Classical correlations can enhance the continuous-variable quantum key distribution

We address the effect of classical correlations, introduced to a quantum resource used for the continuous-variable quantum key distribution. The set-up is based on an entangled source with two trusted parties performing homodyne measurements on their modes, thus corresponding to the preparation of squeezed states, while one of the modes is traveling to the remote party through lossy and noisy channel. The security of the scheme is considered against individual and collective eavesdropping attacks. It is shown that the classical correlations added to the entangled source increase the performance of the scheme both quantatively in terms of the secure key rate and qualitatively in terms of the security region with respect to the tolerable excess noise for both types of attacks and the improvement is essentially significant for sources possessing low degree of nonclassicality.     

Two-step quantum secure direct communication scheme with frequency coding

Quantum secure direct communication(QSDC) is an important branch of quantum cryptography. It can transmit secret information directly without establishing a key first, unlike quantum key distribution which requires this precursory event. Here we propose a QSDC scheme by applying the frequency coding technique to the two-step QSDC protocol, which enables the two-step QSDC protocol to work in a noisy environment. We have numerically simulated the performance of the protocol in a noisy channel, and the results show that the scheme is indeed robust against channel noise and loss. We also give an estimate of the channel noise upper bound.     

非对称信道传输效率的测量设备无关量子密钥分配研究

测量设备无关量子密钥分配方案可以移除所有的探测器侧信道漏洞,通过结合诱骗态方案可以生成无条件安全的密钥.本文研究了非对称信道传输效率下三强度诱骗态测量设备无关量子密钥分配系统的密钥生成率与信道传输损耗的关系,比较了对称信道传输效率和非对称信道传输效率下的距离比率对单边传输效率、单光子误码率和量子密钥生成率的影响,仿真结果表明随着信道不匹配度逐渐增加,可容忍信道传输损耗由对称信道情形下的62 dB分别降至38 dB(距离比率为0.5)和17 dB(距离比率为0.1),能够安全提取密钥的可容忍传输损耗下降较快,密钥生成率的安全传输距离也随之降低.实验中可以采取调节信号光强度的方式提高非对称传输效率下测量设备无关量子密钥分配系统的密钥生成率,为实用的量子密钥分配实验提供了重要的理论参数.     

Secure deterministic communication without entanglement

We propose a protocol for deterministic communication that does not make use of entanglement. It exploits nonorthogonal states in a two-way quantum channel to attain unconditional security and high efficiency of the transmission. We explicitly show the scheme is secure against a class of individual attacks regardless of the noise on the channel. Its experimental realization is feasible with current technology.     

Detecting the possibility of a type of photon number splitting attack in decoy-state quantum key distribution

The existing decoy-state quantum key distribution (QKD) beating photon-number-splitting (PNS) attack provides a more accurate method to estimate the secure key rate, while it still considers that only single-photon pulses can generate secure keys in any case. However, multiphoton pulses can also generate secure keys if we can detect the possibility of PNS attack in the channel. The ultimate goal of this line of research is to confirm the absence of all types of PNS attacks. In particular, the PNS attack mentioned and detected in this paper is only the weaker version of PNS attack which significantly changes the observed values of the legitimate users. In this paper, under the null hypothesis of no weaker version of PNS attack, we first determine whether there is an attack or not by retrieving the missing information of the existing decoy-state protocols, extract a Cauchy distribution statistic, and further provide a detection method and the type I error probability. If the result is judged to be an attack, we can use the existing decoy-state method and the GLLP formula to estimate the secure key rate. Otherwise, the pulses with the same basis received including both single-photon pulses and multiphoton pulses, can be used to generate the keys and we give the secure key rate in this case. Finally, the associated experiments we performed (i.e., the significance level is 5%) show the correctness of our method.     

