Six researchers show how to teleport an unknown quantum state

Why it matters

It showed that entanglement is a usable resource, helping launch quantum information science, and it helped define the framework for today's quantum communication and quantum networks.

Related

• Bennett and Brassard propose BB84, a way to share secret keys using photons (Dec 1984)
• Innsbruck physicists teleport the quantum state of a photon (Dec 1997)

Sources (4)

• Physical Review Letters Teleporting an unknown quantum state via dual classical and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen channels
  Primary sourceMar 29, 1993

  “Alice makes a joint measurement on her EPR particle and the unknown quantum system, and sends Bob the classical result of this measurement.”

• U.S. National Science Foundation Pioneers of quantum information science recognized with 2025 ACM A.M. Turing Award
  Independent coverageMar 18, 2026

  “In 1993, Bennett and collaborators introduced quantum teleportation, demonstrating how the quantum state of a particle could be transferred from one location to another using entanglement and classical communication.”

• Quanta Magazine Quantum Cryptography Pioneers Win Turing Award
  Independent coverageMar 18, 2026

  “In 1993, Bennett, Brassard, and four other researchers published another iconic paper that showed how to use a bizarre quantum phenomenon called entanglement to “teleport” the state of one quantum particle onto another. (Though the name calls to mind Captain Kirk getting beamed up to the Enterprise, quantum teleportation transmits only information, not matter.)”

• Breakthrough Prize Foundation Winners of the 2023 Breakthrough Prizes in Life Sciences, Mathematics and Fundamental Physics Announced
  Independent coverageSep 22, 2022

  “Their 1993 discovery, with collaborators, of quantum teleportation, showed that entanglement is a useful quantifiable resource despite having no communication capacity of its own, thereby helping launch the new science of quantum information processing.”