BEATRIX HIESMAYR (University of Vienna) - The missing antimatter puzzle and security of quantum cryptography

One of the unsolved problems in Particle Physics is to explain why we live in a universe dominated by matter since at the big bang matter and antimatter should have been produced in equal amount. According to Andrei Sacharow three conditions need to be satisfied to explain our universe, one being a violation of the combined charge-conjugation-parity (CP) symmetry. In 1964 Cronin and Fitch observed in neutral K-meson a small violation of the CP symmetry system for which they were rewarded by the Nobel Prize.

Another field of physics, quantum information theory, deals with achievable limits of knowledge. Entanglement allows for generation of keys at two distant places that enable secure communication if and only if John Bell's 1964-theorem is violated. This theorem, also known as Bell's inequality, is satisfied for any local realistic theory with hidden parameters. A violation of the inequality proves the existence of correlations that are stronger than those achievable via classical physics.

This talk shows a puzzling relation between those two independent findings in 1964. This first conclusive test will be performed at current accelerator facilities.

2014.10.21. 14:00