Quantum network expansion at Stony Brook and Brookhaven

They’re not your grandfathers’ lighthouses.

Researchers at Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Laboratory on Friday demonstrated the transmission of light particles containing quantum information in what they called a first-of-its-kind step in "extending the nation’s longest quantum network."

The ability to link infinitely more complex quantum computers via specially designed quantum "lighthouses" such as those at Stony Brook and Brookhaven lab is crucial to aggregating their combined power, researchers said.

The plan is ultimately to allow the computers to work together across the country to "tackle some of the nation’s most pressing scientific challenges," BNL said. The next stop involves linking a similar quantum lighthouse across Long Island Sound at Yale University.

"The future of quantum information science will depend not only on what individual quantum computers and devices can do, but on our ability to connect them," Department of Energy Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil said at the demonstration at BNL Friday, calling it a "remarkable first" for the county. 

"This achievement opens a vital new pathway for connecting quantum systems across distances in ways that fiber can't achieve," he said, saying the work will eventually pave the way for advanced quantum satellite connections. "Quantum capabilities become more useful when we can connect them," he said.