Quantum networks using counterfactual quantum communication

Abstract

Counterfactual quantum communication is one of the most interesting facets of quantum communication, allowing two parties to communicate without any transmission of quantum or classical particles between the parties involved in the communication process. This aspect of quantum communication originates from the interaction-free measurements where the chained quantum Zeno effect plays an important role. Here, we propose a new counterfactual quantum communication protocol for transmitting an entangled state from a pair of electrons to two independent photons. Interestingly, the protocol proposed here shows that the counterfactual method can be employed to transfer information from house qubits to flying qubits. Following this, we show that the protocol finds uses in building quantum repeaters leading to a counterfactual quantum network, enabling counterfactual communication over a linear quantum network.