White Paper on Quantum Internet Computer Science Research Challenges

TL;DR

This paper discusses the challenges and potential solutions for designing robust control architectures for quantum internet networks, emphasizing the need for protocol adaptation and new protocol development.

Contribution

It identifies key outstanding questions and challenges in quantum network control architecture design, proposing directions for future research and protocol development.

Findings

Evaluation of a modular control architecture for quantum networks

Identification of challenges in implementing quantum network control systems

Discussion of protocol adaptation and new protocol requirements

Abstract

The aim of a quantum network is to enable the generation of end-to-end entangled links between end nodes of the network, so that they can execute quantum network applications. To facilitate this, it is desirable to have robust control of the network in order to be able to provide a reliable service to the end nodes. In recent work arXiv:2503.12582, we proposed a modular control architecture for a generate-when-request type network. This control architecture enables quantum network applications to be executed on end nodes running a modern operating system such as QNodeOS arXiv:2407.18306. In that work, we performed an evaluation of our architecture based on a proof-of-concept implementation. In the course of performing this evaluation, we discovered many outstanding questions and challenges. These relate not only to implementing our specific control architecture, but also to the design of any quantum network control architecture. Here, we describe some outstanding questions and challenges, discuss possible solutions, and identify where existing protocols require adaptation or new protocols must be designed.