Atmospheric channel characteristics for quantum communication with continuous polarization variables

We investigate the properties of an atmospheric channel for free space quantum communication with continuous polarization variables. In our prepare-and-measure setup, coherent polarization states are transmitted through an atmospheric quantum channel of 100 m length on the flat roof of our institute’s building. The signal states are measured by homodyne detection with the help of a local oscillator (LO) which propagates in the same spatial mode as the signal, orthogonally polarized to it. Thus the interference of signal and LO is excellent and atmospheric fluctuations are auto-compensated. The LO also acts as a spatial and spectral filter, which allows for unrestrained daylight operation. Important characteristics for our system are atmospheric channel influences that could cause polarization, intensity and position excess noise. Therefore we study these influences in detail. Our results indicate that the channel is suitable for our quantum communication system in most weather conditions.     

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.

     

Arbitrated Quantum Signature Scheme with Continuous-Variable Coherent States

Motivated by the revealing features of the continuous-variable (CV) quantum cryptography, we suggest an arbitrated quantum signature (AQS) protocol with CV coherent states. It involves three participants, i.e., the signer Alice, the verifier Bob and the arbitrator Charlie who is trustworthy by Alice and Bob. Three phases initializing phase, signing phase and verifying phase are included in our protocol. The security of the signature scheme is guaranteed by the generation of the shared keys via the CV-based quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) and the implementation process of the CV-based quantum teleportation as well. Security analysis demonstrates that the signature can be neither forged by anyone nor disavowed by the receiver and signer. Moreover, the authenticity and integrality of the transmitted messages can be ensured. The paper shows that a potential high-speed quantum signature scheme with high detection efficiency and repetition rate can be realized when compared to the discrete-variable (DV) quantum signature scheme attributing to the well characteristics of CV-QKD.     

Spherical reconciliation for a continuous-variable quantum key distribution

Information reconciliation is a significant step for a continuous-variable quantum key distribution(CV-QKD) system.We propose a reconciliation method that allows two authorized parties to extract a consistent and secure binary key in a CV-QKD protocol,which is based on Gaussian-modulated coherent states and homodyne detection.This method named spherical reconciliation is based on spherical quantization and non-binary low-density parity-check(LDPC) codes.With the suitable signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) and code rate of non-binary LDPC codes,spherical reconciliation algorithm has a high efficiency and can extend the transmission distance of CV-QKD.     

1.5μm光通信波段明亮压缩态光场的产生及其Wigner函数的重构

1.5 μm光通信波段非经典光场在光纤中有着极低的传输损耗, 因而是基于光纤的实用化连续变量量子信息研究的重要资源. 本文利用周期极化磷酸氧钛晶体构成的半整块结构简并光学参量放大器, 实验获得了连续变量1.5 μm光通信波段的明亮压缩态光场. 光学参量放大器的阈值功率为230 mW. 当780 nm抽运光场功率为110 mW, 1.5 μm注入信号光场功率为3 mW时, 连续变量1.5 μm明亮正交位相压缩态光场的压缩度达4.7 dB. 进而利用时域零拍探测系统测量压缩态, 采用量子层析技术重构了该明亮正交位相压缩态光场的Wigner准概率分布函数.     

Practical security analysis of continuous-variable quantum key distribution with jitter in clock synchronization

How to narrow the gap of security between theory and practice has been a notoriously urgent problem in quantum cryptography. Here, we analyze and provide experimental evidence of the clock jitter effect on the practical continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) system. The clock jitter is a random noise which exists permanently in the clock synchronization in the practical CV-QKD system, it may compromise the system security because of its impact on data sampling and parameters estimation. In particular, the practical security of CV-QKD with different clock jitter against collective attack is analyzed theoretically based on different repetition frequencies, the numerical simulations indicate that the clock jitter has more impact on a high-speed scenario. Furthermore, a simplified experiment is designed to investigate the influence of the clock jitter.     

Quantum key distribution with the deterministic preparation and detection of quantum states

A new deterministic optical scheme has been proposed for preparing and detecting quantum states in quantum cryptography. This scheme makes it possible to quadruple the efficiency of the existing systems under the other conditions being equal. Thus, the efficiency of the optical part is increased to the maximum for the preparation and detection of quantum states.     

Bound on Noise of Coherent Source for Secure Continuous-Variable Quantum Key Distribution

Coherent source of continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV QKD) system may become noisy in practical applications. The security of CV-QKD scheme with the noisy coherent source is investigated under realistic conditions of quantum channel and detector. In particular, two models are proposed to characterize the noisy coherent source through introducing a party (Fred) who induces the noise with an optical amplifier. When supposing the party Fred is untrusted, two lower security bounds to the noise of the coherent source are derived for reverse reconciliation and realistic homodyne and heterodyne detections. While supposing Fred is a neutral party, we derive two tight security bounds without knowing Fred’s exact state for ideal detections. Moreover, the simulation results show that the security of the reverse reconciliation CV-QKD protocols is very sensitive to the noise of coherent source for both the homodyne and heterodyne detections.     

