Abstract: We introduce a new class of quantum key distribution protocols, tailored to be robust against photon number splitting (PNS) attacks. We study one of these protocols, which differs from the original protocol by Bennett and Brassard (BB84) only in the classical sifting procedure. This protocol is provably better than BB84 against PNS attacks at zero error.

Abstract: We prove the security of the Bennett-Brassard (BB84) quantum key distribution protocol in the case where the source and detector are under the limited control of an adversary. Our proof applies when both the source and the detector have small basis-dependent flaws, as is typical in practical implementations of the protocol. We derive a general lower bound on the asymptotic key generation rate for weakly basis-dependent eavesdropping attacks, and also estimate the rate in some special cases: sources that emit weak coherent states with random phases, detectors with basis-dependent efficiency, and misaligned sources and detectors.

Abstract: We report a demonstration of quantum key distribution over a standard telecom fiber exceeding 100 km in length. Through careful optimization of the interferometer and single photon detector, we achieve a quantum bit error ratio of 8.9% for a 122 km link, allowing a secure shared key to be formed after error correction and privacy amplification. Key formation rates of up to 1.9 kbit/s are achieved depending upon fiber length. We discuss the factors limiting the maximum fiber length in quantum cryptography.

Abstract: In this paper, we present a new entanglement monotone for bipartite quantum states. Its definition is inspired by the so-called intrinsic information of classical cryptography and is given by the halved minimum quantum conditional mutual information over all tripartite state extensions. We derive certain properties of the new measure which we call “squashed entanglement”: it is a lower bound on entanglement of formation and an upper bound on distillable entanglement. Furthermore, it is convex, additive on tensor products, and superadditive in general. Continuity in the state is the only property of our entanglement measure which we cannot provide a proof for. We present some evidence, however, that our quantity has this property, the strongest indication being a conjectured Fannes-type inequality for the conditional von Neumann entropy. This inequality is proved in the classical case.

Abstract: We propose a new coherent state quantum key distribution protocol that eliminates the need to randomly switch between measurement bases. This protocol provides significantly higher secret key rates with increased bandwidths than previous schemes that only make single quadrature measurements. It also offers the further advantage of simplicity compared to all previous protocols which, to date, have relied on switching.

Abstract: We demonstrate a multipartite protocol to securely distribute and reconstruct a quantum state. A secret quantum state is encoded into a tripartite entangled state and distributed to three players. By collaborating, any two of the three players can reconstruct the state, while individual players obtain nothing. We characterize this (2,3) threshold quantum state sharing scheme in terms of fidelity, signal transfer, and reconstruction noise. We demonstrate a fidelity averaged over all reconstruction permutations of 0.73+/-0.04, a level achievable only using quantum resources.

Abstract: We demonstrate that a necessary precondition for an unconditionally secure quantum key distribution is that both sender and receiver can use the available measurement results to prove the presence of entanglement in a quantum state that is effectively distributed between them. One can thus systematically search for entanglement using the class of entanglement witness operators that can be constructed from the observed data. We apply such analysis to two well-known quantum key distribution protocols, namely, the 4-state protocol and the 6-state protocol. As a special case, we show that, for some asymmetric error patterns, the presence of entanglement can be proven even for error rates above 25% (4-state protocol) and 33% (6-state protocol).

Abstract: We present an entangled-state quantum cryptography system that operated for the first time in a real-world application scenario. The full key generation protocol was performed in real-time between two distributed embedded hardware devices, which were connected by 1.45 km of optical fiber, installed for this experiment in the Vienna sewage system. The generated quantum key was immediately handed over and used by a secure communication application.

Abstract: A general study of arbitrary finite-size coherent attacks against continuous-variable quantum cryptographic schemes is presented. It is shown that, if the size of the blocks that can be coherently attacked by an eavesdropper is fixed and much smaller than the key size, then the optimal attack for a given signal-to-noise ratio in the transmission line is an individual Gaussian attack. Consequently, non-Gaussian coherent attacks do not need to be considered in the security analysis of such quantum cryptosystems.

