On the Analysis of Entanglement Distribution in a Quantum Network

Abstract: Entanglement is an essential component of quantum computation, information, and communication. Its applications range from quantum key distribution and secret sharing to quantum sensing. These applications drive the increasing need for a quantum switching network that can supply end-to-end entangled states to groups of endpoints that request them. To this end, I study a quantum switch that distributes entanglement to users in a star topology. I will present models for variants of this system and derive expressions for switch capacity and the expected number of qubits stored in memory at the switch. Much of this work focuses on bipartite entanglement switching. For this case, I will discuss how performance metrics are affected by decoherence and link heterogeneity. In this talk, I will also discuss a work wherein we explore a set of switching policies for a switch that can serve both bipartite and tripartite entangled states. I will conclude the talk with a discussion of future research directions and a long-term vision of leveraging tools from performance evaluation to analyze and help guide the design of future quantum networks.

Bio: Gayane Vardoyan is a PhD candidate in the College of Information & Computer Sciences, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is advised by Prof. Don Towsley. She holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (Dec 2011) from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests include the performance evaluation of classical and quantum communication systems. She interned at Inria, Sophia Antipolis during the summer of 2017. Previously, she worked at the Argonne National Lab and the Computation Institute at the University of Chicago. She was a participant of the Rising Stars 2019 academic career workshop for women in EECS.

A reception for attendees will be held at 3:30 p.m. in CS 150