Quantum Information Theory is an area of physics which studies both fundamental and applied issues in quantum mechanics from an information-theoretical viewpoint. The underlying techniques are, however, often restricted to the analysis of systems which satisfy a certain independence condition. For example, it is assumed that an experiment can be repeated independently many times or that a large physical system consists of many virtually independent parts. Unfortunately, such assumptions are not always justified. This is particularly the case for practical applications — e.g. in quantum cryptography — where parts of a system might have an arbitrary and unknown behavior. We propose an approach which allows us to study general physical systems for which the above mentioned independence condition does not necessarily hold. It is based on an extension of various information-theoretical notions. For example, we introduce new uncertainty measures, called smooth min- and max-entropy, which are generalizations of the von Neumann entropy. Furthermore, we develop a quantum version of de Finetti's representation theorem, as described below. Consider a physical system consisting of n parts. These might, for instance, be the outcomes of n runs of a physical experiment. Moreover, we assume that the joint state of this n-partite system can be extended to an (n + k)-partite state which is symmetric under permutations of its parts (for some k ≫ 1). The de Finetti representation theorem then says that the original n-partite state is, in a certain sense, close to a mixture of product states. Independence thus follows (approximatively) from a symmetry condition. This symmetry condition can easily be met in many natural situations. For example, it holds for the joint state of n parts, which are chosen at random from an arbitrary (n + k)-partite system. As an application of these techniques, we prove the security of quantum key distribution (QKD), i.e. secret key agreement by communication over a quantum channel. In particular, we show that, in order to analyze QKD protocols, it is generally sufficient to consider so-called collective attacks, where the adversary is restricted to applying the same operation to each particle sent over the quantum channel separately. The proof is generic and thus applies to known protocols such as BB84 and B92 (where better bounds on the secret-key rate and on the the maximum tolerated noise level of the quantum channel are obtained) as well as to continuous variable schemes (where no full security proof has been known). Furthermore, the security holds with respect to a strong so-called universally composable definition. This implies that the keys generated by a QKD protocol can safely be used in any application, e.g. for one-time pad encryption — which, remarkably, is not the case for most standard definitions.
Quantum Information Theory is an area of physics which studies both fundamental and applied issues in quantum mechanics from an information-theoretical viewpoint. The underlying techniques are, however, often restricted to the analysis of systems which satisfy a certain independence condition. For example, it is assumed that an experiment can be repeated independently many times or that a large physical system consists of many virtually independent parts. Unfortunately, such assumptions are not always justified. This is particularly the case for practical applications — e.g. in quantum cryptography — where parts of a system might have an arbitrary and unknown behavior. We propose an approach which allows us to study general physical systems for which the above mentioned independence condition does not necessarily hold. It is based on an extension of various information-theoretical notions. For example, we introduce new uncertainty measures, called smooth min- and max-entropy, which are generalizations of the von Neumann entropy. Furthermore, we develop a quantum version of de Finetti's representation theorem, as described below. Consider a physical system consisting of n parts. These might, for instance, be the outcomes of n runs of a physical experiment. Moreover, we assume that the joint state of this n-partite system can be extended to an (n + k)-partite state which is symmetric under permutations of its parts (for some k ≫ 1). The de Finetti representation theorem then says that the original n-partite state is, in a certain sense, close to a mixture of product states. Independence thus follows (approximatively) from a symmetry condition. This symmetry condition can easily be met in many natural situations. For example, it holds for the joint state of n parts, which are chosen at random from an arbitrary (n + k)-partite system. As an application of these techniques, we prove the security of quantum key distribution (QKD), i.e. secret key agreement by communication over a quantum channel. In particular, we show that, in order to analyze QKD protocols, it is generally sufficient to consider so-called collective attacks, where the adversary is restricted to applying the same operation to each particle sent over the quantum channel separately. The proof is generic and thus applies to known protocols such as BB84 and B92 (where better bounds on the secret-key rate and on the the maximum tolerated noise level of the quantum channel are obtained) as well as to continuous variable schemes (where no full security proof has been known). Furthermore, the security holds with respect to a strong so-called universally composable definition. This implies that the keys generated by a QKD protocol can safely be used in any application, e.g. for one-time pad encryption — which, remarkably, is not the case for most standard definitions.
Quantum Information Theory is an area of physics which studies both fundamental and applied issues in quantum mechanics from an information-theoretical viewpoint. The underlying techniques are, however, often restricted to the analysis of systems which satisfy a certain independence condition. For example, it is assumed that an experiment can be repeated independently many times or that a large physical system consists of many virtually independent parts. Unfortunately, such assumptions are not always justified. This is particularly the case for practical applications — e.g. in quantum cryptography — where parts of a system might have an arbitrary and unknown behavior. We propose an approach which allows us to study general physical systems for which the above mentioned independence condition does not necessarily hold. It is based on an extension of various information-theoretical notions. For example, we introduce new uncertainty measures, called smooth min- and max-entropy, which are generalizations of ...
We propose a general method for studying properties of quantum channels acting on an n-partite system, whose action is invariant under permutations of the subsystems. Our main result is that, in order to prove that a certain property holds for an arbitrary input, it is sufficient to consider the case where the input is a particular de Finetti-type state, i.e., a state which consists of n identical and independent copies of an (unknown) state on a single subsystem. Our technique can be applied to the analysis of information-theoretic problems. For example, in quantum cryptography, we get a simple proof for the fact that security of a discrete-variable quantum key distribution protocol against collective attacks implies security of the protocol against the most general attacks. The resulting security bounds are tighter than previously known bounds obtained with help of the exponential de Finetti theorem.
