Requirements for a processing-node quantum repeater on a real-world fiber grid

TL;DR

This paper investigates the hardware requirements for a processing-node quantum repeater over a real-world fiber grid, emphasizing the importance of realistic modeling for practical quantum network deployment.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed simulation framework using NetSquid for studying quantum repeaters with real-world constraints, highlighting differences from idealized models and optimizing hardware specifications.

Findings

Realistic models show higher demands on memory coherence and photon collection.

Development of a versatile machinery for simulating arbitrary repeater chains.

Identification of minimal hardware requirements through genetic algorithm optimization.

Abstract

We numerically study the distribution of entanglement between the Dutch cities of Delft and Eindhoven realized with a processing-node quantum repeater and determine minimal hardware requirements for verifiable blind quantum computation using color centers and trapped ions. Our results are obtained considering restrictions imposed by a real-world fiber grid and using detailed hardware-specific models. By comparing our results to those we would obtain in idealized settings we show that simplifications lead to a distorted picture of hardware demands, particularly on memory coherence and photon collection. We develop general machinery suitable for studying arbitrary processing-node repeater chains using NetSquid, a discrete-event simulator for quantum networks. This enables us to include time-dependent noise models and simulate repeater protocols with cut-offs, including the required classical control communication. We find minimal hardware requirements by solving an optimization problem using genetic algorithms on a high-performance-computing cluster. Our work provides guidance for further experimental progress, and showcases limitations of studying quantum-repeater requirements in idealized situations.