It seems like an ordinary day. The drowsiness after the lunch is interjected by the beeping from the computers. The droning noise of the mouse clicks and the clacking of keyboards act as the catalyst to the already dull feel. The office energy is usually low at this time. I am trying to concentrate on this piece of task, and then it happens. Like an abrupt gush of cold breeze; I feel something on my neck. Only it is warm and imagined, so I smile. The corner of my notepad catches my attention. To keep my mind off work and other things, I Google the two words hurriedly scrawled on the paper. The search bar reads ‘quantum entanglement’.

Quantum entanglement, I find, is quite an interesting theory. Dearest Mr. Albert Einstein nick named it as ‘spukhafte Fernwirkung’ or spooky action at a distance. Entanglement is not one of the many, but the characteristic trait in quantum mechanics that departs entirely from the classical lines of thought. To define it –“quantum entanglement is a property of a quantum mechanical state of a system containing two or more objects, where the objects that make up the system are linked in such a way that the quantum state of any of them cannot be described without full mention of the other, even if the individual objects are spatially separated.” when particles decay into other particles, these decays must obey the various conservation laws. As a result, pair of particles are generated that need to be in certain quantum states. Consider such a situation, where two such particles are created having 2 state spin .i.e. one has clockwise spin and the other one spins anticlockwise. These two particles are entangled since you cannot describe one without the full mention of the other. They are perfectly anti-correlated. The power of entanglement is such that this correlation is fundamentally stronger than anything that is achievable in classical physics.

An analogy can explain the physics behind it better here. Imagine a pair of gloves-the left one is black and the right one is white, entirely mismatched. Two friends, who are traveling in opposite directions around the world, carry one glove each. Each is unaware of which glove he/she has. The gloves travel around the world in a box. When one fine day, one of them opens the box and finds the left black one he/she can easily guess what his friend has. Without knowing any one of the objects the probability of guessing the other one is 50%.So one glove can tell you all you need to know about the other one no matter their spatial separation. It’s kind of like cosmic book keeping. The two particles are linked in such a way that even if they are universes apart the law binds them. To make Jerry McGuire proud I would add that the two entangled entities complete each other.

As I am about to explore more about this fascinating concept, my colleague interrupts. Bored? He questions. No, I reply. After a quick thought I smile and add, “I’m entangled sir, Entangled.” And in someplace, somewhere the smile reciprocates.