The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $24m in funding for three collaborative projects for research in quantum networks.
Scientific research infrastructure linked with quantum networks is needed to scale up quantum computers and make them commercially viable.
The potential of quantum computers is immense. Their benefits include:
- Simulating complex scientific processes inaccessible to computational platforms of today;
- Integrating quantum sensors that promise measurements of unprecedented precision; and
- Addressing previously inaccessible scientific questions of importance.
How can research into quantum networks boost new technology?
Quantum networks use the quantum properties of photons to encode information. For instance, for photons polarised in one direction.
Researchers are developing quantum communication protocols to formalise these associations, allowing the quantum state of photons to carry information from sender to receiver through a quantum network.
“Advances in quantum networks enable effective interconnections among multiple quantum devices,” said Ceren Susut, DOE Acting Associate Director of Science for Advanced Scientific Computing Research.
“However, realising scalable infrastructures for quantum information flows demands advancements in devices, error mitigation techniques, and new quantum network architectures and protocols.”
Which projects have been selected?
The projects were selected by competitive peer review under the DOE National Laboratory Announcement, Scientific Enablers of Scalable Quantum Communications. They are:
- A collaborative research effort led by Argonne National Laboratory, partnering with Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, following a heterogeneous, full-stack approach in codesigning scalable quantum networks;
- A collaborative research effort led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, partnering with the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, the University of Arizona, and the Arizona State University, developing the architecture and protocols for a performance-integrated scalable quantum internet; and
- A collaborative research effort led by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, partnering with the California Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University, and Argonne National Laboratory, developing hyper-entanglement-based networking and error noise-robust correction techniques for developing advanced quantum networks for science discovery.
The total funding is $24m for projects lasting up to three years in duration, with $8m in Fiscal Year 2023 dollars and out-year funding contingent on congressional appropriations.
The list of projects and more information can be found on the Advanced Scientific Computing Research homepage.
