11^{th AINTEC 2015}

The technology for quantum networks is developing rapidly in the laboratory, but even if we can build networks, will they be useful? Will a true Quantum Internet have the market pull necessary to develop an industry? This will be determined by the availability of attractive applications, which I will present in this talk.

I divide the applications of quantum communications into three categories: quantum cryptographic functions, quantum sensor networks, and distributed quantum computation. Some of these functions are drop-in replacements for existing, classical functionality, with additional, desirable characteristics. At least one of the most exciting is an entirely new capability brought by quantum computation: blind computation, in which a server executing an application learns nothing about the input data, output results, or even the algorithm being executed. I will discuss the demands that quantum key distribution, quantum Byzantine agreement, quantum interferometry, and blind quantum computation will make on large-scale quantum repeater networks. We will sketch out an evolutionary path that runs from a few Bell pairs per second through 1e11 Bell pairs per second, as repeater networks take on increasingly demanding applications.

Rodney Van Meter's bio