The search for aliens has always fascinated scientists (and non-scientists, of course) and studies have been conducted regularly to find ways to unlock the mystery of our universe. Are we alone in the immense cosmos? It is mandatory to talk about the Fermi paradox that describes the apparent inconsistency between the fact that we have not found extraterrestrial life despite the fact that, according to estimates, there is a high probability that there are other intelligent civilizations in our observable universe.
New research suggests that light particles, also known as photons, can be transmitted across interstellar distances without losing their quantum nature and that aliens can use precisely these types of messages to communicate with us , with Earth.
The option of using X-rays and quantum technology to send messages to our planet is plausible, at least according to calculations. On Earth, researchers have previously encoded information in the quantum states of light particles, or photons. In fact, several research teams have sent the data to other laboratories around the world via this means of communication, as a proof of concept for a quantum Internet, and to satellites orbiting the Earth. And it has been a success.
Therefore, an intelligent alien civilization could send quantum messages to Earth. That means scientists looking for extraterrestrial signals could also look for quantum messages.
How does quantum communication work?
On Earth, this technology uses quantum particles to send information and has the potential to be more secure than standard or classical communication. And if intelligent aliens do exist, they could also have embraced quantum communication, theoretical physicist Arjun Berera argues in new work published in the journal Physical Review D.
Of course, there are certain … drawbacks. A major obstacle to quantum communication is decoherence (quantum decoherence), in which a quantum particle loses its quantum quality as it interacts with its environment.
“You generally consider quantum states to be very delicate, and if there is some kind of external interaction, you kind of destroy that state,” says the expert.
We ran into this drawback when doing this kind of quantum communication on Earth; however, when transmitted interstellarly, this decoherence problem is much less likely to occur, and that is why quantum communication could be the key to finding signals from extraterrestrial civilizations, the researchers say.
X-ray photons could more than pass through the Milky Way, potentially traveling hundreds of thousands of light-years or even far more.
Based on this approach, the scientists considered strategies to search for quantum messages from alien civilizations, such as quantum teleportation, in which the properties of one distant particle can be transferred to another. It would be a good starting point for tracking down some sort of alien quantum missive .
Referencia: A. Berera and J. Calderón Figueroa. Viability of quantum communication across interstellar distances. Physical Review D. Vol. 105, June 28, 2022, p. 123033. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.105.123033.
