Quantum Mechanics Could Improve Radar

Philip Ball

A proposed device would extend a quantum entanglement scheme previously demonstrated for visible photons into the microwave regime, where it could boost radar performance.

Marco O. Lanzagorta

Pallavi U Sharma, Balamati Choudhury, Rajeshwari Hegde

The need for improved and reduced integration time for detection in radars has led researchers to develop quantum radars. Quantum Radars use the concepts of quantum mechanics, like quantum entanglement and quantum illumination to give enhanced results in detection with reduced integration time. Quantum Radars have found applications in various fields like - aerospace, biomedical imaging, and civilian. This paper primarily focuses on the novel design of a quantum antenna that is capable of simulating the phenomena of quantum entanglement. It also gives a concise idea about Quantum radars by providing a comparison to the classical radars and a simple simulation of a quantum antenna that can be used to create the phenomena of quantum entanglement.

Marco O. Lanzagorta, Jeffrey K. Uhlmann

It has been recognized for over half a century that quantum mechanics defines the ultimate limits for sensing devices, and products of that recognition are now on the horizon of practical implementation. One of the most promising of those products is quantum radar, which offers a capability to significantly improve the tradeoff between energy and detection sensitivity compared to classical alternatives. We provide a back-of-the-envelope and implementation-agnostic analysis to glimpse the kinds of expected improvement that a quantum radar could provide for applications of interest. Our analysis relies on relatively simplistic models that are only intended to facilitate an intuitive grasp of quantum-versus-classical distinctions. Such analyses of course cannot lead to definitive conclusions, but we believe they provide evidence that in some contexts quantum radar can be expected to offer realizable practical advantages over classical alternatives. We conclude with a discussion of theoretical and practical obstacles and a high-level summary of what can be said about the present status of quantum radar.