Quantum engines with entanglement as fuel 以纠缠为“燃料”的量子引擎

吕品

地球是人类共同的家园，但是随着社会的发展，人类对地球资源的过度开发，灾难性的后果将接踵而至。本文主要介绍了一种新型的汽车动力系统，该系统可以减少燃料的消耗，可以保护地球的资源。研究人员看好它的发展前景。

In order to make a car run， its engine burns gasoline and converts the energy from the heat of the burning gasoline into mechanical work. In the process， however， energy is wasted. A typical car only turns around 25 percent of the energy in gasoline into useful energy to make it run.

In order to solve this problem， Andrew Jordan， a professor of physics at the University of Rochester， New York， was recently awarded a three?year， $1 million grant fund from the Templeton Foundation to research quantum（量子） measurement engines—engines that use the principles of quantum mechanics to run with 100 percent efficiency. The research， to be carried out with co?principal investigators in France and at Washington University St. Louis， could answer important questions about the laws of thermodynamics（热力学） in quantum systems and contribute to technologies such as more efficient engines and quantum computers.

The team will also investigate another major area of research： how it might be possible to get work out of a system using entanglement（纠缠） as a fuel. In entanglement—one of the basic theories behind quantum physics—the properties of one particle are interlinked with properties of another， even when the particles are separated by a large distance. Using entanglement as a fuel has the possibly revolutionary feature of creating a non?local engine; half of an engine could be in New York， while the other half could be in Cal?ifornia. The two halves can share the same energy resource to fuel both halves at the same time.

When asked about the investment prospects， Jordan said， “We will show that the engine can， in principle， be perfectly efficient. That is， there would be an ideal transfer of energy from the measurement equipment to the quantum system. The University of Rochester has an existing strength in quantum physics， and indeed was the birthplace of the field of quantum optics. We have a good collection of quality researchers in place， a historical legacy of quantum physics， and ongoing university support of quantum physics.”

[Reading][Check]

1. What is the purpose of researching quantum measurement engines？

A. To prove the theory of quantum mechanics.

B. To lay the foundation for quantum computers.

C. To improve the efficiency of engines.

D. To extend the operating life of engines.

2. What is special about a non?local engine according to the text？

A. It can get power from two different resources.

B. It can be shared by two places at the same time.

C. It can be moved from one place to another.

D. It can reduce the fuel consumption by half.

3. What is Andrew Jordans attitude toward the investment prospects of the project？

A. Optimistic. B. Objective.

C. Negative. D. Questioning.

4. Where can the text most probably be found？

A. A diary.      B. A guidebook.

C. A novel.      D. A magazine.

[Language][Study]

Ⅰ. Text?centered vocabulary

convert v. 转化

mechanical adj. 機械的;发动机的

engine n. 引擎;发动机

efficiency n. 效率;功效

investigator n. 调查者

legacy n. 遗产

Ⅱ. Sentence structure

Using entanglement as a fuel has the possibly revolutionary feature of creating a non?local engine; half of an engine could be in New York， while the other half could be in California. 使用（量子）纠缠作为燃料可能具有创造一台“非本地引擎”的革命性特征：一台引擎的一半可能在纽约，而另一半可能在加利福尼亚。

【点石成金】该句是一组并列的主从复合句。分号前的句子中，动名词短语Using entangle?ment...fuel作主语，分号后句子中的while作并列连词，意为“然而”。