In our world, where technology is developing at an unprecedented speed, quantum computers are no longer a science fiction story, but are actively penetrating our reality. But to reach its full potential, scientists want to build quantum networks that allow quantum computers to communicate with each other even over large distances.

Quantum Internet: What is it? The quantum internet is essentially no different from the traditional internet. It is also designed for connectivity and interaction between computers, in this case quantum computers. However, from a technical perspective, the quantum internet is much more complex. So far, such network connections have only been implemented for quantum computers facing each other. Why is this necessary? Quantum networks have two main uses. First, you can increase your computing power. Second, it achieves completely unbreakable encryption of communications. It also has other uses, such as previously impossible pictorial space observations and network telescopes to synchronize atomic clocks around the world from extreme distances.

The main problem is that individual photons attenuate rapidly as they pass through optical cables. In traditional networks, signals can be easily amplified using repeaters or optical amplifiers that add more photons to the light pulse. However, if a photon is lost in a quantum network, all transmitted information is irretrievably destroyed.

The Future of the Quantum Internet The development of the quantum internet is still in its very early stages. Scientists’ research is still working on the fundamentals of implementing and organizing quantum internet connections. However, as the researchers themselves claim, even the possibilities of this system as it is currently known are already revolutionary in some fields, and in the future there will be applications that no one has thought of yet. There will be more.