Masking of data is a method to protect information by shielding it from a third party, however keeping it usable for further usages like application development, building program extensions to name a few. Whereas it is possible for classical information encoded in composite quantum states to be completely masked from reduced sub-systems, it has to be checked if quantum information can also be masked when the future possibilities of a quantum computer are increasing day by day. Newly proposed no-masking theorem [Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 230501 (2018)], one of the no-go theorems, demands that except for some restricted sets of non-orthogonal states, it's impossible to mask arbitrary quantum states. Here, we explore the possibility of masking in the IBM quantum experience platform by designing the quantum circuits and running them on the 5-qubit quantum computer. We choose two particular states considering both the orthogonal and non-orthogonal basis states and illustrate their masking through both the theoretical calculation as well as verification in the quantum computer. By quantum state tomography, it is concluded that the experimental results are collected with high fidelity and hence the possibility of masking is realized.
Masking of data is a method to protect information by shielding it from a third party, however keeping it usable for further usages like application development, building program extensions to name a few. Whereas it is possible for classical information encoded in composite quantum states to be completely masked from reduced sub-systems, it has to be checked if quantum information can also be masked when the future possibilities of a quantum computer are increasing day by day. Newly proposed no-masking theorem [Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 230501 (2018)], one of the no-go theorems, demands that except for some restricted sets of non-orthogonal states, it's impossible to mask arbitrary quantum states. Here, we explore the possibility of masking in the IBM quantum experience platform by designing the quantum circuits and running them on the 5-qubit quantum computer. We choose two particular states considering both the orthogonal and non-orthogonal basis states and illustrate their masking through both the theoretical calculation as well as verification in the quantum computer. By quantum state tomography, it is concluded that the experimental results are collected with high fidelity and hence the possibility of masking is realized.
Masking of data is a method to protect information by shielding it from a third party, however keeping it usable for further usages like application development, building program extensions to name a few. Whereas it is possible for classical information encoded in composite quantum states to be completely masked from reduced sub-systems, it has to be checked if quantum information can also be masked when the future possibilities of a quantum computer are increasing day by day. Newly proposed no-masking theorem [Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 230501 (2018)], one of the no-go theorems, demands that except for some restricted sets of non-orthogonal states, it's impossible to mask arbitrary quantum states. Here, we explore the possibility of masking in the IBM quantum experience platform by designing the quantum circuits and running them on the 5-qubit quantum computer. We choose two particular states considering both the orthogonal and non-orthogonal basis states and illustrate their masking through both the theoretical calculation as well as verification in the quantum computer. By quantum state tomography, it is concluded that the experimental results are collected with high fidelity and hence the possibility of masking is realized.
Masking of quantum information means that information is hidden from a subsystem and spread over a composite system. Modi et al. proved in [Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 230501 (2018)] that this is true for some restricted sets of nonorthogonal quantum states and it is not possible for arbitrary quantum states. In this paper, we discuss the problem of masking quantum information encoded in pure and mixed states, respectively. Based on an established necessary and sufficient condition for a set of pure states to be masked by an operator, we find that there exists a set of four states that can not be masked, which implies that to mask unknown pure states is impossible. We construct a masker S♯ and obtain its maximal maskable set, leading to an affirmative answer to a conjecture proposed in Modi's paper mentioned above. We also prove that an orthogonal (resp. linearly independent) subset of pure states can be masked by an isometry (resp. injection). Generalizing the case of pure states, we introduce the maskability of a set of mixed states and prove that a commuting subset of mixed states can be masked by an isometry S⋄ while it is impossible to mask all of mixed states by any operator. We also find the maximal maskable sets of mixed states of the isometries S♯ and S⋄, respectively.
Classical information encoded in composite quantum states can be completely hidden from the reduced subsystems and may be found only in the correlations. Can the same be true for quantum information? If quantum information is hidden from subsystems and spread over quantum correlation, we call it masking of quantum information. We show that while this may still be true for some restricted sets of nonorthogonal quantum states, it is not possible for arbitrary quantum states. This result suggests that quantum qubit commitment-a stronger version of the quantum bit commitment-is not possible in general. Our findings may have potential applications in secret sharing and future quantum communication protocols.
