Quantum Routing for Emerging Quantum Networks

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the first experimental implementation of quantum routing combined with error correction on noisy quantum devices, validating its feasibility and establishing a benchmark for near-term quantum hardware.

Contribution

It introduces a novel circuit for quantum routing with integrated error correction and experimentally verifies its effectiveness on real noisy quantum hardware.

Findings

Quantum error correction improves routing success.

First experimental validation of error-corrected quantum routing.

Provides a benchmark for near-term quantum devices.

Abstract

Quantum routing, the entanglement of an input quantum signal over multiple output paths, will be an important aspect of future quantum networks. Implementation of such routing in emerging quantum networks via the noisy quantum devices currently under development is a distinct possibility. Quantum error correction, suitable for the arbitrary noisy quantum channels experienced in the routing process, will be required. In this work, we design a combined circuit for quantum routing and quantum error correction, and carry out the first implementation of such a circuit on a noisy real-world quantum device. Under the assumption of statistical knowledge on the channel, we experimentally verify the quantum nature of the error-corrected quantum routing by determining the path-entanglement through quantum state tomography, measuring also its probability of success. The quantum error correction deployed is identified as successful in terms of improving the routing. Our experiments validate, for the first time, that error-corrected quantum routing in near-term noisy quantum-computing devices is feasible, and our detailed results provide a quantum-routing benchmark for all near-term quantum hardware.