Communicating with noise: How chaos and noise combine to generate secure encryption keys

An approach for the secure transmission of encrypted messages using chaos and noise is presented in this paper. The method is based on the synchronization of certain types of chaotic oscillators in response to a common noise input. This allows two distant oscillators to generate identical output which can be used as a key for encryption and decryption of a message signal. The noiselike synchronizing input-which contains no message information-is communicated to identical oscillators in the transmitter and the receiver over a public channel. The encrypted message is also sent over a public channel, while the key is never transmitted at all. The chaotic nature of the oscillators which generate the key and the randomness of the signal driving the process combine to make the recovery of the key by an eavesdropper extremely difficult. We evaluate system performance with respect to security and robustness and show that a robust and secure system can be obtained. (c) 1998 American Institute of Physics.     

Phase Estimation and Compensation for Continuous-Variable Quantum Key Distribution

Phase estimation and compensation is one of the enabling functionalities in continous-variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD). Recently, a novel CVQKD scheme has been independently proposed to combat the local oscillator (LO) side channel attacks. Furthermore, we have carried out a proof-of-principle experimental study on the feasibility of the CVQKD without sending a LO. However, this scheme contains a serious weakness: The phase noise caused by the two different lasers between the sender and the receiver would severely destroy the quantum signal and finally reduce the secure distance. In this paper, we investigate the optical phase noise and explore the optimal approach to estimate and compensate such kind of noise with appropriate data overhead. Numerical simulations show that our scheme can successfully reconstruct the phase drifts even at low signal-to-noise ratio conditions. We also suggest that a higher accuracy of phase estimation could be achieved by using the frequency division multiplexing scheme. This opens an opportunity to employ advanced pilot-aided phase estimation techniques in quantum communication system.

     

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution

How to remove detector side channel attacks has been a notoriously hard problem in quantum cryptography. Here, we propose a simple solution to this problem--measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (QKD). It not only removes all detector side channels, but also doubles the secure distance with conventional lasers. Our proposal can be implemented with standard optical components with low detection efficiency and highly lossy channels. In contrast to the previous solution of full device independent QKD, the realization of our idea does not require detectors of near unity detection efficiency in combination with a qubit amplifier (based on teleportation) or a quantum nondemolition measurement of the number of photons in a pulse. Furthermore, its key generation rate is many orders of magnitude higher than that based on full device independent QKD. The results show that long-distance quantum cryptography over say 200 km will remain secure even with seriously flawed detectors.     

基于量子隐形传态的量子保密通信方案

量子保密通信包括量子密钥分发、量子安全直接通信和量子秘密共享等主要形式.在量子密钥分发和秘密共享中,传输的是随机数而不是信息,要再经过一次经典通信才能完成信息的传输.在量子信道直接传输信息的量子通信形式是量子安全直接通信.基于量子隐形传态的量子通信(简称量子隐形传态通信)是否属于量子安全直接通信尚需解释.构造了一个量子隐形传态通信方案,给出了具体的操作步骤.与一般的量子隐形传态不同,量子隐形传态通信所传输的量子态是计算基矢态,大大简化了贝尔基测量和单粒子操作.分析结果表明,量子隐形传态通信等价于包含了全用型量子密钥分发和经典通信的复合过程,不是量子安全直接通信,其传输受到中间介质和距离的影响,所以不比量子密钥分发更有优势.将该方案与量子密钥分发、量子安全直接通信和经典一次性便笺密码方案进行对比,通过几个通信参数的比较给出各个方案的特点,还特别讨论了各方案在空间量子通信方面的特点.     

New Secure Quantum Dialogue Protocols over Collective Noisy Channels

Quantum dialogue (QD) belongs to two-way quantum secure direct communication. Particles are usually affected by noise during transmission in the quantum channel. In this paper, we propose three new robust quantum dialogue protocols immune to collective-amplitude-damping noise, collective-rotation noise and collective-dephasing noise, respectively. Based on logical qubits, both parties can communicate with each other directly without being disturbed by quantum channel noise. The security analysis shows that the proposed QD protocols can resist common outsider attacks without information leakage.

