Entangled in Love

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I. Somewhere in the microscopic world

Alice could not remember why she fell for a guy like Bob. He is just all talks, lazy and narcissistic, doesn't have a job, cannot get along with her parents, a bad driver who has kept her waiting in the rain on a deserted street for last half an hour. Alice could not deal with this kind of irresponsibility anymore, she thought to herself for the umpteenth time. This is going nowhere and is taking her nowhere. It is fine for Bob, as he has nowhere to go. He is a kind of guy who luxuriates in filth. For the past four years she has seen Bob's career go down the drain due to his lack of tact and foresight. But he seems perfectly happy to quit his job and move with Alice for her new job. With warm and fuzzy words, Bob had Alice convinced that he would actually be a great help for her during the move, and the initial settling in phase. He said he would make the new house a warm and cozy home for her. He would keep the place all tidied up when she comes back from work, that she would come home for a romantic dinner every night. It has been two months, and he has not been able to get the kitchen cooking-ready yet!

A car screeched as it turned the corner. Alice was blinded by the headlight, but from the inept driving she knew it was Bob. The little shelter she got from her attaché case has kept all but her hair soaking wet. As Bob pulled towards the curb, almost 45 minutes late, she blurted at him, "God, Bob, you're impossible!" and stomped around the car to get into the passenger seat.

"Hi Alice, sorry I'm late. I just hate the office hour traffic! Half the roads are washed away in the rain and the other half handling the traffic, it was a nightmare to drive," Bob said in one breath. "But you know what, I discovered a new road today! If you take the 140th…!"

Alice screamed to cut him short of his reverie, "Can you start driving any time soon?"

Surprised by Alice's sarcasm, Bob tried to mumbled something but stopped. He floored the pedal, and the wheeled screeched on the drenched street. Bob tried hard to control the hurt from Alice's sudden insult. But his anger lashed out at Alice, "You're one who called me to pick you up, I was in the middle of something and I got late," shouted Bob. "You forget that I have others things in life too!"

"Like what?" Alice's icicle pierced Bob's heart.

As they drove home in silence, Alice could see the four horsemen marching all over their marriage, but she was too weary to apologize.

Bob unlocked the door and straightway headed for the restroom. Alice slowly turned on the lights and came to the kitchen. The dining table was set with candles and two empty flutes. There were chicken in the rotisserie and champagne on the ice.

"Happy anniversary, my love," Alice never realized when Bob had come and stood behind her. "I know you forgot, but that's what I'm here for," he whispered in her ears. The candles flickered in the few drops of tears running down Alice's cheeks.

II. Somewhere else, in a much grander scale

Sam was busy taking the data off the detector when Trinity knocked, "Hi Sam, how are things?"

"Hi Professor Trin, I thought you left for the day." Sam replied without looking.

"How can I leave Sam, Brahms have not called it a day yet!" Trinity laughed at her awkward joke. Sam looked up and understood that his boss was here for a little chat.

"So, you've been taking a lot of data on the local cluster of galaxies. Anything interesting?" Trinity asked.

"Here is the raw data."

Trinity was looking at the data for some time. "How about the third planet from the star, in the fringe of this spiral galaxy?"

"Glad you asked Prof. Trin. Since we established the quantum well around the planet and populated it with the particles, results have been extraordinary!" Sam was visibly excited.

"Are the particles still confined?"

"Yes, mostly. A miniscule of the particles have come close to the boundary, but never breached it. They just don't have enough energy."

Trinity smiled and said, "In order to breach the well, the particles need to emit and not physically escape. That is only possible if they resonate with the well's frequency."

"I don’t think that's possible. The particles behave randomly, to say the least," said Sam. "There will no net effect if they keep on behaving like that." Sam seemed to remember something, "But there are sub-groups of particles that it seems behaving in a uniform randomness, like some of the particles are entangled."

"Why do you think they are entangled, Sam?"

"Look at these emission patterns of these particles. They are high frequency emission, as if the particles are happy!"

"True, Sam, these emissions are different than the other particles. You need to look for more signatures like this," said Trinity. "But never impart emotion to the particles."

"Why not Prof. Trin, it helps me get through the day?" laughed Sam. "The other day I heard you and Prof. Brahms calling entangled particles lovers."

Trinity smiled but did not say anything. Her graduate student was growing up! She motioned to get up. As she headed towards the door, Sam asked, "Do you think these particles will ever emit from the well, Prof. Trin?"

Trinity paused.

"Do you think they have free will?"

Before Trinity closed the door behind her, she said "Sam, there are only two possibilities: yes or no".


About the Author: 
Hello I am Sayak, a physician and and a cancer researcher by profession. So pardon my understanding in quantum physics, which is greatly due to my wife who is an experimental physicist. I did my PhD in University of Rochester and postdoc, and I like writing romantic short stories.