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Physical Review Research

Quantum-secured covert sensing for the Doppler effect

Shuhong Hao, Zheshen Zhang

Published Dec 5, 2023• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum mechanics has paved the way for establishing shared privacy among communicating parties through a secure regime known as quantum-secured communication. Recent advancements in both theory and experimentation have unveiled the potential of quantum resources in enhancing the performance and security of estimating unknown parameters. This has led to the emergence of a novel paradigm known as quantum-secured covert sensing, wherein the sensing operation is concealed from an adversary monitoring the environment by embedding the probe signal in a bright noise background. The performance and security of such protocols are quantified using quantum measurement theory. While previous investigations into quantum-secured covert sensing primarily focused on proof-of-concept phase estimation problems, this paper presents a pioneering quantum-secured covert sensing system designed for the Doppler effect---a versatile estimation problem with broad applications. Our research uncovers an inherent trade-off among measurement precision, security, and range within the system. This work establishes a new avenue for incorporating physical-layer security into sensing systems, thereby opening up exciting possibilities for future research in this field.

DOI
10.1103/physrevresearch.5.043206

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Quantum mechanics has paved the way for establishing shared privacy among communicating parties through a secure regime known as quantum-secured communication. Recent advancements in both theory and experimentation have unveiled the potential of quantum resources in enhancing the performance and security of estimating unknown parameters. This has led to the emergence of a novel paradigm known as quantum-secured covert sensing, wherein the sensing operation is concealed from an adversary monitoring the environment by embedding the probe signal in a bright noise background. The performance and security of such protocols are quantified using quantum measurement theory. While previous investigations into quantum-secured covert sensing primarily focused on proof-of-concept phase estimation problems, this paper presents a pioneering quantum-secured covert sensing system designed for the Doppler effect---a versatile estimation problem with broad applications. Our research uncovers an inherent trade-off among measurement precision, security, and range within the system. This work establishes a new avenue for incorporating physical-layer security into sensing systems, thereby opening up exciting possibilities for future research in this field.
The laws of quantum physics endow superior performance and security for information processing: quantum sensing harnesses nonclassical resources to enable measurement precision unmatched by classical sensing, whereas quantum cryptography aims to unconditionally protect the secrecy of the processed information. Here, we present the theory and experiment for entanglement-enhanced covert sensing, a paradigm that simultaneously offers high measurement precision and data integrity by concealing the probe signal in an ambient noise background so that the execution of the protocol is undetectable with a high probability. We show that entanglement offers a performance boost in estimating the imparted phase by a probed object, as compared to a classical protocol at the same covertness level. The implemented entanglement-enhanced covert sensing protocol operates close to the fundamental quantum limit by virtue of its near-optimum entanglement source and quantum receiver. Our work is expected to create ample opportunities for quantum information processing at unprecedented security and performance levels.
Abstract Quantum communication addresses the problem of exchanging information across macroscopic distances by employing encryption techniques based on quantum mechanical laws. Here, we advance a new paradigm for secure quantum communication by combining backscattering concepts with covert communication in the microwave regime. Our protocol allows communication between Alice, who uses only discrete phase modulations, and Bob, who has access to cryogenic microwave technology. Using notions of quantum channel discrimination and quantum metrology, we find the ultimate bounds for the receiver performance, proving that quantum correlations can enhance the signal-to-noise ratio by up to 6 dB. We show that security can be reached by covering the carrier signal through the presence of the thermal noise in the environment. We complement our information-theoretic results with a feasible experimental proposal in a circuit QED platform. This work makes a decisive step toward implementing secure quantum communication concepts in the previously uncharted 1 − 10 GHz frequency range, in the relevant scenario when the available power is severely constrained.
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