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https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/3074856/nrl-announces-the-washington-metropolitan-quantum-network-research-consortium-d/utm_source/twitter/utm_medium/social/utm_content/100003201001874/utm_campaign/Misc/linkId/nrl-announces-the-washington-metropolitan-quantum-network-research-consortium-d/
The exploitation of quantum-entangled particles (including photons) to transmit information in the form of qubits, the basic unit of information in quantum technologies, is at the heart of quantum networks.
Quantum entanglement is a unique quantum mechanical property of atomic and subatomic particles, where classical physics fails to describe observed phenomena accurately. It describes a relationship between particles whereby the quantum state of each particle cannot be described independently of the state of the others, even though they are physically separated from each other.
DC-QNet researchers are also studying other quantum behaviors and capabilities such as transduction, or the process of converting qubits from one form into another. To fully harness these capabilities for quantum networking will require state-of-the-art measurement science, or metrology.
The DC-QNet testbed will perform entanglement distribution of qubits at multi-kilometer distances over a well-characterized and controlled quantum network. Efforts include:
Development of high fidelity quantum memory nodes, single-photon devices, network metrology, qubit platforms, transduction and frequency conversion, synchronization, and continued research and development into enabling science and technology
Developing the network infrastructure to connect the six metropolitan agencies
Research and development into the transfer of quantum entanglement between nodes
Emulation, modeling and simulation of the network
Research and development into the classical management and control, routing, monitoring and metrology and associated software of the quantum network.
The DC-QNet governance comprises an Executive Director and an Executive Steering Committee, along with principal investigators from among the agencies taking the lead on the various technical goals. Among the programmatic goals of the consortium are:
A trusted Quantum Network Testbed for the U.S. Government and the U.S. Department of Defense
Contributions to network synchronization by official U.S. government timekeepers
A focus on the metrology required to operate a quantum network
About the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
NRL is a scientific and engineering command dedicated to research that drives innovative advances for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps from the seafloor to space and in the information domain. NRL is located in Washington, D.C. with major field sites in Stennis Space Center, Mississippi; Key West, Florida; Monterey, California, and employs approximately 3,000 civilian scientists, engineers and support personnel.
For more information, contact NRL Corporate Communications at (202) 480-3746 or nrlpao@nrl.navy.mil