The quantum internet is being born as we speak. The United States, China, and other countries are trying to harness quantum power for computing and the internet. Quantum are atoms and sub-atomic particles, and the country that masters their use will acquire game-changing economic and national security benefits.
Today’s internet uses electrical pulses to transmit information; the quantum internet will use photons–subatomic particles of light–to transmit information. The main benefit of this comes from quantum’s strange behavior. While electrical pulses take the form of a one (2-5 volts) or a zero (almost no volts) to transmit data, quantum pulses can be a one, zero, or anything in between. Quantum particles also exhibit a behavior call entanglement, where two particles, separated by miles, will mimic each other, changing form at exactly the same time. Most importantly, quantum information cannot be spied upon–any attempt causes the information to disappear and alerts the sender and receiver about the intrusion. This means that a quantum internet is inherently secure–transmission of financial data, personal data, and certainly classified material is completely safe.
Over the centuries, computing has shifted from water-driven, to mechanical, to electro-mechanical, to electronic, and is now moving to quantum. The quantum internet, alongside quantum computing itself, would be the next great leap forward. One of its immediate applications is online voting, which as I describe in World Leadership, will usher in a new governance basis and a new societal-level. Computing will finally become the world’s next elevating innovation—and the world will be changed forever.
Right now, the quantum internet is being built in a basement at the University of Chicago. It sends signals to laboratories in the western suburbs. Quantum communications are extremely delicate so researchers are trying to create quantum boosters to strengthen the signal over long distances. When achieved, the Chicago site may connect to sites in Boston, New York, Maryland, Arizona, and around the world. And the future will have arrived.
Source:
Jeanne Whalen, “The Quantum Internet is Just Waiting in a Closet,” Washington Post, G1, 16 October 2022; see also https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/09/quantum-internet-chicago-argonne/
Photo: Jean Lachat, University of Chicago News
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