English

On the Limits of Distributed Quantum Computing

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing 2025-03-17 v1 Quantum Physics

Abstract

Quantum advantage is well-established in centralized computing, where quantum algorithms can solve certain problems exponentially faster than classical ones. In the distributed setting, significant progress has been made in bandwidth-limited networks, where quantum distributed networks have shown computational advantages over classical counterparts. However, the potential of quantum computing in networks that are constrained only by large distances is not yet understood. We focus on the LOCAL model of computation (Linial, FOCS 1987), a distributed computational model where computational power and communication bandwidth are unconstrained, and its quantum generalization. In this brief survey, we summarize recent progress on the quantum-LOCAL model outlining its limitations with respect to its classical counterpart: we discuss emerging techniques, and highlight open research questions that could guide future efforts in the field.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2503.11394,
  title  = {On the Limits of Distributed Quantum Computing},
  author = {Francesco d'Amore},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.11394},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

Online version of the paper appeared in the Distributed Computing Column of Bulletin of EATCS. Some mistakes are here corrected

R2 v1 2026-06-28T22:20:36.934Z