Since the inception of quantum mechanics, physicists have sought to understand its repercussions for our universe. One of the theory’s stranger consequences is entanglement: the phenomenon whereby a pair or group of particles becomes connected in such a manner that the state of any one particle cannot be described independently. Instead, its state is intrinsically correlated with the state of the other(s), even if the particles are separated by large distances. As a result, a measurement performed on a particle in an isolated location can affect the state of its entangled twin far away.
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in the US have now discovered a way to use this quantum property to double the resolution of optical microscopes. The new technique, dubbed quantum microscopy by coincidence (QMC), illustrates the advantage of quantum microscopes over classical ones, and could have applications in non-destructive imaging of biological systems such as cancer cells.
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