Loss-tolerant quantum cryptography with imperfect sources

Kiyoshi Tamaki, Marcos Curty, Go Kato, Hoi-Kwong Lo, and Koji Azuma
Phys. Rev. A 90, 052314 – Published 12 November 2014

Abstract

In principle, quantum key distribution (QKD) offers unconditional security based on the laws of physics. Unfortunately, all previous QKD experiments assume perfect state preparation in their security analysis. Therefore, the generated key is not proven to be secure in the presence of unavoidable modulation errors. The key reason that modulation errors are not considered in previous QKD experiments lies in a crucial weakness of the standard Gottesman-Lo-Lütkenhaus-Preskill (GLLP) model, namely, it is not loss tolerant and Eve may in principle enhance imperfections through losses. Here, we propose a QKD protocol that is loss tolerant to state preparation flaws. Importantly, we show conclusively that the state preparation process in QKD can be much less precise than initially thought. Our method can also be applied to other quantum cryptographic protocols.

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  • Received 26 December 2013
  • Revised 17 September 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.90.052314

©2014 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Kiyoshi Tamaki1,*, Marcos Curty2, Go Kato3, Hoi-Kwong Lo4, and Koji Azuma1

  • 1NTT Basic Research Laboratories, NTT Corporation, 3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya Atsugi-Shi, Kanagawa, 243-0198, Japan
  • 2EI Telecomunicación, Department of Signal Theory and Communications, University of Vigo, E-36310, Spain
  • 3NTT Communication Science Laboratories, NTT Corporation, 3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya Atsugi-Shi, Kanagawa, 243-0198, Japan
  • 4Center for Quantum Information and Quantum Control, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Canada M5S 3G4

  • *tamaki.kiyoshi@lab.ntt.co.jp

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Vol. 90, Iss. 5 — November 2014

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