Policies for elementary links in a quantum network

TL;DR

This paper introduces a decision process framework for optimizing entanglement distribution protocols in quantum networks, focusing on elementary links, and provides algorithms to find optimal policies considering hardware limitations.

Contribution

It develops a novel decision process approach for elementary link entanglement distribution and offers algorithms, including an optimal one, to improve protocol performance.

Findings

Proposed a quantum decision process for elementary links.

Provided algorithms to determine optimal policies.

Reformulated the memory-cutoff protocol as a policy within the framework.

Abstract

Distributing entanglement over long distances is one of the central tasks in quantum networks. An important problem, especially for near-term quantum networks, is to develop optimal entanglement distribution protocols that take into account the limitations of current and near-term hardware, such as quantum memories with limited coherence time. We address this problem by initiating the study of quantum network protocols for entanglement distribution using the theory of decision processes, such that optimal protocols (referred to as policies in the context of decision processes) can be found using dynamic programming or reinforcement learning algorithms. As a first step, in this work we focus exclusively on the elementary link level. We start by defining a quantum decision process for elementary links, along with figures of merit for evaluating policies. We then provide two algorithms for determining policies, one of which we prove to be optimal (with respect to fidelity and success probability) among all policies. Then we show that the previously-studied memory-cutoff protocol can be phrased as a policy within our decision process framework, allowing us to obtain several new fundamental results about it. The conceptual developments and results of this work pave the way for the systematic study of the fundamental limitations of near-term quantum networks, and the requirements for physically realizing them.