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arXiv:1405.6983 · Physical Review A

Device-independent quantum cryptography for continuous variables

Kevin Marshall, Christian Weedbrook

Published Oct 9, 2014• 24 citations
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Abstract

We present a device-independent quantum cryptography protocol for continuous variables. Our scheme is based on the Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill encoding scheme whereby a qubit is embedded in the infinite-dimensional space of a quantum harmonic oscillator. The application of discrete-variable device-independent quantum key distribution to this encoding enables a continuous-variable analog. Since the security of this protocol is based on discrete variables we inherit by default security against collective attacks and, under certain memoryless assumptions, coherent attacks. We find that our protocol is valid over the same distances as its discrete-variable counterpart, except that we are able to take advantage of high efficiency commercially available detectors where, for the most part, only homodyne detection is required. This offers the prospect of closing the loopholes associated with Bell inequalities.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.90.042311

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We present a device-independent quantum cryptography protocol for continuous variables. Our scheme is based on the Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill encoding scheme whereby a qubit is embedded in the infinite-dimensional space of a quantum harmonic oscillator. The application of discrete-variable device-independent quantum key distribution to this encoding enables a continuous-variable analog. Since the security of this protocol is based on discrete variables we inherit by default security against collective attacks and, under certain memoryless assumptions, coherent attacks. We find that our protocol is valid over the same distances as its discrete-variable counterpart, except that we are able to take advantage of high efficiency commercially available detectors where, for the most part, only homodyne detection is required. This offers the prospect of closing the loopholes associated with Bell inequalities.
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We propose a long-distance continuous-variable measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (CV-MDI-QKD) protocol with discrete modulation. This kind of discrete-modulated scheme has good compatibility with efficient error correction code, which leads to higher reconciliation efficiency even at low signal-to-noise ratio. Security analysis shows that the proposed protocol is secure against arbitrary collective attacks in the asymptotic limit with the proper use of decoy states. With the use of discrete modulation, the proposed CV-MDI-QKD protocol has simpler implementation and outperforms previous protocols in terms of achievable maximal transmission distance, which precisely solved the bottleneck of the original Gaussian-modulated CV-MDI-QKD protocol.
Continuous-variable measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (CV-MDI-QKD) allows remote parties to share information-theoretical secure keys while defending all the side-channel attacks on measurement devices. However, the secure transmission distance and the secret key rate are quite limited due to the high untrusted equivalent excess noise in the Gaussian modulation. More particularly, extremely high-efficiency homodyne detections are required for even non-zero secure transmission distances, which directly restrict its practical realization. Here, we propose a CV-MDI-QKD protocol by encoding the key information into matched discrete phases of two groups of coherent states, which decreases the required detection efficiency for ideally asymmetric cases, and makes it possible to practically achieve secure key distribution with current low-efficiency homodyne detections. Besides, a proof-of-principle experiment with a locally generated oscillator is implemented, which, for the first time, demonstrates the realizability of CV-MDI-QKD using all fiber-based devices. The discrete-modulated phase-matching method provides an alternative direction of an applicable quantum key distribution with practical security.
Most quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols can be classified as either a discrete-variable (DV) protocol or continuous-variable (CV) protocol, based on how classical information is being encoded. We propose a protocol that combines the best of both worlds – the simplicity of quantum state preparation in DV-QKD together with the cost-effective and high-bandwidth of homodyne detectors used in CV-QKD. Our proposed protocol has two highly practical features: (1) it does not require the honest parties to share the same reference phase (as required in CV-QKD) and (2) the selection of decoding basis can be performed after measurement. We also prove the security of the proposed protocol in the asymptotic limit under the assumption of collective attacks. Our simulation suggests that the protocol is suitable for secure and high-speed practical key distribution over metropolitan distances.
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 propose a discrete-phase-randomized measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution protocol as a solution to close this source-side loophole.
We derive a device-independent quantum key distribution protocol based on synchronous correlations and their Bell inequalities. This protocol offers several advantages over other device-independent schemes including symmetry between the two users and no need for pre-shared randomness. We close a "synchronicity" loophole by showing that an almost synchronous correlation inherits the self-testing property of the associated synchronous correlation. We also pose a new security assumption that closes the "locality" (or "causality") loophole: an unbounded adversary with even a small uncertainty about the users' choice of measurement bases cannot produce any almost synchronous correlation that approximately maximally violates a synchronous Bell inequality.