Quantum radar has been on the… ahem… radar for a while now. Unfortunately, the theoretical and practical results from our explorations of the concept have been underwhelming. But before we get to the disappointments, let me give all you radar enthusiasts a reason for hope. A new paper demonstrates that, under conditions of low signal-to-noise ratios (at the edge of the radar’s classical range), employing quantum technologies may offer a very significant boost in accuracy.
Quantum radar?
Radar, at its simplest, involves sending out pulses of radiation that reflect off an object. The reflected signal is detected, and the time of flight is measured. The time of flight is then translated into a range, while the direction that the particular radar antenna was pointed when it picked up the reflection tells us the direction.
The horrible thing about radar is that the signal drops off very rapidly—as typically the fourth power of the distance. This is because the power of this radiation we send out drops as the square of often the distance between the transmitter and your object. And then it falls as the square of the exact range again after it’s reflected and has to travel back to the very receiver. You get clobbered by a inverse square rule twice.
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