1,097 research outputs found
Deuteron Momentum Distribution in KD2HPO4
The momentum distribution in KD2PO4(DKDP) has been measured using neutron
Compton scattering above and below the weakly first order
paraelectric-ferroelectric phase transition(T=229K). There is very litte
difference between the two distributions, and no sign of the coherence over two
locations for the proton observed in the paraelectric phase, as in KH2PO4(KDP).
We conclude that the tunnel splitting must be much less than 20mev. The width
of the distribution indicates that the effective potential for DKDP is
significantly softer than that for KDP. As electronic structure calculations
indicate that the stiffness of the potential increases with the size of the
coherent region locally undergoing soft mode fluctuations, we conclude that
there is a mass dependent quantum coherence length in both systems.Comment: 6 pages 5 figure
Causal Quantum Theory and the Collapse Locality Loophole
Causal quantum theory is an umbrella term for ordinary quantum theory
modified by two hypotheses: state vector reduction is a well-defined process,
and strict local causality applies. The first of these holds in some versions
of Copenhagen quantum theory and need not necessarily imply practically
testable deviations from ordinary quantum theory. The second implies that
measurement events which are spacelike separated have no non-local
correlations. To test this prediction, which sharply differs from standard
quantum theory, requires a precise theory of state vector reduction.
Formally speaking, any precise version of causal quantum theory defines a
local hidden variable theory. However, causal quantum theory is most naturally
seen as a variant of standard quantum theory. For that reason it seems a more
serious rival to standard quantum theory than local hidden variable models
relying on the locality or detector efficiency loopholes.
Some plausible versions of causal quantum theory are not refuted by any Bell
experiments to date, nor is it obvious that they are inconsistent with other
experiments. They evade refutation via a neglected loophole in Bell experiments
-- the {\it collapse locality loophole} -- which exists because of the possible
time lag between a particle entering a measuring device and a collapse taking
place. Fairly definitive tests of causal versus standard quantum theory could
be made by observing entangled particles separated by light
seconds.Comment: Discussion expanded; typos corrected; references adde
Secure quantum key distribution with an uncharacterized source
We prove the security of the Bennett-Brassard (BB84) quantum key distribution
protocol for an arbitrary source whose averaged states are basis-independent, a
condition that is automatically satisfied if the source is suitably designed.
The proof is based on the observation that, to an adversary, the key extraction
process is equivalent to a measurement in the sigma_x-basis performed on a pure
sigma_z-basis eigenstate. The dependence of the achievable key length on the
bit error rate is the same as that established by Shor and Preskill for a
perfect source, indicating that the defects in the source are efficiently
detected by the protocol.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, REVTeX, minor revision
Higher Security Thresholds for Quantum Key Distribution by Improved Analysis of Dark Counts
We discuss the potential of quantum key distribution (QKD) for long distance
communication by proposing a new analysis of the errors caused by dark counts.
We give sufficient conditions for a considerable improvement of the key
generation rates and the security thresholds of well-known QKD protocols such
as Bennett-Brassard 1984, Phoenix-Barnett-Chefles 2000, and the six-state
protocol. This analysis is applicable to other QKD protocols like Bennett 1992.
We examine two scenarios: a sender using a perfect single-photon source and a
sender using a Poissonian source.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, v2: We obtained better results by using reverse
reconciliation as suggested by Nicolas Gisi
Experimental quantum tossing of a single coin
The cryptographic protocol of coin tossing consists of two parties, Alice and
Bob, that do not trust each other, but want to generate a random bit. If the
parties use a classical communication channel and have unlimited computational
resources, one of them can always cheat perfectly. Here we analyze in detail
how the performance of a quantum coin tossing experiment should be compared to
classical protocols, taking into account the inevitable experimental
imperfections. We then report an all-optical fiber experiment in which a single
coin is tossed whose randomness is higher than achievable by any classical
protocol and present some easily realisable cheating strategies by Alice and
Bob.Comment: 13 page
Secure two-party quantum evaluation of unitaries against specious adversaries
We describe how any two-party quantum computation, specified by a unitary
which simultaneously acts on the registers of both parties, can be privately
implemented against a quantum version of classical semi-honest adversaries that
we call specious. Our construction requires two ideal functionalities to
garantee privacy: a private SWAP between registers held by the two parties and
a classical private AND-box equivalent to oblivious transfer. If the unitary to
be evaluated is in the Clifford group then only one call to SWAP is required
for privacy. On the other hand, any unitary not in the Clifford requires one
call to an AND-box per R-gate in the circuit. Since SWAP is itself in the
Clifford group, this functionality is universal for the private evaluation of
any unitary in that group. SWAP can be built from a classical bit commitment
scheme or an AND-box but an AND-box cannot be constructed from SWAP. It follows
that unitaries in the Clifford group are to some extent the easy ones. We also
show that SWAP cannot be implemented privately in the bare model
Semi-device-independent bounds on entanglement
Detection and quantification of entanglement in quantum resources are two key
steps in the implementation of various quantum-information processing tasks.
