Kvanttivalaistus

Kvanttivalaistus is a Finnish term that translates to quantum illumination. It refers to a technique in quantum optics that uses quantum entanglement to enhance the ability to detect objects in noisy environments. The core idea is to send out one photon from an entangled pair and keep the other as a "probe" or reference photon. When the sent photon interacts with a target and returns, it may have undergone a change. By comparing the returning photon with the probe photon, it is possible to discern the presence of the target even if the returning photon is very weak or has been corrupted by noise.

This quantum advantage arises because entanglement creates a correlation between the two photons. Even if the returning photon is indistinguishable from the background noise, the correlation with the probe photon can be exploited to distinguish it. This makes quantum illumination potentially useful for applications such as radar, lidar, and medical imaging, where detecting faint signals in the presence of significant noise is crucial. Research in this area explores different methods for generating and measuring entangled photons, as well as various theoretical frameworks for understanding and optimizing quantum illumination protocols. The development of practical quantum illumination systems is an active area of research with the potential to offer significant improvements over classical sensing techniques.