We consider the asymptotic key rates achieved in the simplest quantum key distribution protocols, namely the BB84 and the six-state protocols, when non-uniform noise is present in the system. We first observe that higher qubit error rates do not necessarily imply lower key rates. Secondly, we consider protocols with advantage distillation and show that it can be advantageous to use the basis with higher quantum bit error rate for the key generation. We then discuss the relation between advantage distillation and entanglement distillation protocols. We show that applying advantage distillation to a string of bits formed by the outcomes of measurements in the basis with higher quantum bit error rate is closely connected to the two-to-one entanglement distillation protocol DEJMPS. Finally, we discuss the implications of these results for implementations of quantum key distribution.
The sending-or-not-sending (SNS) protocol of the twin-field quantum key distribution (TFQKD) can tolerant large misalignment error and its key rate can exceed the bound of repeaterless QKD. But the original SNS protocol requires the two users to use the same source parameters. Here we propose a general protocol with asymmetric source parameters and give the security proof of this protocol. Our general protocol has a much better performance than that of the original SNS protocol when the channel of the system is asymmetric.
We study the the optimization of full implementation of the four-intensity decoy-state Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution (MDIQKD) over asymmetric and unstable quantum channel.
This study proposes a new mediated asymmetric semi-quantum key distribution (MASQKD) protocol. With the help of a dishonest third party, two classical participants, who have only limited asymmetric quantum capabilities, can share a secret key with each other. The proposed protocol is shown to be immune to several well-known attacks. Furthermore, an improved MASQKD protocol is proposed in which the quantum capabilities of one participant can be further reduced.
As an essential application of quantum mechanics in classical cryptography, quantum secret sharing has become an indispensable component of quantum internet. Recently, a differential phase shift quantum secret sharing protocol using a twin field has been proposed to break the linear rate-distance boundary. However, this original protocol has a poor performance over channels with asymmetric transmittances. To make it more practical, we present a differential phase shift quantum secret sharing protocol with asymmetric source intensities and give the security proof of our protocol against individ…
A large number of quantum location verification protocols have been proposed. All existing protocols in this field are based on symmetric cryptography where verifiers and the prover use the same secret key. The prover obtains secret key from different verifiers, in pieces through public channels, which may result in security compromise. In this paper, we give a formulism to prove information-theoretic position-based quantum cryptography is possible in asymmetric quantum setting. We propose a quantum location verification protocol based on asymmetric quantum cryptographic where two different ke…
We demonstrate an attack on a clock synchronization protocol that attempts to detect tampering of the synchronization channel using polarization-entangled photon pairs. The protocol relies on a symmetrical channel, where propagation delays do not depend on propagation direction, for correctly deducing the offset between clocks -- a condition that could be manipulated with optical circulators, which rely on static magnetic fields to break the reciprocity of propagating electromagnetic fields. Despite the polarization transformation induced within a set of circulators, our attack creates an erro…
We propose a generalization of quantum teleportation: the so-called many-to-many quantum communication of the information of a d-level system from N spatially separated senders to M>N receivers situated at different locations. We extend the concept of asymmetric telecloning from qubits to d-dimensional systems. We investigate the broadcasting of entanglement by using local 1->2 optimal universal asymmetric Pauli machines and show that the maximal fidelities of the two final entangled states are obtained when symmetric machines are applied. Cloning of entanglement is studied using a nonlocal op…
In this study, we consider a quantum version of multicast network coding as a multicast protocol for sending universal quantum clones (UQCs) from a source node to the target nodes on a quantum network. By extending Owari et al.'s previous results for symmetric UQCs, we derive a protocol for multicasting $1\rightarrow 2$ ($1\rightarrow 3$) {\it asymmetric} UQCs of a $q^r$-dimensional state to two (three) target nodes.Our protocol works under the condition that each edge on a quantum network represented by an undirected graph $G$ transmits a $q$-dimensional state. There exists a classical solvab…
Twin-Field (TF) quantum key distribution (QKD) is a major candidate to be the new benchmark for far-distance QKD implementations, since its secret key rate can overcome the repeaterless bound by means of a simple interferometric measurement. Many variants of the original protocol have been recently proven to be secure. Here, we focus on the TF-QKD type protocol proposed by Curty et al [preprint arXiv:1807.07667], which can provide a high secret key rate and whose practical feasibility has been demonstrated in various recent experiments. The security of this protocol relies on the estimation of…
In this paper we discuss a quantum multi-tasking protocol for preparation of known one-qubit and two-qubit states respectively in two different locations. The ideal remote state preparation protocol is discussed in the first place in which a five-qubit entangled state is utilized. The design for the preparation of such entanglement is also presented and run on IBM quantum composer platform. The effects of three types of noises on the protocol are discussed and in all these cases the reduced fidelities of the process are calculated. The variations of these fidelities with respect to different p…
An asymmetric preparation of the quantum states sent through a noisy channel can enable a new way to monitor and actively compensate the channel noise. The paradigm of such an asymmetric treatment of quantum information is the Bennett 1992 protocol, in which the ratio between conclusive and inconclusive counts is in direct connection with the channel noise. Using this protocol as a guiding example, we show how to correct the phase drift of a communication channel without using reference pulses, interruptions of the quantum transmission or public data exchanges.
Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) can eliminate detector side channels and prevent all attacks on detectors. The future of MDI-QKD is a quantum network that provides service to many users over untrusted relay nodes. In a real quantum network, the losses of various channels are different and users are added and deleted over time. To adapt to these features, we propose a type of protocols that allow users to independently choose their optimal intensity settings to compensate for different channel losses. Such protocol enables a scalable high-rate MDI-QKD network t…
Twin-Field quantum key distribution (TF-QKD) can beat the linear bound of repeaterless QKD systems. After the proposal of the original protocol, multiple papers have extended the protocol to prove its security. However, these works are limited to the case where the two channels have equal amount of loss (i.e. are symmetric). In a practical network setting, it is very likely that the channels are asymmetric due to e.g. geographical locations. In this paper we extend the "simple TF-QKD" protocol to the scenario with asymmetric channels. We show that by simply adjusting the two signal states of t…
A communication protocol based on a Gaussian modulation of squeezed states in a single quadrature and measured via homodyne detection can completely eliminate information leakage to an eavesdropper in a pure-loss channel. However, the asymmetry of the protocol with respect to the quadratures of light presents security issues and the eavesdropper's information is not necessarily minimized for general asymmetric attacks. Here, we perform asymptotic security analysis of the asymmetric protocol against general asymmetric collective attacks and bound the eavesdropper's information via the Heisenber…
We consider an approach to fault tolerant quantum computing based on a simple error detecting code operating as the substrate for a conventional surface code. We develop a customised decoder to process the information about the likely location of errors, obtained from the error detect stage, with an advanced variant of the minimum weight perfect matching algorithm. A threshold gate-level error rate of 1.42% is found for the concatenated code given highly asymmetric noise. This is superior to the standard surface code and remains so as we introduce a significant component of depolarising noise;…
The simplest device-independent quantum key distribution protocol is based on the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) Bell inequality and allows two users, Alice and Bob, to generate a secret key if they observe sufficiently strong correlations. There is, however, a mismatch between the protocol, in which only one of Alice's measurements is used to generate the key, and the CHSH expression, which is symmetric with respect to Alice's two measurements. We therefore investigate the impact of using an extended family of Bell expressions where we give different weights to Alice's measurements. Using …
As an essential ingredient of quantum networks, quantum conference key agreement (QCKA) provides unconditional secret keys among multiple parties, which enables only legitimate users to decrypt the encrypted message. Recently, some QCKA protocols employing twin-field was proposed to promote transmission distance. These protocols, however, suffer from relatively low conference key rate and short transmission distance over asymmetric channels, which demands a prompt solution in practice. Here, we consider a tripartite QCKA protocol utilizing the idea of sending-or-not-sending twin-field scheme a…
Quantum interfaces (QIs) that generate entanglement between a multimode atomic memory and a photon forms a multiplexed repeater node and hold promise to greatly improve quantum repeater rates. Recently, the temporal multimode spin-wave memory that is entangled with a photon has been demonstrated with cold atoms. However, due to additional noise generated in multimode operation, the fidelity of spin-wave-photon entanglement significantly decreases with the mode number. So far, the improvement on temporal-multimode entanglement fidelity via suppressing the additional noise remains unexplored. He…
We develop a scheme for fault-tolerant quantum computation based on asymmetric Bacon-Shor codes, which works effectively against highly biased noise dominated by dephasing. We find the optimal Bacon-Shor block size as a function of the noise strength and the noise bias, and estimate the logical error rate and overhead cost achieved by this optimal code. Our fault-tolerant gadgets, based on gate teleportation, are well suited for hardware platforms with geometrically local gates in two dimensions.
