Chapter 3-5 Quantum Entanglement
Having understood the preceding sections on quantum properties, Quantum Entanglement becomes easier to grasp. This phenomenon, hailed as "the greatest puzzle of this century", has captivated numerous scientists.
Quantum Entanglement, proposed by Einstein and others, describes a "mysterious" correlation between two or more entangled particles: when a measurement is made on one quantum in a system, the state of the other quantum instantaneously changes, affecting the states of the remaining particles in the system accordingly. In other words, two entangled particles, despite being separated by vast distances without any medium between them, exhibit a connection where the state change of one particle due to measurement correlates immediately with a corresponding change in the other particle.
Even more astonishing is that these entangled particles do not exhibit equal "replicas" but instead show actions and reactions (see Figure 3.9). For example, if one entangled particle has an upward spin, the other particle's spin must be downward, akin to a seesaw effect. However, regardless of how far apart these particles are, as soon as we measure one particle, the other seems to instantly respond to our measurement by displaying the same spin direction. The original entangled state appears to collapse immediately, yet scientists have not identified any form of information transfer between the two particles—everything happens in an instant. This consistency aligns with what we discussed earlier as the "Observer Effect": once observed, entangled particles immediately "collapse".
Figure 3.9: Concept of Quantum Entanglement
Due to the inherent contradiction between Quantum Entanglement and relativity, Einstein was perplexed, famously calling the phenomenon "spooky action at a distance". Of course, Einstein did not question the correctness of quantum mechanics; he questioned its completeness. In 1935, he, along with scientists Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen, co-authored a paper titled "Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?" In this paper, they challenged the "Copenhagen interpretation" of quantum mechanics by presenting a paradox, hoping to find a more reasonable interpretation. This paradox, named after the initials of their last names, is known as the "EPR Paradox" (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox).
Unfortunately, throughout the remainder of his life, Einstein never discovered what the hidden variables were. Until his passing, he continued to believe that "God does not play dice".
The remarkable aspect of Quantum Entanglement is that it can exist regardless of distance, which physicists have exclaimed as the "God Effect". For example, if a pair of entangled particles is placed at the southernmost and northernmost parts of the universe, any influence on the particle in the south will instantly affect the particle in the north, and this influence happens at the speed of "instantaneous" action. To test the existence of Quantum Entanglement, scientists placed two paired particles over 100 kilometers apart and then placed a paired third photon with one of the particles. Amazingly, the particle over 100 kilometers away immediately exhibited the same photon.
Figure 3.10: Movie "Up" and Multi-quantum Entanglement
Even more astonishing is that entangled particles are not limited to pairs. When several particles interact, their individual properties merge into an overall property, which cannot describe the properties of each particle separately, only the characteristics of the entire system, exhibiting a "holographic" nature. Take a classic scene from the animated movie "Up" (by Peter Docter & Bob Peterson) (Figure 3.10 top) as an example. Initially, the inflated helium balloons have no connection, but once they are tied together (creating entanglement through interaction), you can only describe the properties of the entire bundle of balloons, and the individual properties of each balloon are masked. The overall properties of the bundle are different from the simple sum of the individual balloons' properties (from having no lifting power to lifting a house, showing a qualitative change due to a quantitative change).
Several years ago, Swiss scientists announced they had entangled 16 million atoms in a centimeter of crystal; in practice, Chinese scientists have successfully achieved "51-photon entanglement" using cold atom systems (Figure 3.10 bottom). These discoveries all indicate that Quantum Entanglement is actually a system with indivisible wholeness, which can be called a "Quantum System". It's like a seesaw game: the two ends of the seesaw form a whole, and the entangled particles essentially act as one entity. Though they may appear far apart, they together constitute a single system.
The application of quantum technology has made rapid progress, and scientists have already applied these discoveries to reality, leading to the development of more technological products such as quantum computers, quantum encrypted communication, and quantum networks. Chinese quantum scientists have achieved the splitting and transmission of entangled states over a distance of 1,400 kilometers. The 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to French scientist Alain Aspect, American scientist John Clauser, and Austrian scientist Anton Zeilinger, in recognition of their contributions to experiments with entangled photons and pioneering quantum information science. This highlights the significance of Quantum Entanglement as a cutting-edge technology.
