9,200 research outputs found
Continuous variable quantum cryptography using coherent states
We propose several methods for quantum key distribution (QKD) based upon the
generation and transmission of random distributions of coherent or squeezed
states, and we show that they are are secure against individual eavesdropping
attacks. These protocols require that the transmission of the optical line
between Alice and Bob is larger than 50 %, but they do not rely on
"non-classical" features such as squeezing. Their security is a direct
consequence of the no-cloning theorem, that limits the signal to noise ratio of
possible quantum measurements on the transmission line. Our approach can also
be used for evaluating various QKD protocols using light with gaussian
statistics.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. In v2 minor rewriting for clarity, references
adde
Trusted Noise in Continuous-Variable Quantum Key Distribution: a Threat and a Defense
We address the role of the phase-insensitive trusted preparation and
detection noise in the security of a continuous-variable quantum key
distribution, considering the Gaussian protocols on the basis of coherent and
squeezed states and studying them in the conditions of Gaussian lossy and noisy
channels. The influence of such a noise on the security of Gaussian quantum
cryptography can be crucial, even despite the fact that a noise is trusted, due
to a strongly nonlinear behavior of the quantum entropies involved in the
security analysis. We recapitulate the known effect of the preparation noise in
both direct and reverse-reconciliation protocols, as well as the detection
noise in the reverse-reconciliation scenario. As a new result, we show the
negative role of the trusted detection noise in the direct-reconciliation
scheme. We also describe the role of the trusted preparation or detection noise
added at the reference side of the protocols in improving the robustness of the
protocols to the channel noise, confirming the positive effect for the
coherent-state reverse-reconciliation protocol. Finally, we address the
combined effect of trusted noise added both in the source and the detector.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figure
Security bounds for continuous variables quantum key distribution
Security bounds for key distribution protocols using coherent and squeezed
states and homodyne measurements are presented. These bounds refer to (i)
general attacks and (ii) collective attacks where Eve interacts individually
with the sent states, but delays her measurement until the end of the
reconciliation process. For the case of a lossy line and coherent states, it is
first proven that a secure key distribution is possible up to 1.9 dB of losses.
For the second scenario, the security bounds are the same as for the completely
incoherent attack.Comment: See also F. Grosshans, quant-ph/040714
Security of two-way quantum cryptography against asymmetric Gaussian attacks
Recently, we have shown the advantages of two-way quantum communications in
continuous variable quantum cryptography. Thanks to this new approach, two
honest users can achieve a non-trivial security enhancement as long as the
Gaussian interactions of an eavesdropper are independent and identical. In this
work, we consider asymmetric strategies where the Gaussian interactions can be
different and classically correlated. For several attacks of this kind, we
prove that the enhancement of security still holds when the two-way protocols
are used in direct reconciliation.Comment: Proceeding of the SPIE Conference "Quantum Communications and Quantum
Imaging VI" - San Diego 2008. This paper is connected with
arXiv:quant-ph/0611167 (for the last version see: Nature Physics 4, 726
(2008)
Device independent quantum key distribution secure against coherent attacks with memoryless measurement devices
Device independent quantum key distribution aims to provide a higher degree
of security than traditional QKD schemes by reducing the number of assumptions
that need to be made about the physical devices used. The previous proof of
security by Pironio et al. applies only to collective attacks where the state
is identical and independent and the measurement devices operate identically
for each trial in the protocol. We extend this result to a more general class
of attacks where the state is arbitrary and the measurement devices have no
memory. We accomplish this by a reduction of arbitrary adversary strategies to
qubit strategies and a proof of security for qubit strategies based on the
previous proof by Pironio et al. and techniques adapted from Renner.Comment: 13 pages. Expanded main proofs with more detail, miscellaneous edits
for clarit
Continuous variable quantum key distribution with two-mode squeezed states
Quantum key distribution (QKD) enables two remote parties to grow a shared
key which they can use for unconditionally secure communication [1]. The
applicable distance of a QKD protocol depends on the loss and the excess noise
of the connecting quantum channel [2-10]. Several QKD schemes based on coherent
states and continuous variable (CV) measurements are resilient to high loss in
the channel, but strongly affected by small amounts of channel excess noise
[2-6]. Here we propose and experimentally address a CV QKD protocol which uses
fragile squeezed states combined with a large coherent modulation to greatly
enhance the robustness to channel noise. As a proof of principle we
experimentally demonstrate that the resulting QKD protocol can tolerate more
noise than the benchmark set by the ideal CV coherent state protocol. Our
scheme represents a very promising avenue for extending the distance for which
secure communication is possible.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Key distillation from quantum channels using two-way communication protocols
We provide a general formalism to characterize the cryptographic properties
of quantum channels in the realistic scenario where the two honest parties
employ prepare and measure protocols and the known two-way communication
reconciliation techniques. We obtain a necessary and sufficient condition to
distill a secret key using this type of schemes for Pauli qubit channels and
generalized Pauli channels in higher dimension. Our results can be applied to
standard protocols such as BB84 or six-state, giving a critical error rate of
20% and 27.6%, respectively. We explore several possibilities to enlarge these
bounds, without any improvement. These results suggest that there may exist
weakly entangling channels useless for key distribution using prepare and
measure schemes.Comment: 21 page
Quantum Key Distribution using Continuous-variable non-Gaussian States
In this work we present a quantum key distribution protocol using
continuous-variable non-Gaussian states, homodyne detection and post-selection.
The employed signal states are the Photon Added then Subtracted Coherent States
(PASCS) in which one photon is added and subsequently one photon is subtracted.
We analyze the performance of our protocol, compared to a coherent state based
protocol, for two different attacks that could be carried out by the
eavesdropper (Eve). We calculate the secret key rate transmission in a lossy
line for a superior channel (beam-splitter) attack, and we show that we may
increase the secret key generation rate by using the non-Gaussian PASCS rather
than coherent states. We also consider the simultaneous quadrature measurement
(intercept-resend) attack and we show that the efficiency of Eve's attack is
substantially reduced if PASCS are used as signal states.Comment: We have included an analysis of the simultaneous quadrature
measurement attack plus 2 figures; we have also clarified some point
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