Quantum Computation and Information Seminar 

20/05/2016, 10:00 — 11:00 — Room P3.10, Mathematics Building
Anthony Leverrier, INRIA Rocquencourt

Distributing secret keys with quantum continuous variables

The ability to distribute secret keys between two parties with information-theoretic security, that is regardless of the capacities of a malevolent eavesdropper, is one of the most celebrated results in the field of quantum information processing and communication. Indeed, quantum key distribution illustrates the power of encoding information on the quantum properties of light and has far-reaching implications in high-security applications. Today, quantum key distribution systems operate in real-world conditions and are commercially available. As with most quantum information protocols, quantum key distribution was first designed for qubits, the individual quanta of information. However, the use of quantum continuous variables for this task presents important advantages with respect to qubit-based protocols, in particular from a practical point of view, since it allows for simple implementations that require only standard telecommunication technology.

In this talk, I will explain the principle of continuous-variable quantum key distribution and explain how to prove security for such protocols.

Reference: Entropy 17, 6072-6092 (2015), arXiv:1506.02888