Regarding quantum mechanics, humanity knows its effects but not the reasons behind them. However, similar phenomena to Quantum Entanglement may not be unfamiliar to people in the real world. For example, in everyday life, we often experience "sixth senses", sudden flashes of inspiration, and moments of sudden realization. In "Dream of the Red Chamber" (One of the Four Great Classical Novels of China), FengJie laments: "Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives"; when you are thinking of someone, they happen to call you; you encounter a deeply understanding soulmate or friend who seems to have telepathic connections; twins living in different places can sense when the other is ill; the moment you first see your future husband, you feel very familiar as if you've known him for a long time.
We previously mentioned that higher-dimensional space is not constrained by time or the speed of light, so let's imagine: could quantum particles travel to higher dimensions and sense each other? If the matter we can see with the naked eye might be only 5% of the universe, is it possible that we are entangled with invisible "dark matter"? Or are we entangled with our "projection source" in higher-dimensional space? Could we be entangled with our past or future selves? Could we be entangled with our own soul or someone else's spirit? Furthermore, is it possible that our consciousness can be entangled with higher-dimensional "primordial spirits" or even deities? Is it possible that certain substances or beings, through Quantum Entanglement, can influence or change our state?
Using the principle of Quantum Entanglement, we might explain it this way: in the human world, each person has their own Quantum Entanglement System. This means that each person has at least one "self" corresponding to them in quantum entanglement (the present "me" is the "projection source" of the higher-dimensional "me"), and they are in a certain state of entanglement. At specific times and frequencies, there is always the possibility of encountering the corresponding "self".
If this makes sense, then everything in the world can be divided into entangled positive matter and negative matter. Positive (yang) matter is the tangible entity visible to the naked eye, while negative (yin) matter is the invisible "dark matter" (or spirit, soul, magnetic field, wave, etc.), which, although unseen, actually makes up the majority (96%). The universe we live in is likely controlled by the unseen, which determines the seen. Just as our physical bodies are governed by invisible consciousness (or spirit), once consciousness ceases (medically brain-dead), the body is also declared dead, the three spiritual souls leave the body, and the seven physical souls perish.
Similarly, fruits offered to ancestors spoil faster because the "soul" of the food has been consumed. This seems to suggest a possibility: if we change the negative (yin) state of something, then the positive state visible to our eyes will also change accordingly.
Do you remember? 30 years ago, there was a very popular book called "Water Knows the Answers". Dr. Masaru Emoto, a Japanese scientist, used 122 world-shocking photographs of water crystals (Figure 3.11) to present incredible scientific observations to the public, proving that "water can sense". When exposed to words like "love" and "gratitude", the water crystals formed complete and beautiful hexagons; when insulted with "you fool", the water could hardly form crystals; water that had listened to classical music had elegantly varied crystals, while water that had listened to heavy metal music had distorted and chaotic crystals.
Figure 3.11: Schematic diagram of water crystals in "Water Knows the Answers"
Afterwards, many people joined in these experiments and discovered that chanting Buddhist mantras and similar practices also had an extraordinary ability to form beautiful water crystals. There have been many similar experiments. For example, two identical potted plants were treated differently: one was continuously praised, while the other was continuously cursed and complained about. As expected, the plant subjected to curses gradually withered, while the plant that received praise thrived. On YouTube, there is a "love and hate rice experiment" (Figure 3.12) that has been verified many times, showing different results when emotions of "love" and "hate" are projected onto the same rice daily.
Figure 3.12: "love and hate rice experiment" on YouTube
In this series of experiments, it is very likely that human language not only changed the magnetic field but also altered the negative state of water and plants. When the negative state of something changes, the observed positive state will also fundamentally change. It is akin to a person's soul being twisted or dispersed, leading to sickness or becoming a walking corpse.
Following the characteristics of quantum mechanics, the negative state of things seems to be able to exist simultaneously in three dimensional or higher-dimensional space. Thus, altering the negative state of everything might seem inconceivable to ordinary people, but from a higher-dimensional perspective, it would be as easy as an "invisible hand" effortlessly making changes. This leaves people bewildered by various "disappearance" incidents, which are then classified as "unsolved mysteries"...
