A new one study suggests that aliens may be aware that humans do not have the necessary quantum technology to detect them, which could explain why decades of searching have failed to discover signs of intelligent alien life.
Theoretical physicist Latham Boyle proposes that advanced alien civilizations may use quantum communication methods, making them too advanced for us to detect using conventional technology.
“The concept of interstellar quantum communication is crucial because it advances our understanding of how communication can occur over vast distances in space,” Boyle explains.
If quantum communication exists, it could revolutionize human technology. However, scientists currently do not have the equipment to detect such signals.
Classical communication relies on electromagnetic waves to transmit messages over long distances. Quantum mechanics, on the other hand, involves probabilistic methods and particle behavior, which could enable the transfer and teleportation of information between light waves.
Experiments have shown that light waves can maintain their quantum states over large distances, making interstellar quantum networks theoretically possible.
Boyle studied how aliens might use the quantum properties of light by comparing the information capacity and error rates of both classical and quantum communications.
While a standard radio signal requires only a few captured light waves to be received accurately, quantum communication requires the reception of many photons in their delicate quantum state to properly decode the message.
According to Boyle’s calculations, antennas would have to be more than 100 kilometers wide to generate quantum states with a reasonable chance of success, even if they collect signals from relatively close galactic neighbors.
Smaller antennas could work, but they would have to be placed above Earth’s atmosphere, such as on the moon, to collect enough photons.
“Any civilization capable of quantum communications would probably have the technology to observe Earth and realize that we are currently unable to detect their signals, which is why they might not try to contact us to take,” concludes Boyle.
