Scientists have captured the first ever image of a phenomenon which Albert Einstein once described as "spooky action at a distance".
科学家捕捉到了史上首个阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦曾描述为“远距离的幽灵行为”的现象的图像。

The photo shows a strong form of quantum entanglement, where two particles interact and share their physical states for an instant.
这张照片展示了很强的一种量子纠缠形式，两个粒子相互作用，瞬间共享它们的物理状态。

It occurs no matter how great the distance between the particles is.
无论粒子相距多远都可以出现量子纠缠。

The connection is known as Bell entanglement and underpins the field of quantum mechanics.
这种联系被称为贝尔纠缠，是量子力学的核心。

图片来源：PA Media

Paul-Antoine Moreau, of the University of Glasgow's School of Physics and Astronomy, said the image was "an elegant demonstration of a fundamental property of nature".
格拉斯哥大学物理与天文学院的保罗-安托万·莫罗说这个图像“优雅地展示了自然的基本属性”。

He added: "It's an exciting result which could be used to advance the emerging field of quantum computing and lead to new types of imaging."
他补充说：“这个结果令人兴奋，可用于推进量子计算这一新兴领域，带来新型成像技术。”

Einstein described quantum mechanics as "spooky" because of the instantaneousness of the apparent remote interaction between two entangled particles.
爱因斯坦说量子力学很“恐怖”，因为两个相距明显很远的纠缠粒子瞬间就能相互作用。

The interaction also seemed incompatible with elements of his special theory of relativity.
这种相互作用好像也和他狭义相对论的元素相矛盾。

Scientist John Bell later formalised the concept by describing in detail a strong form of entanglement exhibiting the feature.
后来科学家约翰·贝尔通过详细描述一个表现出该特性的强纠缠形式来使这一概念形式化。

Bell entanglement is now harnessed in practical applications such as quantum computing and cryptography.
贝尔纠缠现在被用于多个实际应用，如量子计算和密码学。

However, it has never before been captured in a single image.
但此前它从未被捕捉到单一图像。

The team of physicists from the University of Glasgow devised a system that fired a stream of entangled photons from a quantum source of light at "non-conventional" objects.
格拉斯哥大学的一个物理学家团队设计了一个系统，一串纠缠光子从一个量子光源发出，穿过“非常规物体”。

This was displayed on liquid-crystal materials which change the phase of the photons as they pass through.
这通过液晶材料来展现，在光子穿过时改变光子的相位。

 

翻译：菲菲