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Perhaps it will be the first quantum technology to become a reality: the quantum internet. QuTech researchers in Delft have published in Science a detailed roadmap for the development of the quantum internet. They describe six phases, starting with simple qubit networks that already allow for a form of intrinsic secure quantum communication. In the final phase, there are networks of quantum computers interconnected with quantum technology.
This may be the first quantum technology to become a reality: the quantum internet. QuTech researchers in Delft have published in Science a detailed roadmap for the development of the quantum internet. They describe six phases, starting with simple qubit networks that already allow for a form of intrinsic secure quantum communication. In the final phase, there are networks of quantum computers interconnected with quantum technology.
Communication technology
A quantum Internet would constitute a revolution in communication technologies because it would use strange quantum phenomena such as entanglement. Researchers around the world are working on technology that would allow them to exchange quantum bits between two points on the Earth. Such quantum bits can have the values "1" and "0" as in the conventional bits, but also both at the same time. And they can be "entangled": their states are then connected, so that the measure of one has an immediate effect on the other.
Coordination
As a result, the quantum internet has unique properties that will always be out of reach for the classic internet. The first being one that results from an entanglement, activities in two very distant locations can be coordinated very precisely. This makes it possible to synchronize the clocks very precisely and to virtually connect telescope observations, so that astronomers get much sharper images. The second property is that quantum connections are intrinsically secure. When two qubits are completely entangled, it is basically impossible to listen to the connection. This makes the entanglement perfectly suited for applications requiring security and confidentiality.
Prepare and measure
In the first phase of a real quantum network – a "preparation and measurement network" – it is possible to send quantum bits between all the points of a network. This is already enough to support various cryptographic applications. The most advanced phase is the quantum interconnection of fully operational quantum computers.
It is expected that the first quantum networks for end-to-end qubit transmission will materialize in the next few years, on the path of large-scale quantum networks.
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