Einstein’s ‘spooky action’ survives extreme CERN test with Z bosons
Physicists at CERN have observed quantum entanglement between Z bosons produced in high-energy particle collisions. This finding confirms that quantum correlations persist even in extreme, high-energy environments, supporting the principles of quantum mechanics.
Why it matters
This discovery validates fundamental quantum theory in extreme conditions, advancing our understanding of particle physics and the nature of the universe.
Einstein famously found quantum mechanics so strange that he once referred to quantum entanglement as “spooky action at a distance”. More than a century later, one of the strangest predictions of quantum theory has now been tested in an environment far removed from the relatively low-energy systems where entanglement is usually studied.Physicists working with the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have found strong evidence that two extremely short-lived, massive particles known as Z bosons can become quantum-entangled. The result provides a new demonstration that quantum correlations can survive even at the extreme energies produced in particle collisions.The finding, reported by CERN in September 2026, involves Z bosons created when a Higgs boson decays.
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