Experimental device-independent quantum key distribution between distant users
Wei Zhang, Tim van Leent, Kai Redeker, Robert Garthoff, Rene Schwonnek, Florian Fertig, Sebastian Eppelt, Valerio Scarani, Charles C. -W. Lim, Harald Weinfurter
Device-independent quantum key distribution (DIQKD) is the art of using untrusted devices to establish secret keys over an untrusted channel. So far, the real-world implementation of DIQKD remains a major challenge, as it requires the demonstration of a loophole-free Bell test across two remote locations with very high quality entanglement to ensure secure key exchange. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the distribution of a secure key -- based on asymptotic security estimates -- in a fully device-independent way between two users separated by 400 metres. The experiment is based on heralded entanglement between two independently trapped single Rubidium 87 atoms. The implementation of a robust DIQKD protocol indicates an expected secret key rate of r=0.07 per entanglement generation event and r>0 with a probability error of 3%. Furthermore, we analyse the experiment's capability to distribute a secret key with finite-size security against collective attacks.
We propose a deterministic scheme for establishing hybrid Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) entanglement channel between a macroscopic mechanical oscillator and a magnon mode in a distant yttrium-iron-garnet (YIG) sphere across about ten gigahertz of frequency difference. The system consists of a driven electromechanical cavity which is unidirectionally coupled to a distant electromagnonical cavity inside which a YIG sphere is placed. We find that far beyond the sideband-resolved regime in the electromechanical subsystem, stationary phonon-magnon EPR entanglement can be achieved. This is realized …
We show how the spin independent scattering of two initially distant qubits, say, in distinct traps or in remote sites of a lattice, can be used to implement an entangling quantum gate between them. The scattering takes place under 1D confinement for which we consider two different scenarios: a 1D wave-guide and a tight-binding lattice. We consider models with contact-like interaction between two fermionic or two bosonic particles. A qubit is encoded in two distinct spins (or other internal) states of each particle. Our scheme enables the implementation of a gate between two qubits which are i…
Long-distance quantum communication requires entanglement between distant quantum memories. For this purpose, photon transmission is necessary to connect the distant memories. Here, for the first time, we develop a two-step frequency conversion process (from a visible wavelength to a telecommunication wavelength and back) involving the use of independent two-frequency conversion media where the target quantum memories are nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamonds (with an emission/absorption wavelength of 637.2 nm), and experimentally characterize the performance of this process acting on light fro…
We propose a reference-frame-independent measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with uncharacterized quantum bits. We show the security of the protocol. The protocol can also be useful for a channel that has a very low bit error rate but suffers a large, uncontrolled (but slow), unitary rotation.
Certifying that quantum devices behave as intended is crucial for quantum information science. Here, methods are developed for certification of both state preparation devices and measurement devices based on prepare-and-measure experiments with independent devices. The experimenter assumes the independence of the devices and knowledge of the Hilbert space dimension. Thus no precise characterisation of any part of the experiment is required. The certification is based on a randomised version of unambiguous state discrimination and targets the class of state ensembles corresponding to quantum $t…
We present a method to certify the entanglement of all bipartite entangled quantum states in a device-independent way. This is achieved by placing the state in a quantum network and constructing a correlation inequality based on an entanglement witness for the state. Our method is device-independent, in the sense that entanglement can be certified from the observed statistics alone, under minimal assumptions on the underlying physics. Conceptually, our results borrow ideas from the field of self-testing to bring the recently introduced measurement-device-independent entanglement witnesses into…
In the present work, we study tripartite quantum steering of quantum correlations arising from two local dichotomic measurements on each side in the two types of partially device-independent scenarios: $1$-sided device-independent scenario where one of the parties performs untrusted measurements while the other two parties perform trusted measurements and $2$-sided device-independent scenario where one of the parties performs trusted measurements while the other two parties perform untrusted measurements. We demonstrate that tripartite steering in the $2$-sided device-independent scenario is w…
In this paper we construct a semi-device-independent protocol able to certify the presence of the generalized measurements. We show robustness of the protocol and conclude that it allows for experimental realisations using current technology.
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.
