Did you know the internet runs on light?
Every time you send an email or stream a video, bright pulses of light travel through underground fiber-optic cables — the invisible highways of the internet. These light pulses carry the 1s and 0s that computers use to store and share information.
Now, imagine doing this with individual particles of light, called photons. That’s the idea behind a quantum network. Instead of just sending data, quantum networks use the strange and powerful rules of quantum mechanics — the science of how the universe behaves at the tiniest scales.
In a quantum network, photons can be entangled, meaning they behave like a single connected system even when separated by great distances. Changing or measuring one instantly influences the other. Researchers around the world are exploring how this property can power next-generation communication systems and connect emerging quantum technologies like quantum computers and sensors.
With the Public Quantum Network (PQN), we want everyone — not just scientists — to be part of this new frontier. PQN brings entangled photons to public spaces such as libraries and schools using the same fiber-optic cables that already carry the internet.
The first section of the Public Quantum Network launched at The Urbana Free Library in 2023. This presentation will take you behind the scenes of how it was built and share ongoing efforts to make the network reliable, interactive, and open source — so anyone can explore the quantum internet of the future.