Quantum mechanics is one of the largest branches in the study of physics. It is a way of explaining how subatomic particles behave at a nanoscopic level, the physical properties of nature broken down to their basic levels. The study of quantum mechanics has led to the development of quantum computers. These computers can solve problems that a standard computer simply couldn’t solve. One of the aspects that allows a quantum computer to work is entanglement which measures the spatial proximity between particles. Or as Albert Einstien jokingly described it as “spooky action at a distance”. It is very confusing, but opens up the possibilities for supercomputers to work.

Recently, there has been a lot of interest in developing a quantum internet, one that provides the highest level of encryption security. Many in the scientific field believe that the high security that would be enabled by quantum internet will usher in the next era of communications. In July of 2020, the US Department of Energy announced that they were in works with researchers from around the country to start building a quantum internet. In the January issue of the scientific journal Physical Review Letters, a team of researchers from Nanjing University in China has reported their findings on using drones to establish a quantum internet.

Zhenda Xie from Nanjing’s National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures found a way of using easy to deploy, inexpensive drones for entanglement distribution, the key behind a quantum internet. While fiber-optic cables and satellites can be used to carry a quantum internet connection, finding a way to localize the process is where drones come into play. Zhenda and his team sent two drones up a kilometer, or just over a half a mile, apart from each other. “Using two drones, where one distributes the entangled photons and the other serves as a relay node, we achieve entanglement distribution,” states Zhenda.

The first drone, weighing about 77lbs, was fitted with a laser and crystal to split the photons. Once the photon was split in two, one photon was beamed to the accompanying drone while the other was sent to the ground station. This created a complete quantum internet connection. This experiment was the first of its kind to transmit entangled particles between moving objects. And though the drones were relatively close in proximity, Zhenda says that the results will be the same at greater distances.

Zhenda plans on running the experiment to test the connection with drones spaced at 300 kilometers (close to 200 miles) apart by increasing the elevation of the drones. The implications would mean that a highly secure quantum internet could be enabled over wide areas without having to lay miles of cables. For the majority of the world, a quantum internet is not necessary. It is not going to provide faster connectivity like how 5G will. Most internet users can safely protect their data and conversations with current internet security systems. But for military and government communications, secure communications through a quantum internet is the next frontier in global securities. Using drones to establish a quantum internet would allow people to in essence teleport communications without having a physical connection. It ensures that all encrypted data remains so, making it virtually hacker-proof. And while understanding how it works can sound like “spooky action at a distance”, quantum internet could be the future of communications.

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