Researchers have linked the vibrations of two separated atom pairs, catching sight of a strange quantum effect called entanglement in a system that approaches the scale of everyday life. This new link between two pairs of oscillating ions, reported in the June 4 Nature, “pushes the bounds on where entanglement can be seen,” says study coauthor John Jost of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s campus in Boulder, Colo.
Quantum entanglement, a mysterious connection between far-flung particles that Einstein called “spooky action at a distance,” has been confined to the microscopic world inhabited by tiny particles including photons, atoms and “other things that are not easy to relate to,” Jost says.
The springlike, oscillating connection between two tiny atoms shares mechanical properties with macroscopic systems such as violin strings and pendulums in grandfather clocks. By entangling the motion of one pair of atoms with the motion of another pair, Jost and his colleagues may open the door for “quantumness” to creep into the real world.