For 15 days last December, a complex quantum operation took place deep under New York City.
Quantum hardware company Qunnect ran the experiment on its GothamQ testbed.
The quantum web connection operated on existing optical fibers that make up some of New Yorks telecommunications infrastructure.
Researchers recently tested a quantum communications network beneath New York City.Image: Gary Hershorn/Getty Images
The teams research ispublishedin PRX Quantum.
Its always hard to explain what a next-generation infrastructure is going to do for you.
Namazi said that much of the teams work was by far the state-of-the-art in quantum networking.
A map showing the GothamQ testbed and the experimental apparatus prior to photons entering (top left) and exiting (bottom right) the GothamQ fiber. Graphic: Craddock et al. 2024
Qubits are the bedrock of quantum computers.
Previous experiments using similar infrastructure only achieved rates of about 10,000 to 20,000 photon pairs per second.
Everything weve been trying to develop is around this idea of is it practical?, Namazi said.
The most immediate applications of the tech, he said, are in cybersecurity.
If something happened to one of your photons, the other one immediately knows.
Of course, the photons are getting to where theyre going way faster than you are.
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