Quantum Network
A network that distributes entanglement between distant places. Not faster internet, but secure key exchange, linked quantum computers, and arrays of entangled sensors.
A quantum network distributes quantum states, usually entanglement, between distant locations. The pitch isn't faster Netflix; entanglement can't carry messages faster than light. What it enables is different: provably secure key exchange, linking quantum computers into larger machines, and arrays of entangled sensors and clocks with precision no independent devices can match.
Today's reality check: deployed 'quantum networks' are mostly QKD links with trusted relay nodes, plus a handful of research testbeds demonstrating genuine entanglement distribution over metropolitan distances. The missing ingredient for scale is the quantum repeater.
The local angle writes itself: networks of entangled optical clocks, the kind JILA and NIST Boulder build better than anyone, are among the first applications that justify the plumbing, for geodesy, navigation, and tests of fundamental physics.