- Open Access
Entanglement improving coordination in distributed systems
Phys. Rev. A 113, 062611 – Published 11 June, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/3328-dwtb
Abstract
Coordination in distributed systems is often hampered by communication latency, which degrades performance. Quantum entanglement offers fundamentally stronger correlations than classically achievable without communication. Crucially, these correlations manifest instantaneously upon measurement, irrespective of the physical distance separating the systems. We investigate the application of shared entanglement to a dual-work optimization problem in a distributed system comprising two servers. The system must process both a continuously available, preemptible baseline task and incoming customer requests arriving in pairs. System performance is characterized by the trade-off between baseline task throughput and customer waiting time. We present a rigorous analytical model demonstrating that when the baseline task throughput function is strictly convex, rewarding longer uninterrupted processing periods, entanglement-assisted routing strategies achieve Pareto-superior performance compared to optimal communication-free classical strategies. We prove this advantage through queueing-theoretic analysis, nonlocal game formulation, and computational certification of classical bounds. We complement these formal results with simulations indicating that the advantage persists when arrivals are independent across routers and grows under bursty traffic. Our results suggest distributed scheduling and coordination as a candidate application domain for near-term entanglement-based quantum networks.
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Article Text
References (28)
- T. L. Casavant and J. G. Kuhl, A taxonomy of scheduling in general-purpose distributed computing systems, IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng. 14, 141 (1988).
- Y.-T. Wang et al., Load sharing in distributed systems, IEEE Trans. Comput. C-34, 204 (1985).
- Y. Jiang, A survey of task allocation and load balancing in distributed systems, IEEE Trans. Parallel Distrib. Syst. 27, 585 (2015).
- J. S. Bell, On the Einstein Podolsky Rosen paradox, Phys. Phys. Fiz. 1, 195 (1964).
- N. Brunner, D. Cavalcanti, S. Pironio, V. Scarani, and S. Wehner, Bell nonlocality, Rev. Mod. Phys. 86, 419 (2014).
- J. P. Covey, H. Weinfurter, and H. Bernien, Quantum networks with neutral atom processing nodes, npj Quantum Inf. 9, 90 (2023).
- M. Ruf, N. H. Wan, H. Choi, D. Englund, and R. Hanson, Quantum networks based on color centers in diamond, J. Appl. Phys. 130, 070901 (2021).
- V. Krutyanskiy, M. Galli, V. Krcmarsky, S. Baier, D. Fioretto, Y. Pu, A. Mazloom, P. Sekatski, M. Canteri, M. Teller, et al., Entanglement of trapped-ion qubits separated by 230 meters, Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 050803 (2023).
- A. J. Stolk, K. L. van der Enden, M.-C. Slater, I. T. Raa-Derckx, P. Botma, J. van Rantwijk, J. J. B. Biemond, R. A. J. Hagen, R. W. Herfst, W. D. Koek, et al., Metropolitan-scale heralded entanglement of solid-state qubits, Sci. Adv. 10, eadp6442 (2024).
- F. F. Da Silva and S. Wehner, Entanglement improves coordination in distributed systems, in Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Quantum Networks and Distributed Quantum Computing (ACM, New York, 2025), pp. 14–20.
- B. Hensen, H. Bernien, A. E. Dréau, A. Reiserer, N. Kalb, M. S. Blok, J. Ruitenberg, R. F. Vermeulen, R. N. Schouten, C. Abellán, et al., Loophole-free Bell inequality violation using electron spins separated by 1.3 kilometres, Nature (London) 526, 682 (2015).
- J. F. Clauser, M. A. Horne, A. Shimony, and R. A. Holt, Proposed experiment to test local hidden-variable theories, Phys. Rev. Lett. 23, 880 (1969).
- D. Ding, Z. Ji, P. Pocreau, M. Xu, and X. Xu, Quantum nonlocality under latency constraints, arXiv:2510.26349.
- D. Ding and L. Jiang, Coordinating decisions via quantum telepathy, arXiv:2407.21723.
- M. Hasanpour, S. Shariat, P. Barnaghi, S. A. Hoseinitabatabaei, S. Vahid, and R. Tafazolli, Quantum load balancing in ad hoc networks, Quantum Info. Proc. 16, 148 (2017).
- P. Mironowicz, Entangled rendezvous: A possible application of Bell non-locality for mobile agents on networks, New J. Phys. 25, 013023 (2023).
- G. Viola and P. Mironowicz, Quantum strategies for rendezvous and domination tasks on graphs with mobile agents, Phys. Rev. A 109, 042201 (2024).
- J. Tucker, P. Strange, P. Mironowicz, and J. Quintanilla, Quantum-assisted rendezvous on graphs: Explicit algorithms and quantum computer simulations, New J. Phys. 26, 093038 (2024).
- V. Arun, V. Chidambaram, and S. Aaronson, Faster-than-light coordination for networked systems with quantum non-local games, in Proceedings of the 24th ACM Workshop on Hot Topics in Networks (HotNets '25) (ACM, New York, 2025).
- D. Gross, J. F. Shortle, J. M. Thompson, and C. M. Harris, Fundamentals of Queueing Theory (John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2011), Vol. 627.
- M. Mitzenmacher, The power of two choices in randomized load balancing, IEEE Trans. Parallel Distrib. Syst. 12, 1094 (2002).
- V. Gupta, M. H. Balter, K. Sigman, and W. Whitt, Analysis of join-the-shortest-queue routing for web server farms, Perf. Eval. 64, 1062 (2007).
- J. L. Hennessy and D. A. Patterson, Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2011).
- G. Grimmett and D. Stirzaker, Probability and Random Processes (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2020).
- W. Fischer and K. Meier-Hellstern, The Markov-modulated Poisson process (MMPP) cookbook, Perform. Eval. 18, 149 (1993).
- H. Heffes and D. Lucantoni, A Markov modulated characterization of packetized voice and data traffic and related statistical multiplexer performance, IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun. 4, 856 (1986).
- https://gitlab.com/FranciscoHS/entanglement-routing-advantage.
- R. W. Wolff, Poisson arrivals see time averages, Oper. Res. 30, 223 (1982).
