Photonic aspects of networks: from long-distance quantum networks to the brain

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dc.contributor.advisorSimon, Christoph
dc.contributor.authorKumar, Sourabh
dc.contributor.committeememberBarclay, Paul E.
dc.contributor.committeememberOblak, Daniel
dc.contributor.committeememberWieser, Michael E.
dc.contributor.committeememberSangouard, Nicolas D.
dc.date2020-11
dc.date.accessioned2020-08-26T20:59:53Z
dc.date.available2020-08-26T20:59:53Z
dc.date.issued2020-08-20
dc.description.abstractPhotons, the fundamental quanta of the electromagnetic field, travel at the fastest possible speed, and interact relatively weakly with the environment. These features make them ideal for several practical applications, particularly in the transport of both classical and quantum information. One could also wonder whether nature itself realized the usefulness of these unique entities and through evolution made living beings rely on them for some physiological functions. In my thesis, I cover an example for each of these roles a photon can take. As the first example, I describe our theoretical work pertaining to an important practical application where photons can carry quantum information and mediate entanglement between distant quantum computing nodes. We designed a novel quantum repeater architecture using superconducting processors and optical links, which we believe is the first concrete proposal towards this goal. We compared our repeater’s performance with a few other promising approaches and showed that ours could yield higher entanglement distribution rates with good fidelities in appropriate regimes. Such an architecture could be pertinent to envision a quantum internet in the future, something that would be analogous to, but much more secure and powerful in certain aspects than today’s classical internet. As the second example, I describe our theoretical work where we speculate on the potential role of photons observed in mammalian brains. Could we be using these photons as information carriers in addition to the well-known electrochemical signals? We show, based on detailed theoretical modelling, that myelinated axons could serve as good optical waveguides in the brain, which can answer this question in the affirmative. Ours is the first proposal identifying myelinated axons as potential optical waveguides. There is indirect experimental evidence to support this hypothesis, and we propose precise experiments to test the waveguide capabilities directly. Since these photons can also in principle carry quantum information, we further speculate on the existence of quantum networks in the brain. Our work could help develop a better understanding of some of the biggest unsolved problems in neuroscience, possibly including the generation of our subjective conscious experience.en_US
dc.identifier.citationKumar, S. (2020). Photonic aspects of networks: from long-distance quantum networks to the brain (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/38113
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/112431
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisher.facultyScienceen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectPhotonsen_US
dc.subjectQuantum networksen_US
dc.subjectQuantum interneten_US
dc.subjectQuantum computationen_US
dc.subjectQuantum informationen_US
dc.subjectSuperconducting qubitsen_US
dc.subjectSchrödinger cat statesen_US
dc.subjectDistributed quantum computingen_US
dc.subjectQuantum communicationen_US
dc.subjectQuantum repeatersen_US
dc.subjectNeuroscienceen_US
dc.subjectBiophysicsen_US
dc.subjectBiophotonsen_US
dc.subjectQuantum entanglementen_US
dc.subjectConsciousnessen_US
dc.subject.classificationPhysicsen_US
dc.subject.classificationOpticsen_US
dc.titlePhotonic aspects of networks: from long-distance quantum networks to the brainen_US
dc.typedoctoral thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplinePhysics & Astronomyen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrueen_US
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