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Physics

Twisted light may illuminate how quantum spookiness works

Physicists have verified a connection between two counterintuitive quantum properties, which may help us understand how quantum objects stay inextricably connected through entanglement

By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

28 January 2025

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Light with complex rotational properties can reveal how quantum effects work

Jose A. Bernat Bacete/Getty Images

Quantum light has shown that the “spookiness” that can inextricably link two distant particles can be equivalent to an equally odd property of just one. This may be useful for developing quantum technologies and help researchers understand why quantum particles can become entangled to begin with.

“The quantum world operates in ways that are fundamentally different from the familiar, deterministic laws of classical physics,” says Jianqi Sheng

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