Work

Entanglement distribution in lossy quantum networks

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Entanglement distribution is essential for unlocking the potential of distributed quantum information processing. We consider an N-partite network where entanglement is distributed via a central source over lossy channels, and network participants cooperate to establish entanglement between any two chosen parties under local operations and classical communication (LOCC). We develop a general mathematical framework to assess the average bipartite entanglement shared in a lossy distribution, and introduce a tractable lower bound by optimizing over a subset of single-parameter LOCC transformations. Our results show that probabilistically extracting Bell pairs from W states is more advantageous than deterministically extracting them from GHZ-like states in lossy networks, with this advantage increasing with network size. We further extend our analysis analytically, proving that W states remain more effective in large-scale networks. These findings offer valuable insights into the practical deployment of near-term networks, and corroborate a trade-off relationship between the success conversion probability of entanglement distribution protocols and their robustness to loss.

Source: Scientific Reports

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-14226-2

Authors: Leonardo Oleynik, Junaid ur Rehman, Seid Koudia, Symeon Chatzinotas

Institutions: University of Luxembourg, Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals

Language: English

Topic: Quantum Information and Cryptography

Subfield: Artificial Intelligence

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,690

Funder: King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals