A coherent router for quantum networks

TL;DR

This paper proposes a quantum router scheme that directs quantum states between nodes in a network, controlled by ancilla qubits, enabling directed transport and entanglement distribution, with a superconducting circuit implementation.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel quantum routing scheme controlled by ancilla qubits, expanding quantum network capabilities beyond previous methods.

Findings

Demonstrates a two-output quantum routing setup

Shows potential for scalable multi-output routing

Proposes a superconducting circuit implementation

Abstract

Scalable quantum information processing will require quantum networks of qubits with the ability to coherently transfer quantum states between the desired sender and receiver nodes. Here we propose a scheme to implement a quantum router that can direct quantum states from an input qubit to a preselected output qubit. The path taken by the transferred quantum state is controlled by the state of one or more ancilla qubits. This enables both directed transport between a sender and a number of receiver nodes, and generation of distributed entanglement in the network. We demonstrate the general idea using a two-output setup and discuss how the quantum routing may be expanded to several outputs. We also present a possible realization of our ideas with superconducting circuits.