Quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols are used in quantum key distribution. The first protocol of that kind was BB84, introduced in 1984 by Charles H. Bennett and Gilles Brassard. After that, many other protocols have been defined.
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(help)In cryptography, the one-time pad (OTP) is an encryption technique that cannot be cracked, but requires the use of a single-use pre-shared key that is larger than or equal to the size of the message being sent. In this technique, a plaintext is paired with a random secret key. Then, each bit or character of the plaintext is encrypted by combining it with the corresponding bit or character from the pad using modular addition.
Quantum information is the information of the state of a quantum system. It is the basic entity of study in quantum information theory, and can be manipulated using quantum information processing techniques. Quantum information refers to both the technical definition in terms of Von Neumann entropy and the general computational term.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a secure communication method that implements a cryptographic protocol involving components of quantum mechanics. It enables two parties to produce a shared random secret key known only to them, which then can be used to encrypt and decrypt messages. The process of quantum key distribution is not to be confused with quantum cryptography, as it is the best-known example of a quantum-cryptographic task.
In electrical engineering, homodyne detection is a method of extracting information encoded as modulation of the phase and/or frequency of an oscillating signal, by comparing that signal with a standard oscillation that would be identical to the signal if it carried null information. "Homodyne" signifies a single frequency, in contrast to the dual frequencies employed in heterodyne detection.
Quantum networks form an important element of quantum computing and quantum communication systems. Quantum networks facilitate the transmission of information in the form of quantum bits, also called qubits, between physically separated quantum processors. A quantum processor is a machine able to perform quantum circuits on a certain number of qubits. Quantum networks work in a similar way to classical networks. The main difference is that quantum networking, like quantum computing, is better at solving certain problems, such as modeling quantum systems.
BB84 is a quantum key distribution scheme developed by Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard in 1984. It is the first quantum cryptography protocol. The protocol is provably secure assuming a perfect implementation, relying on two conditions: (1) the quantum property that information gain is only possible at the expense of disturbing the signal if the two states one is trying to distinguish are not orthogonal ; and (2) the existence of an authenticated public classical channel. It is usually explained as a method of securely communicating a private key from one party to another for use in one-time pad encryption. The proof of BB84 depends on a perfect implementation. Side channel attacks exist, taking advantage of non-quantum sources of information. Since this information is non-quantum, it can be intercepted without measuring or cloning quantum particles.
SARG04 is a 2004 quantum cryptography protocol derived from the first protocol of that kind, BB84.
Quantum cryptography is the science of exploiting quantum mechanical properties to perform cryptographic tasks. The best known example of quantum cryptography is quantum key distribution, which offers an information-theoretically secure solution to the key exchange problem. The advantage of quantum cryptography lies in the fact that it allows the completion of various cryptographic tasks that are proven or conjectured to be impossible using only classical communication. For example, it is impossible to copy data encoded in a quantum state. If one attempts to read the encoded data, the quantum state will be changed due to wave function collapse. This could be used to detect eavesdropping in quantum key distribution (QKD).
The noisy-storage model refers to a cryptographic model employed in quantum cryptography. It assumes that the quantum memory device of an attacker (adversary) trying to break the protocol is imperfect (noisy). The main goal of this model is to enable the secure implementation of two-party cryptographic primitives, such as bit commitment, oblivious transfer and secure identification.
Within quantum cryptography, the Decoy state quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol is the most widely implemented QKD scheme. Practical QKD systems use multi-photon sources, in contrast to the standard BB84 protocol, making them susceptible to photon number splitting (PNS) attacks. This would significantly limit the secure transmission rate or the maximum channel length in practical QKD systems. In decoy state technique, this fundamental weakness of practical QKD systems is addressed by using multiple intensity levels at the transmitter's source, i.e. qubits are transmitted by Alice using randomly chosen intensity levels, resulting in varying photon number statistics throughout the channel. At the end of the transmission Alice announces publicly which intensity level has been used for the transmission of each qubit. A successful PNS attack requires maintaining the bit error rate (BER) at the receiver's end, which can not be accomplished with multiple photon number statistics. By monitoring BERs associated with each intensity level, the two legitimate parties will be able to detect a PNS attack, with highly increased secure transmission rates or maximum channel lengths, making QKD systems suitable for practical applications.
The three-stage quantum cryptography protocol, also known as Kak's three-stage protocol is a method of data encryption that uses random polarization rotations by both Alice and Bob, the two authenticated parties, that was proposed by Subhash Kak. In principle, this method can be used for continuous, unbreakable encryption of data if single photons are used. It is different from methods of QKD for it can be used for direct encryption of data, although it could also be used for exchanging keys.
The DiVincenzo criteria are conditions necessary for constructing a quantum computer, conditions proposed in 2000 by the theoretical physicist David P. DiVincenzo, as being those necessary to construct such a computer—a computer first proposed by mathematician Yuri Manin, in 1980, and physicist Richard Feynman, in 1982—as a means to efficiently simulate quantum systems, such as in solving the quantum many-body problem.
Quantum Experiments at Space Scale, is a Chinese research project in the field of quantum physics. QUESS was launched on 15 August 2016.
MSZ96 is a quantum key distribution protocol which allows a cryptographic key bit to be encoded using four nonorthogonal quantum states described by non-commuting quadrature phase amplitudes of a weak optical field, without photon polarization or entangled photons. It is named after Yi Mu, Jessica Seberry; Yuliang Zheng.
The six-state protocol (SSP) is the quantum cryptography protocol that is the version of BB84 that uses a six-state polarization scheme on three orthogonal bases.
Consider two remote players, connected by a channel, that don't trust each other. The problem of them agreeing on a random bit by exchanging messages over this channel, without relying on any trusted third party, is called the coin flipping problem in cryptography. Quantum coin flipping uses the principles of quantum mechanics to encrypt messages for secure communication. It is a cryptographic primitive which can be used to construct more complex and useful cryptographic protocols, e.g. Quantum Byzantine agreement.
The DARPA Quantum Network (2002–2007) was the world's first quantum key distribution (QKD) network, operating 10 optical nodes across Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. It became fully operational on October 23, 2003 in BBN's laboratories, and in June 2004 was fielded through dark fiber under the streets of Cambridge and Boston, where it ran continuously for over 3 years. The project also created and fielded the world's first superconducting nanowire single-photon detector. It was sponsored by DARPA as part of the QuIST program, and built and operated by BBN Technologies in close collaboration with colleagues at Harvard University and the Boston University Photonics Center.
Quantum secret sharing (QSS) is a quantum cryptographic scheme for secure communication that extends beyond simple quantum key distribution. It modifies the classical secret sharing (CSS) scheme by using quantum information and the no-cloning theorem to attain the ultimate security for communications.
BBM92 is a quantum key distribution without Bell's theorem developed using polarized entangled photon pairs by Charles H. Bennett, Gilles Brassard and N. David Mermin in 1992. It is named after the trio's surnames as. It uses decoy state of multiple photon instead of single. The key differences in E91 protocol and B92 uses only two states instead of four states used by E91 protocol and BB84
High-dimensional quantum key distribution (HDQKD) is a technology for secure communication between two parties. It allows for higher information efficiency than traditional binary quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols, which are limited to 1 bit/photon. HDQKD also exhibits higher resilience to noise, enabling lower signal-to-noise ratios and longer transmission distances.