     

Quantum Secure Communication Scheme with W State

We present a quantum secure communication scheme using three-qubit W state. It is unnecessary for the present scheme to use alternative measurement or Bell basis measurement. Compared with the quantum secure direct communication scheme proposed by Cao et at. [H.J. Cao and H.S. Song, Chin. Phys. Lett. 23 （2006） 290], in our scheme, the detection probability for an eavesdropper＇s attack increases from 8.3% to 25%. We also show that our scheme is secure for a noise quantum channel.     

Robust Quantum Secure Direct Communication and Deterministic Secure Quantum Communication over Collective Dephasing Noisy Channel

We propose two schemes for quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) and deterministic secure quantum communication (DSQC) over collective dephasing noisy channel. In our schemes, four special two-qubit states are used as the quantum channel. Since these states are unchanged through the collective dephasing noisy channel, the effect of the channel noise can be perfectly overcome. Simultaneously, the security against some usual attacks can be ensured by utilizing the various checking procedures. Furthermore, these two schemes are feasible with present-day technique.     

量子BB84协议在联合旋转噪音信道上的安全性分析

多数在理想条件下设计的量子密码协议没有考虑实际通信中噪音的影响,可能造成机密信息不能被准确传输,或可能存在窃听隐藏在噪音中的风险,因此分析噪音条件下量子密码协议的安全性具有重要的意义.为了分析量子BB84协议在联合旋转噪音信道上的安全性,本文采用粒子偏转模型,对量子信道中的联合噪音进行建模,定量地区分量子信道中噪音和窃听干扰;并且采用冯·诺依曼熵理论建立窃听者能窃取的信息量与量子比特误码率、噪音水平三者之间的函数关系,定量地分析噪音条件下量子信道的安全性;最后根据联合噪音模型及窃听者能窃取的信息量与量子比特误码率、噪音水平三者之间的关系,定量地分析了量子BB84协议在联合噪音条件下的安全性并计算噪音临界点.通过分析可知,在已有噪音水平条件下,窃听者最多能够从通信双方窃取25%的密钥,但是Eve的窃听行为会被检测出来,这样Alice和Bob会放弃当前协商的密钥,重新进行密钥协商,直至确认没有Eve的窃听为止.这个结果说明量子BB84协议在联合旋转噪音信道下的通信是安全的.     

Quantum key distribution using quantum-correlated photon sources

Quantum key exchanges using weak coherent (Poissonian) single-photon sources are open to attack by a variety of eavesdropping techniques. Quantum-correlated photon sources provide a means of flagging potentially insecure multiple-photon emissions and thus extending the secure quantum key channel capacity and the secure key distribution range. We present indicative photon-counting statistics for a fully correlated Poissonian multibeam photon source in which the transmitted beam is conditioned by photon number measurements on the remaining beams with non-ideal multiphoton counters. We show that significant rejection of insecure photon pulses from a twin-beam source cannot be obtained with a detector having a realistic quantum efficiency. However quantum-correlated (quadruplet or octuplet) multiplet photon sources conditioned by high efficiency multiphoton counters could provide large improvements in the secure channel capacity and the secure distribution range of high loss systems such as those using the low earth orbit satellite links proposed for global quantum key distribution. Received 14 July and Received in final form 20 November 2001     

Security of continuous-variable measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with imperfect state preparation

The state preparation operation of continuous-variable measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (CV-MDI-QKD) protocol may become imperfect in practical applications. We address the security of the CV-MDI-QKD protocol based on imperfect preparation of the coherent state under realistic conditions of lossy and noisy quantum channel. Specifically, we assume that the imperfection of Alice's and Bob's practical state preparations equal to the amplification of ideal modulators and lasers at both Alice's and Bob's sides by untrusted third-parties Fred and Gray employing phase-insensitive amplifiers (PIAs), respectively. The equivalent excess noise introduced by the imperfect state preparation is comprehensively and quantitatively calculated by adopting the gains of PIAs. Security analysis shows that CV-MDI-QKD is quite sensitive to the imperfection of practical state preparation, which inevitably deteriorates the performance and security of CV-MDI-QKD system. Moreover, a lower bound of the secret key rate is derived under arbitrary collective attacks, and the upper threshold of this imperfection tolerated by the system is obtained in the form of the specific gains of PIAs. In addition, the methods presented will improve and perfect the practical security of CV-MDI-QKD protocol.     