We show here that due to non-adiabatic couplings in decaying systems applying the same time-dependent protocol in the forward and reverse direction to the same mixed initial state leads to different final pure states. In particular, in laser driven molecular systems applying a specifically chosen positively chirped laser pulse or an equivalent negatively chirped laser pulse yields entirely different final vibrational states. This phenomenon occurs when the laser frequency and intensity are slowly varied around an exceptional point (EP) in the laser intensity and frequency parameter space where…
The decoy-state method has been developed rapidly in quantum key distribution (QKD) since it is immune to photon-number splitting attacks. However, two basis detector efficiency asymmetry, which exists in realistic scenarios, has been ignored in the prior results. By using the recent 4-intensity decoy-state optimization protocol, we report the first implementation of high-rate QKD with asymmetric basis detector efficiency, demonstrating 1.9 to 33.2 times higher key rate than previous protocols in the situation of large basis detector efficiency asymmetry. The results ruled out an implicitly as…
We propose an easy implementable prepare-and-measure protocol for robust quantum key distribution with photon polarization. The protocol is fault tolerant against collective random unitary channel noise. The protocol does not need any collective quantum measurement or quantum memory. A security proof and a specific linear optical realization using spontaneous parametric down conversion are given.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) offers a secret way to share keys between legitimate users which is guaranteed by the law of quantum mechanics. Most recently, the limitation of transmission distance without quantum repeaters was broken through by twin-field QKD [Nature (London) 557, 400 (2018)]. Based on its main idea, sending or not-sending (SNS) QKD protocol was proposed [Phys. Rev. A 98, 062323 (2018)], which filled the remaining security loopholes and can tolerate large misalignment errors. In this paper, we give a more general model for SNS QKD, where the two legitimate users, Alice and Bo…
We propose an improved two-way continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV QKD) protocol by adding proper random noise on the receiver's homodyne detection, the security of which is analysed against general collective attacks. The simulation result under the collective entangling cloner attack indicates that despite the correlation between two-way channels decreasing the secret key rate relative to the uncorrelated channels slightly, the performance of the two-way protocol is still far beyond that of the one-way protocols. Importantly, the added noise in detection is beneficial for the se…
According to Landauer's principle, erasing a memory requires an average work of at least $kT\ln2$ per bit. Recent experiments have confirmed this prediction for a one-bit memory represented by a symmetric double-well potential. Here, we present an experimental study of erasure for a memory encoded in an asymmetric double-well potential. Using a feedback trap, we find that the average work to erase can be less than $kT\ln2$. Surprisingly, erasure protocols that differ subtly give measurably different values for the asymptotic work, a result we explain by showing that one protocol is symmetric w…
Noise Resilience of Quantum Key Distribution Protocols Secured Against Independent Attacks With One-Way Communication
VSB–Technical University of Ostrava（俄斯特拉发理工大学）；IT4Innovations, VSB–Technical University of Ostrava（俄斯特拉发理工大学 IT4创新研究院）；Institute of Theoretical and Applied Informatics, Polish Academy of Sciences（波兰科学院理论与应用信息学研究所）
Continuous variable entanglement can be produced in nonlinear systems or via interference of squeezed states. In many of optical systems, such as parametric down conversion or interference of optical squeezed states, production of two perfectly symmetric subsystems is usually used for demonstrating the existence of entanglement. This symmetry simplifies the description of the concept of entanglement. However, asymmetry in entanglement may arise naturally in a real experiment, or be intentionally introduced in a given quantum information protocol. These asymmetries can emerge from having the ou…
We investigate how the efficiency of the quantum teleportation protocol is affected when the qubits involved in the protocol are subjected to noise or decoherence. We study all types of noise usually encountered in real world implementations of quantum communication protocols, namely, the bit flip, phase flip (phase damping), depolarizing, and amplitude damping noise. Several realistic scenarios are studied in which a part or all of the qubits employed in the execution of the quantum teleportation protocol are subjected to the same or different types of noise. We find noise scenarios not yet k…
Secure multi-party computation (SMPC) protocols allow several parties that distrust each other to collectively compute a function on their inputs. In this paper, we introduce a protocol that lifts classical SMPC to quantum SMPC in a composably and statistically secure way, even for a single honest party. Unlike previous quantum SMPC protocols, our proposal only requires very limited quantum resources from all but one party; it suffices that the weak parties, i.e. the clients, are able to prepare single-qubit states in the X-Y plane. The novel quantum SMPC protocol is constructed in a naturally…
Geometry versus excitation sector in the decoherence of asymmetric $N$-qubit $W$ states
Indian Institute of Technology Indore（印度印多尔理工学院）；Techno India Group（泰科印度集团）；Tokyo International University（东京国际大学）；Institute for International Strategy and Emerging Technologies, Tokyo International University（东京国际大学国际战略与新兴技术研究所）
The Ekert quantum key distribution protocol uses pairs of entangled qubits and performs checks based on a Bell inequality to detect eavesdropping. The N-DEB protocol uses instead pairs of entangled qudits to achieve better noise resistance than the Ekert protocol. It performs checks based on the Bell CGLMP inequality for qudits. In this paper, we present the generalization for qudits of our protocol h3DEB (for qutrits). This protocol also uses pairs of entangled qudits, but achieves even better noise resistance than N-DEB and is showed to be secure against the same family of cloning attacks th…
Kak's three-stage protocol for quantum key distribution is revisited with special focus on its hitherto unknown strengths and weaknesses. It is shown that this protocol can be used for secure direct quantum communication. Further, the implementability of this protocol in the realistic situation is analyzed by considering various Markovian noise models. It is found that the Kak's protocol and its variants in their original form can be implemented only in a restricted class of noisy channels, where the protocols can be transformed to corresponding protocols based on logical qubits in decoherence…
A continuous-variable quantum key distribution protocol based on squeezed states and heterodyne detection is introduced and shown to attain higher secret key rates over a noisy line than any other one-way Gaussian protocol. This increased resistance to channel noise can be understood as resulting from purposely adding noise to the signal that is converted into the secret key. This notion of noise-enhanced tolerance to noise also provides a better physical insight into the poorly understood discrepancies between the previously defined families of Gaussian protocols.
