Can quantum mechanics get you out of a speeding ticket?

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

When a radar trap clocked Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) faculty member Joseph Emerson driving too fast on a Quebec road, it occurred to Emerson that quantum mechanics might help him get out of paying the fine.

"According to quantum mechanics, when we measure or observe an object, we are unable to measure all the properties simultaneously," Emerson told the audience at his recent Perimeter Institute Public Lecture. "This is the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Therefore," Emerson continued, "the speeding ticket" which reported that he was clocked driving 90 km/h at a specific location on L'Autoroute 20 Est. must be in contradiction of the laws of quantum physics.

Emerson showed a draft of a letter to Quebec's Ministry of Justice, explaining how he was provably innocent according to the fundamental laws of physics. His point was that the rules of quantum mechanics forbid the possibility of measuring the position and velocity of an object, such as an atom, with perfect precision. However in the everyday world of bigger objects like speeding cars, this effect is neglible.

Sensibly, therefore, he never mailed the letter and just paid the fine instead. His March 3 public lecture, titled "The Quantum World: From Weird to Wired," explored the strange and counterintuitive quantum laws that he and other scientists are harnessing to implement a new type of information processing" quantum computing.  Emerson's talk, held at a sold-out Waterloo Collegiate Institute, featured clips from the award-winning documentary The Quantum Tamers, of which Emerson was a co-author and on-screen personality. 


Founded in 2002, the mission of the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) is to aggressively explore and advance the application of quantum mechanical systems to a vast array of relevant information processing techniques.

A part of the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ont., Canada, IQC creates a truly unique environment fostering cutting-edge research and collaboration between researchers in the areas of computer, engineering, mathematical and physical sciences.

At the time of this release, IQC has 17 faculty members, 22 postdoctoral fellows and over 55 students and research assistants, as well as a support staff of 18.

The Institute for Quantum Computing acknowledges the support of the Government of Canada through Industry Canada and the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Research and Innovation.