Quantum Information Can be Negative

nerdlygirl writes "In a development that would probably even puzzle Claude Shannon, information can be negative -- at least when the information is quantum. The discovery, by Horodecki, Oppenheim, and Winter, appears in the current edition of the leading journal Nature. If I tell you negative information, you'll know less. Apparently, researchers hope to use this to gain deeper insights into phenomena such as quantum teleportation and computation, as well as the very structure of the quantum world. More details can be found here and here A popular account of the article can be found on Oppenheim's homepage, and a free version of the article can be found in the arxiv for those of us without subscriptions to Nature."

This is not news

[denissmith]

Karl Rove has known this for years.

nope

[cain]

No it can't.

Finally, a matter I can speak on with authority...

[Skyshadow]

I've been studying negative information for years. I consider myself somewhat of an expert on the subject, actually.

Initially, I believed that negative information was an abstract math concept, but after a significant amount of additional study I've determined rather conclusively that it exists in our frame of reference and that the effects are actually easy to detect. The trick is to *locate* some of this negative information. Fortunately, I've managed to work that out as well -- I'm not publishing for a few months yet, but I figure I'm far enough along to spill some of the beans:

Experiencing negative inforamtion is all about occupying a point in space and time which intersects with the negative information stream. This was initially tricky, but through months of tireless research I've worked out the optimal conditions: I find that your best chance of encountering it is roughly around 1 AM when you're at the bar with your friends after a long night of drinking and one of them says something along the lines of, "Awright! Time for some shots!"

Bang! Negative information. What happened after that? How did I get home? All lost in the quantum flow, never to be accurately described by anyone involved (except, occasionally and for reasons I still haven't managed to factor into my equations, the bouncer and the police). I assume the headaches and liver damage are just a nominal side effect.

I already knew this

[77Punker]

If I tell you negative information, you'll know less. Sounds like what happened in that mind numbing English class I had to take last semester.

when you asked me to take the trash out

[mrsbrisby]

it was negative information so I forgot how to get my socks in the dirty clothes.

True

[M.C. Hampster]

After trying to read those articles, I do feel like I know less.

File not Found

[Anonymous Coward]

404-File Not Found
Now THAT'S negative quantum... information.

What next, negative intelligence?

[Zarel]

Considering some of the posters here, I wouldn't be surprised if that were discovered.

When I was in high school

[multiplexo]

a friend and I used to joke that there were people who gave off destructive mental interference waves. Sitting next to these people would result in a decrease in brain function because their brainwaves were 180 degrees out of phase than the brainwaves of normal people, thus cancelling them out and creating a thought-free zone.

Of course negative information is cool, but it would be even cooler if you could combine negative information and positive information to produce a huge explosion.

(-2)+(-3)=+1

[djupedal]

If I tell you negative information, you'll know less.

So, if two people tell me negative information, I'll know more?

That's Intuitive

[AdroitOneX]

If I tell you negative information, you'll know less.

I experience this almost everytime I speak to my boss.

Two questions

[Anonymous Coward]

Does negative information want to be free?

And secondly, er, I used to know the second question, dunno what happened there.

Re:(-2)+(-3)=+1

[Persol]

(-2)+(-3)=+1

I think you've hit the lower limit already....

Re:When I was in high school

[Skyshadow]

a friend and I used to joke that there were people who gave off destructive mental interference waves. Sitting next to these people would result in a decrease in brain function

Maybe things have changed in the last 10 years, but back when I was in high school we called these people "girls".

Negative Information

[Anonymous Coward]

You should try browsing at -1 sometime! You'll wish you knew less...

Re:(-2)+(-3)=+1

[saigon_from_europe]

(-2)+(-3)=+1

You have obviously received a lot of negative information before you started writing this 'math'.

Only fooling themselves

[Robotbeat]

"Apparently, researchers hope to use this to gain deeper insights..."

Taking into consideration the sentence before that, it seems like the hope of those researchers is unfounded... Irony.

Old philosophy, revisited...

[gmuslera]

"One thing only I know, and that is that I know less than nothing" - Socratum

That explains it!

[St. Vitus]

If I tell you negative information, you'll know less.

So, American television programming has been giving us negative information
for decades now....

Clarify?

[goldberry]

What exactly do you mean by this?

Yeah, okay.

[Anonymous Coward]

Quantum theorists need to stop smoking pot and look at the world around them. You can't have negative information, seeing something occur doesn't change the outcome, oh and the earth is square.

you'll know less

[big whiffer]

What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

This explains the Creationist/ID movement

[Dimensio]

All this time I wondered how so many people could be so stupid as to believe the mountains of bullshit pushed by the creationist movement, and this explains it!

As information regarding the field of biology -- specifically in the study of evolution -- increases, a balance must be made. As a result, the increase of information in biology causes a reaction of an equal increase of negative information with respect to the creationist movement. The more biologists figure out and the more knowledgable experts become, the dumber and more gullible the general populace must become to balance the information flow out.

Re:When I was in high school

[QuantaStarFire]

Maybe things have changed in the last 10 years, but back when I was in high school we called these people "girls".

Actually, proximity to girls caused higher brain functions to be transferred to an area just below the waist. You could still technically think, but it was limited in scope.

Negative Information?

[Anonymous Coward]

as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know.

Sometimes even politicians show their scientific side!

