Researchers from QuTech have achieved a world’s first in quantum internet technology. A team led by Professor Stephanie Wehner ... developed a ... [data-]link-layer protocol that [standardizes the use of data transfer by] quantum entanglement [regardless of the materials used for the quantum entanglement.] ... This brings closer the day when [a multipurpose] quantum-internet can become a reality, [enabling capabilities] that are impossible to achieve using [contemporary] internet [technologies and protocols.]
The above quote is from an article written for a non-technical audience. The article poorly-explains the technology but it is still interesting; I heavily edited the quote to try to make it more accurate. Below, I explain why I think this is a seminal event. At the bottom, you will find a link to the academic paper.
In my opinion this event is analogous to Alexander Graham Bell making the first telephone call. The then-existing telegraph network is analogous to the contemporary Internet. Bell made the phone call from a device in one room that was directly connected to a device in an adjacent room. Of course, many researchers have already done the same thing with two quantum devices.
However, in the contemporary world, it is impossible to widely implement technologies or scale-up technologies without interoperability—which requires protocols.
The researchers claim that their protocol will allow devices to establish a connection and transmit data using quantum technology, and—most importantly—the protocol is independent of the physical materials and methods of manipulating quantum mechanics.
If their claim is true, then it is an epic moment—it makes it realistic to transition from the telegraph (the contemporary Internet) to telephony (quantum-mechanical data transfer).
Publication
A Link Layer Protocol for Quantum Networks, by Axel Dahlberg et al., available at https://arxiv.org/abs/1903.09778.
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/ctca8l/worlds_first_linklayer_protocol_brings_quantum/