In this thesis we develop practical tools for quantum key distribution (QKD) security proofs. We apply the tools to provide security proofs for several protocols, ranging from discrete variable protocols in high dimensions, protocols with realistic implementations, measurement device independent QKD and continuous-variable QKD. The security proofs are based on the Devetak-Winter security framework [I. Devetak and A. Winter, Proc. of the Roy. Soc. of London Series A, 461, 207 (2005); B. Kraus, N. Gisin, and R. Renner, Phys. Rev. Lett., 95 080501 (2005)]. \n \nIn the key rate calculation, it is often convenient to assume that the optimal attack is symmetric. \nUnder the assumption that the parameter estimation is based on coarse-grained observations, we show that the optimal attack is symmetric, if the protocol and the postselection have sufficient symmetries. \nAs an example we calculate the key rates of protocols using 2, d and d+1 mutually unbiased bases in d-dimensional Hilbert spaces. \n \nWe investigate the connection between the optimal collective eavesdropping attack and the optimal cloning attack, in which the eavesdropper employs an optimal cloner to attack the protocol. \nWe find that, in general, it does not hold that the optimal attack is an optimal cloner. However, there are classes of protocols, for which we can identify the optimal attack by an optimal cloner. \nWe analyze protocols with mutually unbiased bases in d dimensions, and show that for the protocols with 2 and d+1 mutually unbiased bases the optimal attack is an optimal cloner, but for the protocols with d mutually unbiased bases, it is not. \n \nIn optical implementations of the phase-encoded BB84 protocol, the bit information is usually encoded in the phase of two consecutive photon pulses generated in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. In the actual experimental realization, the loss in the arms of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer is not balanced, for example because only one arm contains a lossy phase modulator. \nSince the imbalance changes the structure of the signals states and measurements, the BB84 security analysis no longer applies in this scenario. \nWe provide a security proof for the unbalanced phase-encoded BB84. The loss does lower the key rate compared to a protocol without loss. However, for a realistic parameter regime, the same key rate is found by applying the original BB84 security analysis. \n \nRecently, the security of a measurement device-independent QKD setup with BB84 signal states was proven in Refs. [H.-K. Lo, M. Curty, and B. Qi, Phys. Rev. Lett., 108 (2012); S. L. Braunstein and S. Pirandola, Phys. Rev. Lett., 108 (2012)]. In this setup Alice and Bob send quantum states to an intermediate node, which performs the measurement, and is assumed to be controlled by Eve. \nWe analyze the security of a measurement device-independent QKD protocol with B92 signal states, and calculate the key rates numerically for a realistic implementation. \nBased on our security proof we were able to prove the security of the strong reference pulse B92 protocol. \n \nWe analyze the security of continuous-variable protocols using the entropic uncertainty relations established in Ref. [M. Berta, M. Christandl, R. Colbeck, J. M. Renes, and R. Renner, Nature Physics 6, 659 (2010)] to provide an estimate of the key rate based on the observed first and second moments. We analyze a protocol with squeezed coherent states and the 2-state protocol with two coherent states with opposite phases.
The goal of quantum key distribution (QKD) is to establish a secure key between two parties connected by an insecure quantum channel. To use a QKD protocol in practice, one has to prove that a finite size key is secure against general attacks: no matter the adversary's attack, they cannot gain useful information about the key. A much simpler task is to prove security against collective attacks, where the adversary is assumed to behave identically and independently in each round. In this work, we provide a formal framework for general QKD protocols and show that for any protocol that can be expressed in this framework, security against general attacks reduces to security against collective attacks, which in turn reduces to a numerical computation. Our proof relies on a recently developed information-theoretic tool called generalised entropy accumulation and can handle generic prepare-and-measure protocols directly without switching to an entanglement-based version.
We present a technique for proving the security of quantum-key-distribution (QKD) protocols. It is based on direct information-theoretic arguments and thus also applies if no equivalent entanglement purification scheme can be found. Using this technique, we investigate a general class of QKD protocols with one-way classical post-processing. We show that, in order to analyze the full security of these protocols, it suffices to consider collective attacks. Indeed, we give new lower and upper bounds on the secret-key rate which only involve entropies of two-qubit density operators and which are thus easy to compute. As an illustration of our results, we analyze the Bennett-Brassard 1984, the six-state, and the Bennett 1992 protocols with one-way error correction and privacy amplification. Surprisingly, the performance of these protocols is increased if one of the parties adds noise to the measurement data before the error correction. In particular, this additional noise makes the protocols more robust against noise in the quantum channel.
This thesis is concerned with rigorous security analyses of practical Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocols, using a variety of modern proof techniques. The main results are as follows. First, we establish a security proof for variable-length QKD protocols against IID collective attacks, and extend this result to coherent attacks using the postselection technique. In doing so, we resolve a long-standing flaw in the application of the postselection technique to QKD, thereby placing it on a rigorous mathematical footing. Second, we develop a method to bound phase error rates in entropic uncertainty relation-based and phase error rate-based proofs, using only the observed statistics of the protocol, even when detectors are imperfect and only approximately characterized. This removes a key assumption of identical detector behaviour and enables these techniques to be applied in realistic settings. Third, we present a very general security analysis based on the marginal-constrained entropy accumulation theorem. The resulting framework can be readily adapted to practical imperfections and side channels, and is suitable for certification efforts. Finally, we show that the security of QKD protocols under realistic authentication assumptions can be reduced to the standard idealized setting, where authentication is assumed to behave honestly, with only minor protocol modifications. A distinctive feature of this thesis is its unified presentation of several major QKD security proof frameworks using consistent protocol descriptions and notation. Consequently, this thesis is intended not only as a collection of new technical results, but also as a useful reference for understanding rigorous security analysis in quantum key distribution.