Improving the maximum transmission distance of continuous-variable quantum key distribution with noisy coherent states using a noiseless amplifier

By employing a nondeterministic noiseless linear amplifier, we propose to increase the maximum transmission distance of continuous-variable quantum key distribution with noisy coherent states. With the covariance matrix transformation, the expression of secret key rate under reverse reconciliation is derived against collective entangling cloner attacks. We show that the noiseless linear amplifier can compensate the detrimental effect of the preparation noise with an enhancement of the maximum transmission distance and the noise resistance.     

Deterministic Quantum Secure Direct Communication with Dense Coding and Continuous Variable Operations

We propose a deterministic quantum secure direct two check photon sequences are used to check the securities of the communication protocol by using dense coding. The channels between the message sender and the receiver. The continuous variable operations instead of the usual discrete unitary operations are performed on the travel photons so that the security of the present protocol can be enhanced. Therefore some specific attacks such as denial-of-service attack, intercept-measure-resend attack and invisible photon attack can be prevented in ideal quantum channel. In addition, the scheme is still secure in noise channel. Furthurmore, this protocol has the advantage of high capacity and can be realized in the experiment.     

Analysis of atmospheric effects on the continuous variable quantum key distribution

Atmospheric effects have significant influence on the performance of a free-space optical continuous variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD) system. In this paper, we investigate how the transmittance, excess noise and interruption probability caused by atmospheric effects affect the secret-key rate (SKR) of the CVQKD. Three signal wavelengths, two weather conditions, two detection schemes, and two types of attacks are considered in our investigation. An expression aims at calculating the interruption probability is proposed based on the Kolmogorov spectrum model. The results show that a signal using long working wavelength can propagate much further than that of using short wavelength. Moreover, as the wavelength increases, the influence of interruption probability on the SKR becomes more significant, especially within a certain transmission distance. Therefore, interruption probability must be considered for CVQKD by using long-signal wavelengths. Furthermore, different detection schemes used by the receiver will result in different transmission distances when subjected to individual attacks and collective attacks, respectively.     

Cryptography from noisy storage

We show how to implement cryptographic primitives based on the realistic assumption that quantum storage of qubits is noisy. We thereby consider individual-storage attacks; i.e., the dishonest party attempts to store each incoming qubit separately. Our model is similar to the model of bounded-quantum storage; however, we consider an explicit noise model inspired by present-day technology. To illustrate the power of this new model, we show that a protocol for oblivious transfer is secure for any amount of quantum-storage noise, as long as honest players can perform perfect quantum operations. Our model also allows us to show the security of protocols that cope with noise in the operations of the honest players and achieve more advanced tasks such as secure identification.     

Secure Quantum Communication Scheme for Six-Qubit Decoherence-Free States

Noise is currently unavoidable in quantum communication environments. Eavesdroppers can exploit this issue by disguising themselves as channel noise to avoid detection during eavesdropping checks performed by legitimate communicants. This paper first proposes a new coding function comprising eight unitary operations for two orthogonal bases for six-qubit decoherence-free states. Subsequently, based on the coding function, the first deterministic secure quantum communication (DSQC) scheme for quantum channels with collective noise is developed. The developed DSQC is robust against both collective-dephasing noise and collective-rotation noise Senders can choose one of six-qubit decoherence-free states to encode their two-bit message, and receivers simply conduct Bell measurement to obtain the message. Analyses conducted verify that the proposed scheme is both secure and robust.