Scientists Just Split a Single Photon. Here’s What They Found...

By splitting a single photon, scientists confirmed that angular momentum is always conserved — a billion-to-one experiment that reinforces the foundations of quantum physics.

Physicists have, for the first time, shown that even a single photon obeys one of nature’s strictest rules: conservation of angular momentum.

Researchers at Tampere University, working with colleagues in Germany and India, have demonstrated for the first time that angular momentum remains conserved when a single photon splits into two. This result confirms a core principle of physics at the quantum scale and marks a milestone that could help in creating advanced quantum states for use in computing, communication, and sensing technologies.

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