The Quantum Internet (QI) will be a network of interconnected quantum computers able to exchange and process distributed quantum states. The QI will support the existing Internet infrastructure by providing new services such as communication with provable security (Quantum Key Distribution), quasi-perfect clock synchronization, distributed quantum computing, and other unforeseeable applications.
Research aims at the design and standardization of a full-stack network architecture for the generation and distribution of entangled qubits (i.e., quantum bits) to the end nodes of the network, so that they can be used as a disposable resource to teleport arbitrary quantum states or to share secrets among any pair of hosts. Propagation of entangled qubits over long distances is made harder by the no-cloning theorem of quantum mechanics, which prevents the adoption of the typical signal amplification techniques used in the classical infrastructure.
A line of research circumvents the problem through the Entanglement Purification and Swapping (PaS) paradigm, which is achievable with near-term hardware, but prone to noise and errors. Other promising lines of research exploit quantum error correction techniques, which can be seen as an improved parallel of redundancy checks used on classical packets. Such techniques will substitute and integrate with the PaS paradigm as soon as quantum technologies will be ready to support them.
Research lines