Abstract: We show that superselection rules do not enhance the information-theoretic security of quantum cryptographic protocols. Our analysis employs two quite different methods. The first method uses the concept of a reference system—in a world subject to a superselection rule, unrestricted operations can be simulated by parties who share access to a reference system with suitable properties. By this method, we prove that if an n-party protocol is secure in a world subject to a superselection rule, then the security is maintained even if the superselection rule is relaxed. However, the proof applies only to a limited class of superselection rules, those in which the superselection sectors are labeled by unitary irreducible representations of a compact symmetry group. The second method uses the concept of the format of a message sent between parties—by verifying the format, the recipient of a message can check whether the message could have been sent by a party who performed charge-conserving operations. By this method, we prove that protocols subject to general superselection rules (including those pertaining to non-Abelian anyons in two dimensions) are no more secure than protocols in the unrestricted world. However, the proof applies only to two-party protocols. Our results show in particular that, if no assumptions are made about the computational power of the cheater, then secure quantum bit commitment and strong quantum coin flipping with arbitrarily small bias are impossible in a world subject to superselection rules.

Abstract: Quantum Cryptography.- New OVDs for Personalized Documents Based on Color Holography and Lippmann Photography.- Distortion- and Noise-Robust Digital Watermarking Using Input and Fourier-Plane Phase Encoding.- Steganography and Encryption Systems Based on Spatial Correlators with Meaningful Output Images.- Optoelectronic Information Encryption with Incoherent Light.- Information Hiding: Steganography and Watermarking.- Watermarking Streaming Video: The Temporal Synchronization Problem.- Secure Display Using Encrypted Digital Holograms.- Compression of Digital Holograms for Secure Three-Dimensional Image Storage and Transmission.- Optical Image Encryption Using Optimized Keys.- Polarization Encoding for an Optical Security System.- Stream Cipher Using Optical Affine Transformation.- Applications of Digital Holography for Information Security.- Gait-Based Human Identification Using Appearance Matching.- 2-D Periodic Patterns for Image Watermarking.- Image Steganalysis.- Public-Key Cryptography: An Overview of some Algorithms.

Abstract: We prove the unconditional security of a quantum key distribution protocol in which bit values are encoded in the phase of a weak coherent-state pulse relative to a strong reference pulse. In contrast with implementations in which a weak pulse is used as a substitute for a single-photon source, the achievable key rate is found to decrease only linearly with the transmission of the channel.

Abstract: Detectors that can resolve photon number are needed in many quantum information technologies. In order to be useful in quantum information processing, such detectors should be simple, easy to use, and be scalable to resolve any number of photons, as the application may require great portability such as in quantum cryptography. Here we describe the construction of a time-multiplexed detector, which uses a pair of standard avalanche photodiodes operated in Geiger mode. The detection technique is analysed theoretically and tested experimentally using a pulsed source of weak coherent light.

Abstract: We describe the implementation of a quantum key distribution (QKD) system using a single-photon source, operating at night in open air. The single- photon source at the heart of the functional and reliable set-up relies on the pulsed excitation of a single nitrogen-vacancy colour centre in a diamond nanocrystal. We tested the effect of attenuation on the polarized encoded photons for inferring the longer distance performance of our system. For strong attenuation, the use of pure single-photon states gives measurable advantage over systems relying on weak attenuated laser pulses. The results are in good agreement with theoretical models developed to assess QKD security.

Abstract: Given many realizations of a state or a channel as a resource, two parties can generate a secret key as well as entanglement. We describe protocols to perform the secret key distillation (as it turns out, with optimal rate). Then we show how to achieve optimal entanglement generation rates by ``coherent'' implementation of a class of secret key agreement protocols, proving the long-conjectured ``hashing inequality.''

Abstract: We present an experimental demonstration of a quantum key distribution protocol using coherent polarization states. Post selection is used to ensure a low error rate and security against beam-splitting attacks even in the presence of high losses. Signal encoding and readout in polarization bases avoids the difficult task of sending a local oscillator with the quantum channel. This makes our setup robust and easy to implement. A shared key was established for losses up to 64%.

Abstract: A quantum encryption scheme (also called private quantum channel, or state randomization protocol) is a one-time pad for quantum messages. If two parties share a classical random string, one of them can transmit a quantum state to the other so that an eavesdropper gets little or no information about the state being transmitted. Perfect encryption schemes leak no information at all about the message. Approximate encryption schemes leak a non-zero (though small) amount of information but require a shorter shared random key. Approximate schemes with short keys have been shown to have a number of applications in quantum cryptography and information theory [8].