Quantum Homodyne Detection Based on Polarization Diversity Technique

A polarization diversity receiver scheme is presented for improving efficiency of balance homodyne detection. The proposed scheme may mitigate polarization fluctuation between signal and local oscillator field. With simple linear optical component and electronic processing circuit, the noise caused by differential phase and polarization mode between signed and local oscillators may be significantly decreased. To track the polarization fluctuation, a novel algorithm based on polarization diversity receiver which can achieve better performance in terms of linear quantum optics principle is proposed.     

Simultaneous two-way classical communication and measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution on oceanic quantum channels

Simultaneous two-way classical and quantum (STCQ) communication combines both continuous classical coherent optical communication and continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD), which eliminates all detection-related imperfections by being measurement-device-independent (MDI). In this paper, we propose a protocol relying on STCQ communication on the oceanic quantum channel, in which the superposition-modulation-based coherent states depend on the information bits of both the secret key and the classical communication ciphertext. We analyse the encoding combination in classical communication and consider the probability distribution transmittance under seawater turbulence with various interference factors. Our numerical simulations of various practical scenarios demonstrate that the proposed protocol can simultaneously enable two-way classical communication and CV-MDI QKD with just a slight performance degradation transmission distance compared to the original CV-MDI QKD scheme. Moreover, the asymmetric situation outperforms the symmetric case in terms of transmission distance and optical modulation variance. We further take into consideration the impact of finite-size effects to illustrate the applicability of the proposed scheme in practical scenarios. The results show the feasibility of the underwater STCQ scheme, which contributes toward developing a global quantum communication network in free space.     

Self-referenced continuous-variable measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution

We propose a scheme to remove the demand of transmitting a high-brightness local oscillator (LO) in continuous-variable measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (CV-MDI QKD) protocol, which we call as the self-referenced (SR) CV-MDI QKD. We show that our scheme is immune to the side-channel attacks, such as the calibration attacks, the wavelength attacks and the LO fluctuation attacks, which are all exploiting the security loopholes introduced by transmitting the LO. Besides, the proposed scheme waives the necessity of complex multiplexer and demultiplexer, which can greatly simplify the QKD processes and improve the transmission efficiency. The numerical simulations under collective attacks show that all the improvements brought about by our scheme are only at the expense of slight transmission distance shortening. This scheme shows an available method to mend the security loopholes incurred by transmitting LO in CV-MDI QKD.     

Security Analysis of a Passive Continuous-Variable Quantum Key Distribution by Considering Finite-Size Effect

We perform security analysis of a passive continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) protocol by considering the finite-size effect. In the passive CV-QKD scheme, Alice utilizes thermal sources to passively make preparation of quantum state without Gaussian modulations. With this technique, the quantum states can be prepared precisely to match the high transmission rate. Here, both asymptotic regime and finite-size regime are considered to make a comparison. In the finite-size scenario, we illustrate the passive CV-QKD protocol against collective attacks. Simulation results show that the performance of passive CV-QKD protocol in the finite-size case is more pessimistic than that achieved in the asymptotic case, which indicates that the finite-size effect has a great influence on the performance of the single-mode passive CV-QKD protocol. However, we can still obtain a reasonable performance in the finite-size regime by enhancing the average photon number of the thermal state.     

Arbitrated quantum signature scheme with continuous-variable squeezed vacuum states

We propose an arbitrated quantum signature(AQS) scheme with continuous variable(CV) squeezed vacuum states,which requires three parties, i.e., the signer Alice, the verifier Bob and the arbitrator Charlie trusted by Alice and Bob, and three phases consisting of the initial phase, the signature phase and the verification phase. We evaluate and compare the original state and the teleported state by using the fidelity and the beam splitter(BS) strategy. The security is ensured by the CV-based quantum key distribution(CV-QKD) and quantum teleportation of squeezed states. Security analyses show that the generated signature can be neither disavowed by the signer and the receiver nor counterfeited by anyone with the shared keys. Furthermore, the scheme can also detect other manners of potential attack although they may be successful.Also, the integrality and authenticity of the transmitted messages can be guaranteed. Compared to the signature scheme of CV-based coherent states, our scheme has better encoding efficiency and performance. It is a potential high-speed quantum signature scheme with high repetition rate and detection efficiency which can be achieved by using the standard off-the-shelf components when compared to the discrete-variable(DV) quantum signature scheme.     