Bell inequality can provide a useful witness for device-independent applications with quantum (or post-quantum) eavesdroppers. This feature holds only for single entangled systems. Our goal is to explore device-independent model for quantum networks. We firstly propose a Bell inequality to verify the genuinely multipartite nonlocality of connected quantum networks including cyclic networks and universal quantum computational resources for measurement-based computation model. This is further used to construct new monogamy relation in a fully device-independent model with multisource quantum res…
Randomness is a potential resource for cryptography, simulations and algorithms. Non-local correlations violating Bell's inequality certify the generation of bit strings whose randomness is guaranteed in a device-independent manner. We provide interesting semi-device independent randomness certification protocols by Kochen-Specker (KS) contextuality. For this, we first cast the Mermin's magic-square proof of KS contextuality for two-qubit system as a semi-device independent communication game in prepare-measure scenario. This provides a semi-device independent certification of two-bit of rando…
The nonlocal action of a measurement performed on a quantum entangled particle can determine the quantum state of a distant entangled particle instantly. Since the relativistic simultaneity of events is frame dependent therefore, a physically valid question arises, does the nonlocal action at a distance determine the quantum state of the distant particle in its past, when quantum state collapse is observed from a different inertial frame of reference? From the relativity of simultaneity, Lorentz invariance of the quantum entangled state of photons under consideration and the validity of Bell's…
Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution removes all detector-side attacks in quantum cryptography, and in the meantime doubles the secure distance. The source side, however, is still vulnerable to various attacks. In particular, the continuous phase randomization assumption on the source side is normally not fulfilled in experimental implementation and may potentially open a loophole. In this work, we first show that indeed there are loopholes for imperfect phase randomization in measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution by providing a concrete attack. Then we pro…
In this work, we develop upper bounds for key rates for device-independent quantum key distribution (DI-QKD) protocols and devices. We study the reduced cc-squashed entanglement and show that it is a convex functional. As a result, we show that the convex hull of the currently known bounds is a tighter upper bound on the device-independent key rates of standard CHSH-based protocol. We further provide tighter bounds for DI-QKD key rates achievable by any protocol applied to the CHSH-based device. This bound is based on reduced relative entropy of entanglement optimized over decompositions into …
Device-independent certification refers to the characterization of an apparatus without reference to the internal description of other devices. It is a trustworthy certification method, free of assumption on the underlying Hilbert space dimension and on calibration methods. We show how it can be used to quantify the quality of a Bell state measurement, whether deterministic, partial or probabilistic. Our certification is noise resistant and opens the way towards the device-independent self-testing of Bell state measurements in existing experiments.
Authentication of quantum sources is a crucial task in building reliable and efficient protocols for quantum-information processing. Steady progress vis-à-vis verification of quantum devices in the scenario with fully characterized measurement devices has been observed in recent years. When it comes to the scenario with uncharacterized measurements, the so-called black-box scenario, practical verification methods are still rather scarce. Development of self-testing methods is an important step forward, but these results so far have been used for reliable verification only by considering the as…
While it has recently been demonstrated how to certify the maximal amount of randomness from any pure two-qubit entangled state in a device-independent way [E. Woodhead et al., Phys. Rev. Research 2, 042028(R)(2020)], the problem of optimal randomness certification from entangled states of higher local dimension remains open. Here we introduce a method for device-independent certification of the maximal possible amount of $2\log_23$ random bits using pure bipartite entangled two-qutrit states and extremal nine-outcome general non-projective measurements. To this aim, we exploit the extended Be…
We report the first experiment of continuous-variable measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution that enables secret key generation at a symbol rate of 5 MBaud without frequency and optical phase locking. This is achieved by using a new relay structure based on a polarization-based 90-degree optical hybrid and a well-designed DSP pipeline.
The device-independent approach to physics is one where conclusions are drawn directly from the observed correlations between measurement outcomes. In quantum information, this approach allows one to make strong statements about the properties of the underlying systems or devices solely via the observation of Bell-inequality-violating correlations. However, since one can only perform a {\em finite number} of experimental trials, statistical fluctuations necessarily accompany any estimation of these correlations. Consequently, an important gap remains between the many theoretical tools develope…
In quantum cryptography, device-independent (DI) protocols can be certified secure without requiring assumptions about the inner workings of the devices used to perform the protocol. In order to display nonlocality, which is an essential feature in DI protocols, the device must consist of at least two separate components sharing entanglement. This raises a fundamental question: how much entanglement is needed to run such DI protocols? We present a two-device protocol for DI random number generation (DIRNG) which produces approximately $n$ bits of randomness starting from $n$ pairs of arbitrari…
A semi-device-independent framework for prepare-and-measure experiments is introduced in which an experimenter can tune the degree of distrust in the performance of the quantum devices. In this framework, a receiver operates an uncharacterised measurement device and a sender operates a preparation device that emits states with a bounded fidelity with respect to a set of target states. No assumption on Hilbert space dimension is required. The set of quantum correlations is investigated and bounded from both the interior and the exterior. Furthermore, the optimal performance of quantum state dis…
