Internet quântica: uma análise da evolução do conhecimento científico

Abstract

The Quantum Internet has been recognized as one of the key technologies under development for the next generation of communication networks, as it exploits properties of quantum mechanics—such as superposition and entanglement—to enable new models of communication, security, and distributed computing. In this context, this dissertation aims to characterize the evolution of the Quantum Internet through an analysis of scientific knowledge over time. To this end, articles indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus databases were analyzed. This dataset was used to characterize scientific knowledge in the field through descriptive statistics and to investigate the evolution of knowledge based on citation network analysis and the identification of knowledge pathways. The results showed an increase in scientific knowledge on the topic, concentrated primarily in highly influential journals and in research groups located in China, Europe, and the United States. The knowledge pathway made it possible to analyze the scientific evolution of the Quantum Internet across three distinct layers: foundational, intermediate, and emerging. A transition was observed from studies focused on quantum communication theory to research directed toward the development of architectures, protocols, experimental networks, and distributed applications. It is concluded that the Quantum Internet has established itself as a rapidly growing field, with advances demonstrating maturity in research related to the development of large-scale quantum networks.