Characterizing Quantum Internet Using Complex Network Models

Quantum communication is a growing area of research, with quantum internet being one of the most promising applications. Studying the statistical properties of this network is essential to understanding its connectivity and the efficiency of the entanglement distribution. However, the models proposed in the literature often assume homogeneous distributions in the connections of the optical fiber infrastructure, without considering the heterogeneity of the network. In this work, we propose new models for the quantum internet that incorporate this heterogeneity of node connections in the optical fiber network, analyzing how this characteristic influences fundamental metrics such as the degree distribution, the average clustering coefficient, the average shortest path and assortativity. Our results indicate that, compared to homogeneous models, heterogeneous networks efficiently reproduce key structural properties of real optical fiber networks, including degree distribution, assortativity, and hierarchical behavior. These findings highlight the impact of network structure on quantum communication and can contribute to more realistic modeling of quantum internet infrastructure.