A Single Quantum Cannot Be Cloned in Nature 299 No. 5886 pp. 802–803, October 28, 1982 [FULL VOLUME]
London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1982. 1st Edition. Full volume. FIRST EDITION OF WOOTTERS’ & ZUREK’S NO CLONING THEOREM &THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT PAPER DISCUSSING TELEPORTATION. Note that we also offer this paper in its original paper wrappers.
The no-cloning theorem is one of the earlier results in the study of quantum information. Published in 1982, Wootters and Zurek’s paper proved that quantum cloning – the ability to manifest an identical copy of an arbitrary unknown quantum state -- is not possible and that “the linearity of quantum mechanics forbids such replication and that this conclusion holds for all quantum systems” (Wootters & Zurek, 1982, 802). In short, the no cloning theorem argues that it is impossible to copy quantum information without the initial state being altered in the process. Put another way, “the theorem states that it is not possible to ‘clone’ a quantum system to create an identical copy of a system while preserving the original” (Binder, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, 281).
As noted, Wooters and Zurek’s paper is also the first paper of significance to discuss teleportation. With respect to teleportation the key part of the no cloning theorem is the argument that it is impossible to copy quantum information without the initial state being altered in the process (or while preserving the original).
Wootter and Zurek’s work also laid the foundation of quantum teleportation, the theory that “information about the existence of a quantum state [can] be conveyed any distance from one place to another without monitoring” (Hentschel, The History and Mental Models of Light Quanta, 165). “When quantum teleportation succeeds, the target system becomes completely identical to the original, while the original loses its quantum coherence. This latter feature is [as stated] a consequence of the no cloning theorem proved by Wooters and Zurek [and later by Dieks in 1982].
Wooters and Zurek make clear that while their no-cloning theorem holds, it does not preclude the teleportation of quantum state information such as spin. The protocol of quantum teleportation is a “purely quantum mechanical task. It is a method whereby an unknown quantum state can be ‘transferred’ – without altering it or any physical movements in space – from one to another qubit located far apart from each other. Moreover, this protocol does not violate the well-known noncloning property of a state in quantum mechanics because the process of teleportation leads to the destruction of the original state of the qubit it has been transferred from” (Hawes, Advances in Imaging, 39).
The teleportation process “transfers the quantum state of one particle onto another, identical particle, and at the same time erases the state in the original. This situation can’t be meaningfully distinguished from one in which the original particle itself has been moved to the target location: that transport has not really happened, but to all appearances it might as well have” (Ball, Quantum Teleportation, Nature (Column Muse), July 20, 2017). Item #1356
CONDITION & DETAILS: London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd. First edition Complete. 4to. Tightly bound in yellow buckram with very minor scuffing. Library stamp on front free endpaper. Bright and very clean throughout.
Price: $300.00