While exact cloning of an unknown quantum state is prohibited by the linearity of quantum mechanics, approximate cloning is possible and has been used, e.g., to derive limits on the security of quantum communication protocols. In the case of asymmetric cloning, the information from the input state is distributed asymmetrically between the different output states. Here, we consider asymmetric phase-covariant cloning, where the goal is to optimally transfer the phase information from a single input qubit to different output qubits. We construct an optimal quantum cloning machine for two qubits t…
In this paper we investigate properties of several randomness generation protocols in the device independent framework. Using Bell-type inequalities it is possible to certify that the numbers generated by an untrusted device are indeed random. We present a selection of certificates which guarantee two bits of randomness for each run of the experiment in the noiseless case and require the parties to share a maximally entangled state. To compare them we study their efficiency in the presence of white noise. We find that for different amounts of noise different operators are optimal for certifyin…
The effect of noise on various protocols of secure quantum communication has been studied. Specifically, we have investigated the effect of amplitude damping, phase damping, squeezed generalized amplitude damping, Pauli type as well as various collective noise models on the protocols of quantum key distribution, quantum key agreement,quantum secure direct quantum communication and quantum dialogue. From each type of protocol of secure quantum communication, we have chosen two protocols for our comparative study; one based on single qubit states and the other one on entangled states. The compar…
Semi-quantum key distribution protocols are designed to allow two parties to establish a shared secret key, secure against an all-powerful adversary, even when one of the users is restricted to measuring and preparing quantum states in one single basis. While interesting from a theoretical standpoint, these protocols have the disadvantage that a two-way quantum communication channel is necessary which generally limits their theoretical efficiency and noise tolerance. In this paper, we construct a new semi-quantum key distribution (SQKD) protocol which actually takes advantage of this necessary…
We study the stability under quantum noise effects of the quantum privacy amplification protocol for the purification of entanglement in quantum cryptography. We assume that the E91 protocol is used by two communicating parties (Alice and Bob) and that the eavesdropper Eve uses the isotropic Bužek-Hillery quantum copying machine to extract information. Entanglement purification is then operated by Alice and Bob by means of the quantum privacy amplification protocol and we present a systematic numerical study of the impact of all possible single-qubit noise channels on this protocol. We find th…
We thoroughly analyse the novel quantum key distribution protocol introduced recently in quant-ph/0412075, which is based on minimal qubit tomography. We examine the efficiency of the protocol for a whole range of noise parameters and present a general analysis of incoherent eavesdropping attacks with arbitrarily many steps in the iterative key generation process. The comparison with the tomographic 6-state protocol shows that our protocol has a higher efficiency (up to 20%) and ensures the security of the established key even for noise parameters far beyond the 6-state protocol's noise thresh…
Blind quantum computation (BQC) is a new type of quantum computation model. BQC allows a client (Alice) who does not have enough sophisticated technology and knowledge to perform universal quantum computation and resorts a remote quantum computation server (Bob) to delegate universal quantum computation. During the computation, Bob cannot know Alice's inputs, algorithm and outputs. In single-server BQC protocol, it requires Alice to prepare and distribute single-photon states to Bob. Unfortunately, the distributed single photons will suffer from noise, which not only makes the single-photon st…
Amplification of quantum states is inevitably accompanied with the introduction of noise at the output. For protocols that are probabilistic with heralded success, noiseless linear amplification in theory may still possible. When the protocol is successful, it can lead to an output that is a noiselessly amplified copy of the input. When the protocol is unsuccessful, the output state is degraded and is usually discarded. Probabilistic protocols may improve the performance of some quantum information protocols, but not for metrology if the whole statistics is taken into consideration. We calcula…
We describe a continuous variable error correction protocol that can correct the Gaussian noise induced by linear loss on Gaussian states. The protocol can be implemented using linear optics and photon counting. We explore the theoretical bounds of the protocol as well as the expected performance given current knowledge and technology.
