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Einstein's brilliant mistake: Entangled states - Chad Orzel

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When you think about Einstein and physics, E=mc^2 is probably the first thing that comes to mind. But one of his greatest contributions to the field actually came in the form of an odd philosophical footnote in a 1935 paper he co-wrote -- which ended up being wrong. Chad Orzel details Einstein's "EPR" paper and its insights on the strange phenomena of entangled states.

If two people (traditionally called “Alice” and “Bob”) share a bunch of entangled particles, it might seem like this would let them send messages faster than light, since whenever Alice measures her particle in state “0,” Bob also finds his in state “0.” Explain how even though the correlation between states is perfect, this is not a tool for communicating faster than light.

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TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Chad Orzel
  • Director Camilla Gunborg Pedersen, Zsuzsanna Banyai
  • Narrator Addison Anderson

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