All-optical generation of states for "Encoding a qubit in an oscillator"

Most quantum computation schemes propose encoding qubits in two-level systems. Others exploit the use of an infinite-dimensional system. In "Encoding a qubit in an oscillator" [Phys. Rev. A 64, 012310 (2001)], Gottesman, Kitaev, and Preskill (GKP) combined these approaches when they proposed a fault-tolerant quantum computation scheme in which a qubit is encoded in the continuous position and momentum degrees of freedom of an oscillator. One advantage of this scheme is that it can be performed by use of relatively simple linear optical devices, squeezing, and homodyne detection. However, we lack a practical method to prepare the initial GKP states. Here we propose the generation of an approximate GKP state by using superpositions of optical coherent states (sometimes called "Schr?dinger cat states"), squeezing, linear optical devices, and homodyne detection.     

On the role of the local oscillator intensity in optical homodyne-like tomography

In a recent research (Olivares et al., 2019 [18]) we have demonstrated that a homodyne-like scheme, exploiting a “low-intensity” local oscillator, can be used to perform optical state tomography of both quantum and classical states of light. The reconstruction method directly uses the homodyne-like probability distribution retrieved from the detector. Here, we further investigate the role played by the local oscillator in this respect. In particular, we study to some extent how its intensity affects the quantum-state reconstruction procedure by focusing on the case of the Fock states |1〉 and |2〉, whose homodyne-like probability distributions are sensibly affected by the actual value of the LO intensity. The analysis is performed on Monte Carlo simulated experiments taking also into account the quantum detection efficiency.     

Linear optical implementation of optimal unambiguous discrimination among quantum states

In this paper, we present a linear optical scheme for optimal unambiguous discrimination among nonorthogonal quantum states in terms of the multiple-rail and polarization representation of a single photon. In our scheme, discriminated quantum states are expressed by using the spatial degree of freedom of a single photon while the polarization degree of freedom of the single photon is used to act as an auxiliary qubit. The optical components used in our scheme are only passive linear optical elements such as polarizing beam splitters, wave plates, polarizers, single photon detectors, and single photon source.     

基于相位调制偏振态QKD系统的量子信道校正发送方案

提出了一种基于相位调制偏振态QKD系统的量子信道校正发送的新方案—采用波导型相位调制器研制成电控连续可调光学相移器,它可随相位调制器输入电压的连续改变而产生连续的相移,从而控制输出的偏振态;在其前放置一个半波片,即可校正接收端偏振态量子态在信道中所发生的改变,从而保证信道传送密钥的可用性.通过理论推导和实验研究验证了基于相位调制偏振态QKD系统的量子信道校正发送方案的核心部件的可行性.由于本方案能实现高速调制（GHz）,为解决光纤传输的偏振编码QKD系统中偏振态漂移问题提供了一种新的途径.     

Realization of Bipartite Positive-Operator-Value Measurements of Two-Photon Polarization States

In this letter, we propose a scheme of a special quantum optical Fredkin gate assisted by optical manip- ulations and postselection from the coincidence measurements, and then modify it with cross-Kerr nonlinearities to be suitable for the realization of all possible positive operator-valued measurements of bipartite polarization states. This scheme is feasible in the lab with the current experimental technology.     

Rate compatible reconciliation for continuous-variable quantum key distribution using Raptor-like LDPC codes

In the practical continuous-variable quantum key distribution(CV-QKD) system, the postprocessing process, particularly the error correction part, significantly impacts the system performance. Multi-edge type low-density parity-check(MET-LDPC) codes are suitable for CV-QKD systems because of their Shannon-limit-approaching performance at a low signal-to-noise ratio(SNR).However, the process of designing a low-rate MET-LDPC code with good performance is extremely complicated. Thus, we introduce Raptor-like LDPC(RL-LDPC) codes into the CV-QKD system, exhibiting both the rate compatible property of the Raptor code and capacity-approaching performance of MET-LDPC codes. Moreover, this technique can significantly reduce the cost of constructing a new matrix. We design the RL-LDPC matrix with a code rate of 0.02 and easily and effectively adjust this rate from 0.016 to 0.034. Simulation results show that we can achieve more than 98% reconciliation efficiency in a range of code rate variation using only one RL-LDPC code that can support high-speed decoding with an SNR less than-16.45 d B. This code allows the system to maintain a high key extraction rate under various SNRs, paving the way for practical applications of CV-QKD systems with different transmission distances.     

冷原子系综中两正交光场偏振模高效率存储的实验研究

高效率光量子信息存储是可扩展光量子信息处理的一个重要工具.本文对一个冷原子系综中两正交光场偏振模的高效率存储进行了实验研究.通过在雪茄型冷原子系统上施加一个中等强度的磁场,消除了原子Zeeman子能级的简并性,从而使磁敏感自旋波从电磁感应透明系统中被移出,由此完成了两正交光场偏振模高效率、长寿命的量子存储.实验测量了两偏振模存储效率与存储时间以及实验重复频率的关系,结果表明,随着重复频率的增加,存储效率逐渐降低,在10 Hz时,测量得到两偏振模存储效率为30%,同时存储寿命达到3 ms.测量结果为偏振纠缠在冷原子系统中的存储提供了重要的实验基础.