Re:When I was in high school

[Cutterex]

"By looking at the 3D map, you can see an unmistakable cone of ignorance."

Of course

[jpardey]

The truth of the Time Cube surrounds even the most educated stupid researches of us. -(1) + -(1) = +(A North American).

Best place for negative information

[Aexia]

Browse at -1

Re:(-2)+(-3)=+1

[kscguru]

So, if two people tell me negative information, I'll know more?

Depends on what you're doing. (-2)+(-3)=+1 is Slashdot Moderator Math, which has no basis in either reality or fantasy and transmits no useful information whatsoever.

Quantum Rumsfeld

[Anonymous Coward]

"Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know."

Re:Lao Tzu figured this out millenia ago

[kfg]

. . .the man of tao unlearns something every day, until he gets back to non-doing.

1)Don't RTFA
2)???
3)Enlightenment!

KFG

Re:This is not news

[Anonymous Coward]

But it does explain why my ears bleed every time I read software API documentation.

Re:Bad Analogy

[themoodykid]

Ah, so it's all about known knowns and known unknowns? They should consult with Donald Rumsfeld on this!

Re:This explains the Creationist/ID movement

[Humorously_Inept]

I want to moderate this up because I think it's both funny and poignant at some level, but I can't do it in light of the poor delivery.

Re:When I was in high school

[TeknoHog]

We used to call them "people".

Muggles.

Re:Finally, a matter I can speak on with authority

[BoldAndBusted]

I assume the headaches and liver damage are just a nominal side effect.

Nah, that just bolsters my theory that the liver is actually not a poison-processing organ, but actually a secondary brain, which, through evolution, has been developed to counter the quantum effects of "negative information". Information such as, "I really shouldn't have another drink", and "I really shouldn't kiss that person, especially with my wife in the restroom", and "Oh, so that's how I wrecked the car" and "Here is why you don't tell the nice police officer what I think of him and his family." Unfortunately, evolution hasn't quite gotten around to hooking up the necessary signaling nerves to make this information available to the other brain that has actual control over motor functions. Oh well, maybe next species.

Quantum Slashdot Dupes

[Anonymous Coward]

You know they're coming.

Maybe you're reading one right now.

MSWord & Storing Negative Information & An

[Gary W. Longsine]

The Fine Article doesn't mention one exciting development in the field of information theory, related to negative information, which may one day tie it to Vacuum Energy [ldolphin.org] or Zero Point physics [ucla.edu] in a grand unified theory that, once we come to understand it, could form the basis of a star drive to power star ships. [daviddarling.info]

It seems that virtual particles of antimatter and exotic particles of normal matter that spontaneously emerge from the void, and then disappear without interacting with anything. [1] The theoretical potential of tapping this particle flux has brought vacuum energy to the fore of research by the NSA into Quantum Information Theory.

Experiments conducted by the NSA and the DOE on large data samples gathered in large bureaucracies (both public and private) indicate that Microsoft Word Documents are effective containers for Negative Information, which hitherto had been considered a transient phenomenon, almost impossible to store given our current understanding of physics. The phenomenon of massive amounts of stored negative informisinformation, as it turns out, makes the typical corporate or government intranet much more resiliant to cyber terrorist attack than previously predicted -- nearly as resiliant as the typical government organization to a FOIA request today, for comparison.

It is expected that once we understand the characteristics of MS Word Documents which allow them to efficiently store negative information in a stable form, Quantum Physicists and Information Theorists should be able to get together, perhaps over a nice hot cup of tea, and stitch the two branches together, getting us one step closer to faster than light travel, finally bringing the stars within reach -- except it won't really be FTL, it will be something that we don't presently understand. [2]

Only the humor-impaired need read this bootnote.
[1]Yes, I see the grammar error. I've intentionally borrowed a pattern, common in conspiracy theory writing, of constructing a complex sentence, perhaps full of objects, perhaps full of verbs, perhaps full of nouns, on the theory that it might amuse, whereas it normally serves to confuse, as sometimes subjects or verbs may go missing. Oops I did it again! Or did I?
[2]Yes, I realize I mention antimatter only in the title, and not in the text.
[3]Yes, I realize there are 3 bootnotes, not a single bootnote as referenced above.
[4]Yes, I realize that only 2 of the bootnotes are indicated by reference numbers in the text. (Absurd bootnotes are also common in conspiracy theorist writings.)

But it doesn't work at absolutes

[gearmonger]

Utter ignorance is the total lack of information, or the complete absence of knowledge. We all know that nowledge is power, and power is force over time. Time is money, so knowledge is force over money. Ergo, someone who is ignorant has no force over money, which is certainly ironic given that the Nature article is entitled "Quantum Information: Putting certainty in the bank". Yes, poor people are easy to make fun of even in quantum states (which were formally known as blue states until the manic depressives complained about trademark infringement).

Re:This is not news

[Spudley]

1. "If I tell you negative information, you'll know less."
2. "researchers hope to use this to gain deeper insights"

Hmmm..... I always knew quantum physics was full of contradictions, but putting those two lines together really did make me laugh. :)

Re:Yes it can

[Bimo_Dude]

It may also prove the moon is made of cheese.

It has already been proven that the moon is made of cheese [google.com].

Re:Mod parent down, -1 Condescending twat

[deeznutsclan]

All this talk of slits and twats is giving me ants in my pants.