the past, I had tried unsuccessfully to publish in the field. It was clear that I needed to work with the experts.”
Fitzgerald approached Tura after the event with an idea for a quantum-based paper, with a focus on making quantum teleportation easier to understand for high school students. Fitzgerald has a history of using popular culture such as superheroes to help communicate complex topics in science, and he proposed working on something similar with Tura for quantum teleportation.
“It was an unexpected and fun conversation to be honest,” says Tura. “But it didn’t take too much convincing on Barry’s part for me to get involved.” And so began the story of a quantum-based collaboration involving the world’s busiest Christmas gift-bringer – Santa Claus!
Quantum information
So, how did the pair combine quantum teleportation and Santa Claus then? Before ‘unwrapping’ the novelty of their quantum gift, it’s good to clarify some aspects of quantum teleportation.
Quantum teleportation is a process by which quantum information can be transferred from one point to another, and is set for big things in the future according to Patrick Emonts, postdoctoral researcher with Tura at Leiden University.
“Quantum teleportation can change how we share information in the future. But despite its name, the transfer of quantum information is not the same as matter teleportation,” says Emonts. “When people hear the term ‘quantum teleportation’, many are drawn to the possibility of teleporting people from one location on Earth to another – that’s just not the same.”
For Fitzgerald, such a misconception is not a hurdle. “It presents a golden opportunity to address the misconception in an innovative manner through the development of resources for the physics classroom.”
The Santa Claus Narrative
With this in mind, Fitzgerald and Tura were joined by Emonts in writing a paper combining the world of quantum teleportation with Santa Claus’ epic Christmas Eve delivery journey. “We present a way of teaching quantum teleportation using Santa Claus, and we’ve designed a worksheet for educators to accompany the approach,” says Fitzgerald.
To explain the complexities of quantum teleportation, the researchers outline a narrative in three parts by which Santa Claus delivers presents in the form of books using quantum teleportation on Christmas Eve. “Books are a physical way of storing information in the form of words,” says Emonts. “These presents are well suited for a story about transferring quantum information. We could have described the process for other types of presents, but then things would have become too complex.”
In Santa’s quantum teleportation process for the delivery of books, the researchers show that Santa Claus needs the equivalent of three qubits – the bits used to store quantum information. Added to that, the researchers demonstrate how Santa Claus uses a so-called Ledger of Good Nature to check whether a child will receive a good book or a bad book.
The researchers hope that the Santa Claus narrative and associated worksheet will find their way into the high school classroom over the coming months, and they hope to play some part in the process.
Better understanding
“We’d like to assess if the Santa Claus example is effective at engaging students in the learning of complex quantum principles,” says Tura. “It would be a logical next step for this work.”
Final word though goes to Fitzgerald, who has previously published a popular science book on Santa Claus (‘Secret Science of Santa Claus’) but recognises that this collaboration has taken his understanding of quantum physics to another level.
“I’m the non-quantum physicist in the group, and it’s been a steep learning curve for me, despite my physics background. It’s a truly enthralling topic, notwithstanding its intricacies. I’ve learned a lot about the magic of quantum teleportation through the writing of this paper, and my hope is that educators and students alike will value our work in their pursuit of quantum understanding."
The paper is currently on arXiv and available to read here.
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