Requirements for teleportation in an intercity quantum network
- 1Delft University of Technology
- 2Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology
- 3University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract
We investigate the hardware requirements for quantum teleportation in an intercity-scale network topology consisting of two metropolitan-scale networks connected via a long-distance backbone link. Specifically, we identify the minimal improvements required beyond the state-of-the-art to achieve an end-to-end expected teleportation fidelity of 2 / 3 , which represents the classical limit. To this end, we formulate the hardware requirements computation as optimisation problems, where the hardware parameters representing the underlying device capabilities serve as decision variables. Assuming a simplified noise model, we derive closed-form analytical expressions for the teleportation fidelity and rate when the network is realised using heterogeneous quantum hardware, including a quantum repeater chain with a memory cut-off. Our derivations are based on events defined by the order statistics of link generation durations in both the metropolitan networks and the backbone, and the resulting expressions are verified against NetSquid simulations. The analytical expressions facilitate efficient exploration of the optimisation parameter space without resorting to computationally intensive simulations. We then apply this framework to a representative realisation in which the metropolitan nodes are based on trapped-ion processors and the backbone is composed of ensemble-based quantum memories. Our results suggest that teleportation across metropolitan distances already reaches the classical limit with state-of-the-art hardware when the data qubit is prepared after end-to-end entanglement has been established, whereas extending teleportation to intercity scales requires additional, though plausibly achievable, improvements in hardware performance.
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BibTeX
@article{maiti2026requirements,
title = {{Requirements for teleportation in an intercity quantum network}},
author = {Soubhadra Maiti and Guus Avis and Sounak Kar and Stephanie Wehner},
journal = {New Journal of Physics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1088/1367-2630/aeb40a},
url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/aeb40a},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Requirements for teleportation in an intercity quantum network
AU - Soubhadra Maiti
AU - Guus Avis
AU - Sounak Kar
AU - Stephanie Wehner
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
JO - New Journal of Physics
DO - 10.1088/1367-2630/aeb40a
UR - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/aeb40a
AB - We investigate the hardware requirements for quantum teleportation in an intercity-scale network topology consisting of two metropolitan-scale networks connected via a long-distance backbone link. Specifically, we identify the minimal improvements required beyond the state-of-the-art to achieve an end-to-end expected teleportation fidelity of 2 / 3 , which represents the classical limit. To this end, we formulate the hardware requirements computation as optimisation problems, where the hardware parameters representing the underlying device capabilities serve as decision variables. Assuming a simplified noise model, we derive closed-form analytical expressions for the teleportation fidelity and rate when the network is realised using heterogeneous quantum hardware, including a quantum repeater chain with a memory cut-off. Our derivations are based on events defined by the order statistics of link generation durations in both the metropolitan networks and the backbone, and the resulting expressions are verified against NetSquid simulations. The analytical expressions facilitate efficient exploration of the optimisation parameter space without resorting to computationally intensive simulations. We then apply this framework to a representative realisation in which the metropolitan nodes are based on trapped-ion processors and the backbone is composed of ensemble-based quantum memories. Our results suggest that teleportation across metropolitan distances already reaches the classical limit with state-of-the-art hardware when the data qubit is prepared after end-to-end entanglement has been established, whereas extending teleportation to intercity scales requires additional, though plausibly achievable, improvements in hardware performance.
SN - 1367-2630
ER -