QLunch: Astronomical telescopes with quantum memories

Speaker: Johannes Borregaard from QMATH

Title: Astronomical telescopes with quantum memories

Abstract:
One of the most mature fields of quantum technology is quantum communication and more specifically quantum key distribution. However, If a quantum network is realized there might be many other applications besides cryptography. Recently, it was suggested to use quantum repeaters to boost the resolution of telescopes for astronomical imaging [1]. The implementation of this particular proposal, however, seems far out of reach for current technology. In this talk, I will discuss preliminary results on how a more realistic setup might be envisioned by pairing telescopes with quantum memories. The use of memories allows for an exponential decrease in resources compared to a protocol without memories, which greatly improves the practical feasibility of quantum enhanced telescopes. 

[1] D. Gottesman, T. Jennewein, and S. Croke, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 070503 (2012)