Abstract: Quantum key distribution allows two parties, traditionally known as Alice and Bob, to establish a secure random cryptographic key if, firstly, they have access to a quantum communication channel, and secondly, they can exchange classical public messages which can be monitored but not altered by an eavesdropper, Eve. Quantum key distribution provides perfect security because, unlike its classical counterpart, it relies on the laws of physics rather than on ensuring that successful eavesdropping would require excessive computational effort. However, security proofs of quantum key distribution are not trivial and are usually restricted in their applicability to specific protocols. In contrast, we present a general and conceptually simple proof which can be applied to a number of different protocols. It relies on the fact that a cryptographic procedure called privacy amplification is equally secure when an adversary’s memory for data storage is quantum rather than classical [1].

Abstract: In this Letter, first, we investigate the security of a continuous-variable quantum cryptographic scheme with a postselection process against individual beam splitting attack. It is shown that the scheme can be secure in the presence of the transmission loss owing to the postselection. Second, we provide a loss limit for continuous-variable quantum cryptography using coherent states taking into account excess Gaussian noise on quadrature distribution. Since the excess noise is reduced by the loss mechanism, a realistic intercept-resend attack which makes a Gaussian mixture of coherent states gives a loss limit in the presence of any excess Gaussian noise.

Abstract: We propose a prepare-and-measure scheme for quantum key distribution with two-qubit quantum codes. The protocol is unconditionally secure under all types of intercept-and-resend attack. Given the symmetric and independent errors to the transmitted qubits, our scheme can tolerate a bit of an error rate up to 26% in four-state protocol and 30% in six-state protocol, respectively. These values are higher than all currently known threshold values for the prepare-and-measure protocols. Moreover, we give a practically implementable linear optics realization for our scheme.

Abstract: The security of quantum communications lies in the capability of the legitimate parties to detect eavesdropping. Here we propose to use delayed measurement to increase the efficiency of protocols of quantum key distribution and quantum secret sharing that uses a random choice of measuring-basis. In addition to a higher efficiency, these measures also bring the benefit of much reduced amount of classical communications.

Abstract: We present a distributed implementation of Shor's quantum factoring algorithm on a distributed quantum network model. This model provides a means for small capacity quantum computers to work together in such a way as to simulate a large capacity quantum computer. In this paper, entanglement is used as a resource for implementing non-local operations between two or more quantum computers. These non-local operations are used to implement a distributed factoring circuit with polynomially many gates. This distributed version of Shor's algorithm requires an additional overhead of O((log N)^2) communication complexity, where N denotes the integer to be factored.

Abstract: To compensate for all polarization fluctuations in the transmitting fiber by using Faraday mirror is discussed, and "plug- and- play" system based on Faraday mirror for quantum cryptography is introduced, phase-encoding analysis in brief for plug- and- play system is implemented The interfering pulses follow exactly the same spatial path, ensuring very high stability and self-compensating The use of Faraday mirrors compensates for automatically any birefringence effects and polarization dependent losses in the transmitting fiber

Abstract: A weak pulse quantum key distribution system is presented, which is secure against all individual attacks, including photon number splitting By carefully controlling the weak pulse intensity the maximum secure bit rate as a function of the fibre length is demonstrated Unconditionally secure keys can be formed for standard telecom fibres exceeding 50 km in length

Abstract: We report two key distribution schemes achieved by swapping quantum entanglement. Using two Bell states, two bits of secret key can be shared between two distant parties that play symmetric and equal roles. We also address eavesdropping attacks against the schemes.

Abstract: A completely insecure communication channel can only be transformed into an unconditionally secure channel if some information-theoretic primitive is given to start from. All previous approaches to realizing such authenticity and privacy from weak primitives were symmetric in the sense that security for both parties was achieved. We show that asymmetric information-theoretic security can, however, be obtained at a substantially lower price than two-way security|like in the computational-security setting, as the example of public-key cryptography demonstrates. In addition to this, we show that also an unconditionally secure bidirectional channel can be obtained under weaker conditions than previously known. One consequence of these results is that the assumption usually made in the context of quantum key distribution that the two parties share a short key initially is unnecessarily strong.

Abstract: The performance of multi-user quantum key distribution systems is compared for four different optical network topologies: Sagnac-based fiber ring, wavelength routed, passive star and bus. Their performances are analyzed using quantum bit error rate analysis.