Quantum race: 2017 developments
Last year was marked by a multitude of developments related to quantum communications. One of the most "high-profile" news in this regard was the information about scientists from China, who organized the transfer of data within the quantum network over a distance of more than 1,200 kilometers. According to Scientific American, this experiment puts China in the lead of the “quantum race” for creating a secure global network of quantum communications.
Let us tell you how this experiment is remarkable and what other developments in the field of quantum communications developed last year - including at ITMO University.
Photos of ITMO University
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In 2017, Chinese researchers made a serious step towards the model of creating a large-scale quantum network. As part of their experiment, Chinese scientists set a record for the range of quantum teleportation. In contrast to the "ground" projects, when the reception and transmission of entangled particles occurs over fiber, in the Chinese experiment, the Mo-tzu satellite launched in 2016 (called in honor of the ancient Chinese philosopher) launched in 2016 to the near-earth orbit. The use of a satellite makes it possible to make the transmission of a signal more reliable (due to the fact that in vacuum, the photons that are in an entangled state are less exposed to external influences) and, therefore, transmit the signal over long distances.
Nicolas Gisen, a professor at the University of Geneva, said that "This project demonstrates that global quantum communications are possible and will be realized in the near future." The 600-pound Mo-tzu for China is the first of a whole family of satellites to be created as part of the Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS) program.
Scientific observers believe that it is difficult to call the experiment conducted the first stage in the actual creation of a global network of quantum communications — rather, this is proof that such a network can in principle be created. For the organization of quantum communications with practical utility, the amount of data exchanged between Mo-tzu and ground stations is too small.
Other projects on the organization of a quantum communications network using satellites still show more modest results: the Canadian Space Agency satellite will only be launched into space in 5 years, other projects, for example, developments from the National University of Singapore, have limited capabilities compared to succeeded in an experiment with Mo-tzu.
An alternative approach is being developed by scientists from the Max Planck Society's Institute for the Science of Light. They are working on the creation of quantum communication protocols for systems already installed on European satellites from the Copernicus space program. According to the authors of the project, their development does not use the state of quantum entanglement, but over the next five years they can be used to transfer a quantum key.
Photos of ITMO University
Along with the global space network, projects that implement the transmission of entangled photons at shorter distances using fiber optics do not lose their relevance.
Such projects are also developing in Russia - in particular, they are working on them at ITMO University. The decision to develop this direction at the University was adopted more than 10 years ago - although then, as Sergei Kozlov, dean of the faculty of photonics and optoinformatics, notes , there was no certainty that scientists at ITMO University would be able to achieve success in this area:
As a result, in 2014, the employees of Quantum Communications launched the first city line of quantum communications in Russia, and last year they implemented the first multisite quantum network in the CIS connecting switching stations of Tattelecom and the building of the Kazan Scientific-Technological University-Kazan Quantum Center.
Features of the development from ITMO University consist in the fact that it uses the existing information transmission channels (this feature was used in the framework of creating a multi-node quantum network), allows data to be transmitted over distances of more than 200 km. at speeds higher than that of foreign counterparts, and with great efficiency.
All this is achieved through the use of subcarriers when, as a result of phase-frequency modulation, quantum signals are brought to adjacent frequency components (we described this development in more detail about how this development is implemented).
This year, developments in the field of quantum cryptography and quantum communications will continue, both on earth and in space. Regardless of what solutions will be used in the implementation of a quantum communication network, this direction has a great future - especially considering the development of the Internet of things and technologies of the “smart” city:
Let us tell you how this experiment is remarkable and what other developments in the field of quantum communications developed last year - including at ITMO University.
Photos of ITMO University')
What did in China
In 2017, Chinese researchers made a serious step towards the model of creating a large-scale quantum network. As part of their experiment, Chinese scientists set a record for the range of quantum teleportation. In contrast to the "ground" projects, when the reception and transmission of entangled particles occurs over fiber, in the Chinese experiment, the Mo-tzu satellite launched in 2016 (called in honor of the ancient Chinese philosopher) launched in 2016 to the near-earth orbit. The use of a satellite makes it possible to make the transmission of a signal more reliable (due to the fact that in vacuum, the photons that are in an entangled state are less exposed to external influences) and, therefore, transmit the signal over long distances.
Nicolas Gisen, a professor at the University of Geneva, said that "This project demonstrates that global quantum communications are possible and will be realized in the near future." The 600-pound Mo-tzu for China is the first of a whole family of satellites to be created as part of the Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS) program.
A spoon of tar
Scientific observers believe that it is difficult to call the experiment conducted the first stage in the actual creation of a global network of quantum communications — rather, this is proof that such a network can in principle be created. For the organization of quantum communications with practical utility, the amount of data exchanged between Mo-tzu and ground stations is too small.
Other projects on the organization of a quantum communications network using satellites still show more modest results: the Canadian Space Agency satellite will only be launched into space in 5 years, other projects, for example, developments from the National University of Singapore, have limited capabilities compared to succeeded in an experiment with Mo-tzu.
An alternative approach is being developed by scientists from the Max Planck Society's Institute for the Science of Light. They are working on the creation of quantum communication protocols for systems already installed on European satellites from the Copernicus space program. According to the authors of the project, their development does not use the state of quantum entanglement, but over the next five years they can be used to transfer a quantum key.
Photos of ITMO University
ITMO University Projects
Along with the global space network, projects that implement the transmission of entangled photons at shorter distances using fiber optics do not lose their relevance.
Such projects are also developing in Russia - in particular, they are working on them at ITMO University. The decision to develop this direction at the University was adopted more than 10 years ago - although then, as Sergei Kozlov, dean of the faculty of photonics and optoinformatics, notes , there was no certainty that scientists at ITMO University would be able to achieve success in this area:
We realized that this direction would become important 12 years ago, although we could miss too, nothing new could come up and come to a dead end. But now at ITMO University there is already a small innovative enterprise “Quantum Communications”, which is engaged in quantum cryptography.
As a result, in 2014, the employees of Quantum Communications launched the first city line of quantum communications in Russia, and last year they implemented the first multisite quantum network in the CIS connecting switching stations of Tattelecom and the building of the Kazan Scientific-Technological University-Kazan Quantum Center.
Features of the development from ITMO University consist in the fact that it uses the existing information transmission channels (this feature was used in the framework of creating a multi-node quantum network), allows data to be transmitted over distances of more than 200 km. at speeds higher than that of foreign counterparts, and with great efficiency.
All this is achieved through the use of subcarriers when, as a result of phase-frequency modulation, quantum signals are brought to adjacent frequency components (we described this development in more detail about how this development is implemented).
This year, developments in the field of quantum cryptography and quantum communications will continue, both on earth and in space. Regardless of what solutions will be used in the implementation of a quantum communication network, this direction has a great future - especially considering the development of the Internet of things and technologies of the “smart” city:
“Any devices we use in our everyday life - traffic lights, mobile phones - use encryption. And gradually we can customize quantum cryptography for use on such a scale, and integrate classical consumers of communications into secure data transmission channels, ” says Arthur Glaim, general director of Quantum Communications .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/347160/
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