What is quantum internet? How will it change the future of internet?

Many of us may feel that the internet was the best discovery ever. But the future of the internet and networking is going to be way more advanced than it is now.

Taking another step towards the network of the future, scientists have improved their ability to send quantum information across distant computers.

'The technology would allow information to be 'transported' in an instant and would help bring about a promised quantum computing revolution as well as bringing radical change in how networks function,' reported the Independent on Wednesday.

A quantum network can teleport information between unconnected nodes using a mechanism called quantum entanglement.

But what is quantum internet? And how is the recent development going to change the internet as we know it?

We take a look.

WHAT IS QUANTUM INTERNET?

The quantum internet is an idea based on the theoretical use of quantum computers to construct a new kind of network. In contrast to the traditional internet which operates through the use of binary signals in data packets, the quantum internet would utilise quantum signals instead, reports technology news website Technopedia.

Scientists could connect to advanced quantum computers remotely or link up machines within a lab in order to simulate quantum physics experiments.

Government agencies could use quantum internet technology to advance more strategic election processes, where voters could superimpose combinations. The quantum internet would also be superior in sending information securely through quantum encryption or cryptography, reports technology and data news website TechTarget.

WHAT'S THE LATEST DEVELOPMENT?

Ronald Hanson at Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands and his colleagues created a three-node quantum network. The nodes were named Alice, Bob and Charlie. Alice was connected to Bob, and Bob was connected to Charlie, but Charlie was not connected to Alice. Scientists say they have successfully shared information between Alice and Charlie, despite the fact they were not connected.

So far, researchers have only been able to demonstrate connections between neighbouring nodes, and the new study represents the first success of this kind. Scientists hope it represents a first step towards building a larger quantum network built on the sharing of quantum information.

The success is reported in a new study, ‘Qubit teleportation between non-neighbouring nodes in a quantum network’, published in the science journal Nature.

“It’s really teleportation as in science-fiction movies,” says Hanson. “The state, or information, really disappears on one side and appears on the other side, and because it’s not travelling the space in between, can also not get lost,” science website NewScientist reported him as saying.

WHO IS USING THIS TECHNOLOGY?

In 2019, Google announced that its machine had reached what scientists call “quantum supremacy”. Google said it had achieved a breakthrough in computer research, by solving a complex problem in minutes with a quantum computer that would take today’s most powerful supercomputers thousands of years to crack, reported Reuters.

SO, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

This technology could change the way data travels from place to place. Quantum teleportation not only moves data between quantum computers, but it also does so in such a way that no one can intercept it. Although it cannot move objects from place to place, it can move information by taking advantage of a quantum property called entanglement, reported the New York Times. Entanglement here means that a change in the state of one quantum system instantaneously affects the state of another, distant one.