Here, we show that Bell-type inequalities are not only useful in verifying the
presence of entanglement but can also be used to bound the entanglement of the
underlying physical system. Our main tool consists of a family of
Clauser-Horne-like Bell inequalities that cannot be violated maximally by any
finite-dimensional maximally entangled state. Using these inequalities, we
demonstrate the explicit construction of both lower and upper bounds on the
concurrence for two-qubit states. The fact that these bounds arise from
Bell-type inequalities also allows them to be obtained in a
semi-device-independent manner, that is, with assumption of the dimension of
the Hilbert space but without resorting to any knowledge of the actual
measurements being performed on the individual subsystems.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures (published version). Note 1: Title changed to
distinguish our approach from the standard device-independent scenario where
no assumption on the Hilbert space dimension is made. Note 2: This paper
contains explicit examples of more nonlocality with less entanglement in the
simplest CH-like scenario (see also arXiv:1011.5206 by Vidick and Wehner for
related results
Is Quantum Bit Commitment Really Possible?
We show that all proposed quantum bit commitment schemes are insecure because
the sender, Alice, can almost always cheat successfully by using an
Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen type of attack and delaying her measurement until she
opens her commitment.Comment: Major revisions to include a more extensive introduction and an
example of bit commitment. Overlap with independent work by Mayers
acknowledged. More recent works by Mayers, by Lo and Chau and by Lo are also
noted. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let
Security of practical private randomness generation
Measurements on entangled quantum systems necessarily yield outcomes that are
intrinsically unpredictable if they violate a Bell inequality. This property
can be used to generate certified randomness in a device-independent way, i.e.,
without making detailed assumptions about the internal working of the quantum
devices used to generate the random numbers. Furthermore these numbers are also
private, i.e., they appear random not only to the user, but also to any
adversary that might possess a perfect description of the devices. Since this
process requires a small initial random seed, one usually speaks of
device-independent randomness expansion.
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we point out that in most real,
practical situations, where the concept of device-independence is used as a
protection against unintentional flaws or failures of the quantum apparatuses,
it is sufficient to show that the generated string is random with respect to an
adversary that holds only classical-side information, i.e., proving randomness
against quantum-side information is not necessary. Furthermore, the initial
random seed does not need to be private with respect to the adversary, provided
that it is generated in a way that is independent from the measured systems.
The devices, though, will generate cryptographically-secure randomness that
cannot be predicted by the adversary and thus one can, given access to free
public randomness, talk about private randomness generation.
The theoretical tools to quantify the generated randomness according to these
criteria were already introduced in [S. Pironio et al, Nature 464, 1021
(2010)], but the final results were improperly formulated. The second aim of
this paper is to correct this inaccurate formulation and therefore lay out a
precise theoretical framework for practical device-independent randomness
expansion.Comment: 18 pages. v3: important changes: the present version focuses on
security against classical side-information and a discussion about the
significance of these results has been added. v4: minor changes. v5: small
typos correcte
One-way quantum key distribution: Simple upper bound on the secret key rate
We present a simple method to obtain an upper bound on the achievable secret
key rate in quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols that use only
unidirectional classical communication during the public-discussion phase. This
method is based on a necessary precondition for one-way secret key
distillation; the legitimate users need to prove that there exists no quantum
state having a symmetric extension that is compatible with the available
measurements results. The main advantage of the obtained upper bound is that it
can be formulated as a semidefinite program, which can be efficiently solved.
We illustrate our results by analysing two well-known qubit-based QKD
protocols: the four-state protocol and the six-state protocol. Recent results
by Renner et al., Phys. Rev. A 72, 012332 (2005), also show that the given
precondition is only necessary but not sufficient for unidirectional secret key
distillation.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur
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