Is There a Cell Phone Jammer Killer?

Three researchers from the University of Rochester in New York have developed a radar system based on polarized photons that they call the nemesis of cell phone jammers. In an article uploaded to the arXiv preprint server, the team wrote that the new system relies on the system recognizing all changes to the photon stream as errors.

The working principle of a traditional radar system is to send photons towards a target and then measure the resulting reflection. Images of objects constructed with this system can, for example, help distinguish between large birds and small airplanes. However, researchers have also developed methods to circumvent these systems, such as the use of anti-aircraft guns or the generation of false photon flows. This new system tries to confuse the latter.

Quantum theory shows that because of the unique properties of quantum particles, their measurement will change them. If the fighter pilot responds to the radar signal by trying to send the wrong pattern, he (actually his device) needs to know what the original photon looks like, which means it must be an observation - some form of measurement that is leads to their modification, so that the photon flow sent back as a response is obvious to the receiver, since it no longer corresponds to the properties of the transmitted flow.

In their test system, the researchers send a chain of polarized photons in one direction and measure the photons when they are reflected. They found that the margin of error was less than 1%. But when they built a system and modified the photon before sending it back, the error rate jumped to almost 50%. What they said was enough to show that someone had tried to jam the radar with a GPS jammer.
The researchers admit that more testing is needed, especially in real-world environments where natural elements in the natural environment can perturb the polarization of photons, negating the results. They also indicated that the system has problems with multiple streams of photons and these siphon currents can cause photon siphons that the system cannot detect. More positively, they also indicated that there are currently technologies that can implement such a system in the real world, so those who are ready can build the system right away.