Abstract Quantum information masking (QIM) entails the transmission of quantum information from a single qubit to the entanglement within quantum system, demonstrating promise for utilization in quantum communication. However, the absence of a universal masker capable of masking all qubits restricts its utility in quantum communication and poses a threat to information security. Here we successfully implement the improved QIM method by designing a quantum masking machine capable of masking the set of states on arbitrary disks. The analysis of several sets of target-qubit states proves that our study extends the range of maskable sets in QIM. Through this approach, we devise a scheme for quantum secret sharing (QSS) and demonstrate its feasibility using a proof-of principle experiment. This research results not only provides new experimental evidence for QIM, but also lays a solid foundation for its application in quantum communication.1. IntroductionThroughout history, reliable and secure communication has been crucial for the development and even survival of individuals and nations. Classical cryptosystems rely on computational complexity for encryption, while quantum cryptography [1, 2] leverages the principles of quantum information to offer enhanced levels of security [3–5].Various no-go theorems are essential for improving the security and integrity of quantum communication [6–14]. These theorems imply that certain operations that cannot be performed on quantum states used for transmitting information, such as the no-cloning theorem [15–17], the no-broadcasting theorem [18], the no-deleting theorem [19] and the no-hiding theorem [20, 21], etc. A new no-go theorem, known as the no-masking theorem [22], has recently been discovered and proven in relation to the quantum information masking (QIM) [23–30], a technique utilized for transferring information stored in a single qubit to the entanglement of a multi-qubit system. The no-masking theorem demonstrates that there is no universal masker capable of masking all states of a qubit in two-dimensional Hilbert space. For example, the analysis of the maskable sets shows that only quantum information stored strictly in phase can be masked by one masker. This limitation poses a potential security risk in quantum communication, as unmasked information (e.g., latitude of the Bloch sphere) could be exploited by eavesdroppers.In this paper, we proposes an improved QIM method to mask the set of qubit states on any Bloch sphere disk using a single masker and experimentally demonstrates a QSS scheme based on this approach. This approach can extends the range of maskable sets for QIM by utilizing an adapter to aid a single masker in building the improved quantum masking machine. In particular, we ingeniously apply these maskable sets to QSS to prevent hackers from inferring the transmission state solely from the single reduced qubit, while still allowing both parties to extract information from entanglement for secure communication. Our single-photon experiments have clearly demonstrated how QSS can be effectively implemented on an improved quantum information masking machine, enabling the transmission of a set of quantum states across an arbitrary disk. Our research extends the scope of maskable sets in QIM, proposes a QSS scheme based on these sets, and experimentally verifies its feasibility, thereby expanding the potential applications of QIM.
Recently, Modi et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 230501 (2018)] found that masking quantum information is impossible in a bipartite scenario. This adds another item to the no-go theorems. In this paper, we present some schemes different from error correction codes, which show that quantum states can be masked when more participants are allowed in the masking process. Moreover, using a pair of mutually orthogonal Latin squares of dimension d, we show that all the d level quantum states can be masked into tripartite quantum systems whose local dimensions are d or d+1. This highlights some differences between the no-masking theorem and the classical no-cloning theorem or no-deleting theorem.
To solve the problem of hiding quantum information in simplified subsystems, Modi et al. [1] introduced the concept of quantum masking. Quantum masking is the encoding of quantum information by composite quantum states in such a way that the quantum information is hidden to the subsystem and spreads to the correlation of the composite systems. The concept of quantum masking was developed along with a new quantum impossibility theorem, the quantum no-masking theorem. The question of whether a quantum state can be masked has been studied by many people from the perspective of the types of quantum states, the number of masking participants, and error correction codes. Others have studied the relationships between maskable quantum states, the deterministic and probabilistic masking of quantum states, and the problem of probabilistic masking. Quantum masking techniques have been shown to outperform previous strategies in quantum bit commitment, quantum multi-party secret sharing, and so on.