{"id":39,"date":"2023-12-23T11:00:14","date_gmt":"2023-12-23T10:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/physicsworld.com\/?p=111903"},"modified":"2024-01-23T11:20:12","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T10:20:12","slug":"quant-nets-testbed-innovations-reimagining-the-quantum-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hadamard.com\/c\/quant-nets-testbed-innovations-reimagining-the-quantum-network\/","title":{"rendered":"QUANT-NET\u2019s testbed innovations: reimagining the quantum network"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s internet distributes classical bits and bytes of information over global, even interstellar, distances. The quantum internet of tomorrow, on the other hand, will enable the remote connection, manipulation and storage of quantum information \u2013 through distribution of quantum entanglement using photons \u2013 across physically distant quantum nodes within metropolitan, regional and long-haul optical networks. The opportunities are compelling and already coming into view for science, national security and the wider economy. <\/span><\/p>\n

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By exploiting the principles of quantum mechanics \u2013 superposition, entanglement and the \u201cno-cloning\u201d theorem, for example \u2013 quantum networks will enable all sorts of unique applications that are not possible with classical networking technologies. Think quantum-encrypted communication schemes for government, finance, healthcare and the military; ultrahigh-resolution quantum sensing and metrology for scientific research and medicine; and, ultimately, the implementation of at-scale, cloud-based quantum computing resources linked securely across global networks.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Right now, though, quantum networks are still in their infancy, with the research community, big tech (companies like IBM, Amazon, Google and Microsoft) and a wave of venture-financed start-ups all pursuing diverse R&D pathways towards practical functionality and implementation. A case study in this regard is QUANT-NET, a $12.5m, five-year R&D initiative that\u2019s backed by the US Department of Energy (DOE), under the Advanced Scientific Computing Research programme, with the goal of constructing a proof-of-principle quantum network tested for distributed quantum computing applications.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Out of the lab, into the network<\/h2>\n

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Collectively, the four research partners within the QUANT-NET consortium \u2013 Berkeley Lab (Berkeley, CA); University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley, CA); Caltech (Pasadena, CA); and the University of Innsbruck (Austria) \u2013 are seeking to establish a three-node, distributed quantum computing network between two sites (Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley). In this way, each of the quantum nodes will be linked up via a quantum entanglement communication scheme over pre-installed telecoms fibre, with all the testbed infrastructure managed by a custom-built software stack.<\/p>\n

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\"Optical<\/a>