10 breakthrough technologies of 2020. Part 1

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Every year, MIT Technology Review creates a list of technological achievements that, in the editors' opinion, will significantly affect the solution of important problems in the fields of finance, medicine, IT and other industries. The list does not include new devices or "one-off" high-profile events - only technological breakthroughs that can seriously change people's lives and work are included. Let's talk about the achievements that made the list this year.

In 2020, Dutch researchers will complete the construction of a quantum network between the cities of The Hague and Delft.

Why this matters: The internet is becoming increasingly vulnerable to typical attacks, and a quantum network is impossible to hack.
Key players: Delft University of Technology, Quantum Internet Alliance, University of Science and Technology of China.
Availability: for five years.
An internet based on quantum physics could soon be able to provide mexico number data secure communications. A team led by Stephanie Wechner of Delft University of Technology is building a network connecting four cities in the Netherlands using quantum technology. Data sent over this network is unhackable.

Over the past few years, scientists have learned to transmit pairs of photons over fiber-optic cables in such a way as to completely protect the information encoded in them.


For example, a Chinese team has used the technology to build a 2,000 km network backbone between Beijing and Shanghai. However, this project partly uses classical network components, which periodically break the quantum connection, creating a risk of hacking the network. Therefore, Delft will be the first network in the world to transmit information using quantum technologies from start to finish.

The technology is based on quantum entanglement, the chaotic behavior of parts of an atom. Entangled photons cannot be secretly analyzed without disrupting their composition.

Entangled particles are difficult to create, and even more difficult to transmit over long distances. Wechner's team has demonstrated that they can send them over a distance of more than 1.5 km, and is confident that they will be able to establish a quantum link between Delft and The Hague by the end of 2020.

To ensure uninterrupted connectivity over such a long distance, quantum repeaters that extend the network will be needed. Such repeaters are currently being developed in Delft and other laboratories.

According to Wechner, the first large-scale quantum network project will be completed within 5-6 years, and by the end of the decade, a global quantum network will be deployed.