While quantum computers are still a long way from being, you know, practical, that apparently hasn't stopped people from trying to network them.
Prem Kumar, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Northwestern, has constructed a quantum logic gate, which he says could pave the way for future quantum computer networks. In a general sense, a logic gate is any device that receives an input, performs some manner of logic operation on it, and then produces an output. The type that Kumar has created, called a controlled NOT gate, has a classical-computing analogue that flips a bit registering a "1" to "0," and vice versa to adhere to a qubit's (the unit of information quantum computer deals with) multiple values. While gates like these have been created before, they only worked with laser beams that passed through the air -- so yeah, not so practical. Kumar's gate, on the other hand, works within an optical fiber.
"The great thing about this work, is that it's in fiber," Carl Williams, coordinator of the quantum information program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology told MIT's Technology Review. "This is a big deal because it could lead to distributed networks. ... The obvious application is for long-distance quantum communication between two smaller quantum computers."
As Kumar explains, such gates could be part of a circuit that relays information over hundreds of miles of fiber, from one quantum computer to another. So, yes, we're basically talking about a quantum internet here. Expect grumblings from security companies if this quantum internet ever emerges, however, since all communications on it would be automatically secure.
Photo courtesy of Technology Review
