Various theories that aim at unifying gravity with quantum mechanics suggest modifications of the Heisenberg algebra for position and momentum. From the perspective of quantum mechanics, such modifications lead to new uncertainty relations that are thought (but not proven) to imply the existence of a minimal observable length. Here we prove this statement in a framework of sufficient physical and structural assumptions. Moreover, we present a general method that allows us to formulate optimal and state-independent variance-based uncertainty relations. In addition, instead of variances, we make use of entropies as a measure of uncertainty and provide uncertainty relations in terms of min and Shannon entropies. We compute the corresponding entropic minimal lengths and find that the minimal length in terms of min entropy is exactly 1 bit.Various theories that aim at unifying gravity with quantum mechanics suggest modifications of the Heisenberg algebra for position and momentum. From the perspective of quantum mechanics, such modifications lead to new uncertainty relations that are thought (but not proven) to imply the existence of a minimal observable length. Here we prove this statement in a framework of sufficient physical and structural assumptions. Moreover, we present a general method that allows us to formulate optimal and state-independent variance-based uncertainty relations. In addition, instead of variances, we make use of entropies as a measure of uncertainty and provide uncertainty relations in terms of min and Shannon entropies. We compute the corresponding entropic minimal lengths and find that the minimal length in terms of min entropy is exactly 1 bit.

arXiv:1607.00081Physical review. D/Physical review. D.Dec 5, 201617 citations

Min-entropy uncertainty relation for finite-size cryptography

Nelly H. Y. Ng, Mario Berta, Stephanie Wehner

Apart from their foundational significance, entropic uncertainty relations play a central role in proving the security of quantum cryptographic protocols. Of particular interest are therefore relations in terms of the smooth min-entropy for Bennett-Brassard 1984 (BB84) and six-state encodings. The smooth min-entropy ${H}_{\mathrm{min}}^{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}(X/B)$ quantifies the negative logarithm of the probability for an attacker $B$ to guess $X$ , except with a small failure probability $\ensuremath{\epsilon}$. Previously, strong uncertainty relations were obtained which are valid in the limit of large block lengths. Here, we prove an alternative uncertainty relation in terms of the smooth min-entropy that is only marginally less strong but has the crucial property that it can be applied to rather small block lengths. This paves the way for a practical implementation of many cryptographic protocols. As part of our proof we show tight uncertainty relations for a family of R\'enyi entropies that may be of independent interest.Apart from their foundational significance, entropic uncertainty relations play a central role in proving the security of quantum cryptographic protocols. Of particular interest are therefore relations in terms of the smooth min-entropy for Bennett-Brassard 1984 (BB84) and six-state encodings. The smooth min-entropy ${H}_{\mathrm{min}}^{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}(X/B)$ quantifies the negative logarithm of the probability for an attacker $B$ to guess $X$, except with a small failure probability $\ensuremath{\epsilon}$. Previously, strong uncertainty relations were obtained which are valid in the limit of large block lengths. Here, we prove an alternative uncertainty relation in terms of the smooth min-entropy that is only marginally less strong but has the crucial property that it can be applied to rather small block lengths. This paves the way for a practical implementation of many cryptographic protocols. As part of our proof we show tight uncertainty relations for a family of R\'enyi entropies that may be of independent interest.

arXiv:1205.0842Physical Review AOct 15, 201258 citations

Entropic Uncertainty Relations

Masanori Ohya, Dėnes Petz

Springer eBooksJan 1, 19930 citations

Entropic uncertainty relation

Branislav Mamojka

International Journal of Theoretical PhysicsOct 1, 197423 citations

A Tight High-Order Entropic Quantum Uncertainty Relation With Applications

Ivan Damgaard, Serge Fehr, Renato Renner +2 more

We derive a new entropic quantum uncertainty relation involving min-entropy. The relation is tight and can be applied in various quantum-cryptographic settings. Protocols for quantum 1-out-of-2 Oblivious Transfer and quantum Bit Commitment are presented and the uncertainty relation is used to prove the security of these protocols in the bounded quantum-storage model according to new strong security definitions. As another application, we consider the realistic setting of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) against quantum-memory-bounded eavesdroppers. The uncertainty relation allows to prove the security of QKD protocols in this setting while tolerating considerably higher error rates compared to the standard model with unbounded adversaries. For instance, for the six-state protocol with one-way communication, a bit-flip error rate of up to 17% can be tolerated (compared to 13% in the standard model). Our uncertainty relation also yields a lower bound on the min-entropy key uncertainty against known-plaintext attacks when quantum ciphers are composed. Previously, the key uncertainty of these ciphers was only known with respect to Shannon entropy.We derive a new entropic quantum uncertainty relation involving min-entropy. The relation is tight and can be applied in various quantum-cryptographic settings. Protocols for quantum 1-out-of-2 Oblivious Transfer and quantum Bit Commitment are presented and the uncertainty relation is used to prove the security of these protocols in the bounded quantum-storage model according to new strong security definitions. As another application, we consider the realistic setting of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) against quantum-memory-bounded eavesdroppers. The uncertainty relation allows to prove the security of QKD protocols in this setting while tolerating considerably higher error rates compared to the standard model with unbounded adversaries. For instance, for the six-state protocol with one-way communication, a bit-flip error rate of up to 17% can be tolerated (compared to 13% in the standard model). Our uncertainty relation also yields a lower bound on the min-entropy key uncertainty against known-plaintext attacks when quantum ciphers are composed. Previously, the key uncertainty of these ciphers was only known with respect to Shannon entropy.

arXiv:quant-ph/0612014Dec 2, 20061 citation

B

to guess

X

, except with a small failure probability $\ensuremath{\epsilon}$. Previously, strong uncertainty relations were obtained which are valid in the limit of large block lengths. Here, we prove an alternative uncertainty relation in terms of the smooth min-entropy that is only marginally less strong but has the crucial property that it can be applied to rather small block lengths. This paves the way for a practical implementation of many cryptographic protocols. As part of our proof we show tight uncertainty relations for a family of R\'enyi entropies that may be of independent interest.