Quantum key distribution (QKD) allows users to generate shared encryption keys that are guaranteed to be theoretically secure by the laws of quantum mechanics. Most implementations use light pulses that are attenuated by the propagation medium. This leads to a fundamental rate-distance limit in QKD that was thought to be impossible to overcome with current technology. The recent proposal of "Twin-Field QKD", however, changed this belief and showed how to overcome this limit and perform long-distance QKD with present-day technology. In my talk I will review the most significant theoretical and experimental results in this emerging and rapidly growing research area.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) allows users to generate shared encryption keys that are guaranteed to be theoretically secure by the laws of quantum mechanics. Most implementations use light pulses that are attenuated by the propagation medium. This leads to a fundamental rate-distance limit in QKD that was thought to be impossible to overcome with current technology. The recent proposal of "Twin-Field QKD", however, changed this belief and showed how to overcome this limit and perform long-distance QKD with present-day technology. In my talk I will review the most significant theoretical and experimental results in this emerging and rapidly growing research area.
Since they were first introduced, quantum communications have evolved into a mature technology that is making its way to market. Quantum key distribution (QKD), in particular, allows the exchange of information with security that stems from the very laws of quantum mechanics and hence is not impaired by future technological advances. These same laws, however, restrict the QKD transmission range, as they forbid a straightforward amplification of quantum signals. This leads to a fundamental rate-distance bound known as the “repeaterless secret key capacity” (SKC0), which was thought to be impossible to overcome without a full-fledged quantum repeater. The recent proposal of “Twin-Field QKD” challenged this belief and showed how to overcome the SKC0 with an effective quantum repeater, realisable with present-day technology. This allows to perform QKD over long-distance and high-loss channels. In my talk, I will review the main concepts and most significant results behind this novel idea.
Quantum communications promise to provide information theoretic security in the exchange of information. However, unlike their classical counterpart, they utilise dim optical pulses whose amplification is prohibited. Consequently, their transmission rate and range is confined below a theoretical limit known as repeaterless secret key capacity. Overcoming this limit with today’s technology was believed to be impossible until the recent proposal of Twin-field (TF) quantum key distribution (QKD), a scheme that uses phase-coherent optical signals and an auxiliary measuring station to distribute quantum information. Here, TF-QKD and its main variations are initially explored and compared in simulations, to assess their performance in different attributes. Such schemes are also practically implemented for the first time in two experiments. The first is a proof-of-principle implementation over significant channel losses, in excess of 90 dB. In the second, the setup is developed further and the protocol is implemented over real fibre channels exceeding 600 km in length, representing the first fibre-based secure quantum communication beyond the barriers of 600 km and 100 dB. In both cases, in the high loss/distance regime, the resulting secure key rates exceed the repeaterless secret key capacity, a result never achieved before.
Abstract Quantum key distribution (QKD) offers a reliable solution to communication problems that require long-term data security. For its widespread use, however, the rate and reach of QKD systems must be improved. Twin-field (TF) QKD is a step forward toward this direction, with early demonstrations suggesting it can beat the current rate-versus-distance records. A recently introduced variant of TF-QKD is particularly suited for experimental implementation, and has been shown to offer a higher key rate than other variants in the asymptotic regime, where users exchange an infinite number of signals. Here, we extend the security of this protocol to the finite-key regime, showing that it can overcome the fundamental bounds on point-to-point QKD with ~1010 transmitted signals. In many practical regimes of interest, our analysis offers higher key rates than those of alternative variants. Moreover, some of the techniques we develop are applicable to the finite-key analysis of other QKD protocols.
Abstract QKD (Quantum Key Distribution) promises information-theoretical security by using quantum states to generate shared cryptographic key material and to reveal eavesdropping attempts through unavoidable physical disturbances. The practical value of this promise depends not only on quantum technologies such as DV-QKD, CV-QKD, entanglement-based QKD, MDI-QKD, and Twin-Field QKD, but also on authentication, post-processing, implementation quality, and operational architecture. Fiber-optic, satellite, and free-space QKD each impose distinct limits on distance, key rate, trusted nodes, costs, and resistance to side-channel attacks.
Abstract A crucial goal for quantum key distribution (QKD) is to transmit unconditionally secure keys over long distances. Previous studies show that the key rate of point‐to‐point QKD is limited by a secret key rate capacity bound, and higher key rates would require quantum repeaters. In 2018, the seminal twin‐field (TF) QKD protocol is proposed to provide a remarkable solution to overcoming the linear secret key capacity bound. This article presents an up‐to‐date survey on recent developments in this area, including the security proofs of phase‐matching QKD and other TF‐QKD type protocols, the theoretical examinations of these protocols under realistic conditions, and the recent experimental demonstrations.
The private capacity of a lossy bosonic channel shows that there remains not much room to improve known point-to-point quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols further, in terms of the key rate versus distance. The current question in our field is how to overcome this fundamental limit with the help of a single station in the middle between communicators. In this talk, we explore recent trials to achieve this goal, such as adaptive measurement-device-independent QKD and twin-field QKD. These trials are good milestones towards the realization of quantum repeater networks.