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Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Optimized attacks on twin-field quantum key distribution

Stephen Mark Barnett, Thomas Brougham, Sarah Croke, Simon J. D. Phoenix

Published Feb 25, 2019• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

In twin-field quantum key distribution the two communicating parties, Alice and Bob, each send a weak coherent pulse to a third party stationed between them. The key bits are generated by interference between these pulses, with the results communicated to Alice and Bob. We consider optimized strategies for eavesdropping on the communication built upon state discrimination and quantum non-demolition measurements. We find that the best strategy comprises a two-step process but that even this does not compromise the security of the protocol.

DOI
10.1364/josab.36.00b122

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Quantum key distribution (QKD) can secure cryptographic communication between two distant users, as guaranteed by the laws of quantum mechanics rather than computational assumptions. The twin-field scheme, which employs counter-propagated weak coherent light pulses, doubles the secure distance of standard QKD without using quantum repeaters. Here, we study a method to extend the twin-field key distribution protocol to a scheme for multi-party quantum key agreement. We study our protocol’s security using a minimum error discrimination analysis and derive the asymptotic key rate based on the entanglement-based source-replacement scheme. We also simulate it on the ANSYS Interconnect platform with optical components to study the protocol’s performance in certain practical situations.
Employing the fundamental laws of quantum physics, Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) promises the unconditionally secure distribution of cryptographic keys. However, in practical realisations, a QKD protocol is only secure, when the quantum bit error rate introduced by an eavesdropper unavoidably exceeds the system error rate. This condition guarantees that an eavesdropper cannot disguise his presence by simply replacing the original transmission line with a less faulty one. Unfortunately, this condition also limits the possible distance between the communicating parties, Alice and Bob, to a few hundred kilometers. To overcome this problem, we design a QKD protocol which allows Alice and Bob to distinguish system errors from eavesdropping errors. If they are able to identify the origin of their errors, they can detect eavesdropping even when the system error rate exceeds the eavesdropping error rate. To achieve this, the proposed protocol employs an alternative encoding of information in two-dimensional photon states. Errors manifest themselves as quantum bit and as index transmission errors with a distinct correlation between them in case of intercept-resend eavesdropping. As a result, Alice and Bob can tolerate lower eavesdropping and higher system error rates without compromising their privacy.
We present a two-way protocol for the quantum key distribution with practical faint laser pulses. It is secure when the faint laser pulses contain no more than two photons. The key distribution task is completed in two transmissions. Bob first sends the laser pulses to Alice, and Alice encodes the key message through certain unitary operations and returns the laser pulses to Bob. Security is achieved by placing eavesdropping check procedures in both transmissions. This protocol is secure and is close to practical conditions. In addition, it does not require the exchange of measuring basis information between Alice and Bob, hence saving a lot of storage space.