The Internet offers a wide range of possibilities for both private users and companies. It has changed a lot in recent years, of course. New services and platforms have appeared, new needs that make the offer have to be extended. Today it is part of the lives of many people, since their jobs, way of life, search for information, entertainment … They are closely linked to the Internet. In this article we are going to talk about what the quantum Internet is and how it works.
The spread of the Internet today
There is no doubt that the Internet is an indispensable part of the daily life of many people, companies and organizations of all kinds. If it were suddenly disconnected as if it were a switch, there would be many, many sectors that would be affected directly or indirectly.
With the passage of time the network has acquired a greater weight. There are many options we have to navigate, either via cable or wirelessly, as well as using desktops or, increasingly, mobile devices.
However, the rise of the Internet, that greater use in our day to day, also means that we have to have better connections. For example, many of the devices on the Internet of Things need minimal latency to work.
What is the quantum Internet
One of those improvements for certain sectors can come thanks to the quantum Internet. It is a concept that many scientists around the world work on. Quantum networks are going to have an important weight in certain strategies worldwide.
Already the US Department of Defense has published a first plan of this type, to achieve a quantum Internet within a few years. But it is not only about the American country, but many other nations around the planet, including China and EU nations, work in the same direction.
We can say that it is a network that will allow quantum devices to exchange information within an environment that takes advantage of the laws of quantum mechanics. This can offer, at least on paper, very good conditions and capabilities that we could not achieve with today’s Internet.
On the quantum Internet, data can be encoded in the state of qubits . This can be created on a computer or quantum processor. What this technology would do is be able to send qubits through a network of multiple quantum devices that are physically separated.
We are talking about how this technology could take advantage of the behavior of the particles when sending that information. It sounds a bit like science fiction or futuristic, but it would certainly be something that would take a significant leap in communications and the way we use the Internet.
Improvements over the current Internet
As we say, the quantum Internet can bring interesting improvements to the current Internet. One of the most important would be to achieve a much lower ping , practically nonexistent. In this way, communications would improve notably, something that may not be so perceptible for the home user, but it is for the industry in certain sectors.
It will also improve safety , such an important factor that should always be present. This technology can take advantage of better conditions to avoid risks and problems affecting devices.
Another important point is to shorten distances . Be able to interconnect equipment that is separated by kilometers.
In short, for the moment the quantum Internet is a futuristic technology, an option that could be present in our lives in the coming years. The Internet is a set of very diverse factors that are constantly changing and improving. If we look back and look at what the network was like just 10 years ago and compare it to today, we are sure to see many changes. Those most obvious changes are related to speed, the quality of wireless connections, but also the storage capacity in the cloud.
