quantum cryptography
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| quantum cryptography | |
|---|---|
| Name | Quantum cryptography |
| Invented | 1984 |
| Inventor | Charles H. Bennett; Gilles Brassard |
| Field | Quantum information science; Cryptography |
| Related | Quantum key distribution; Quantum computing; Quantum information theory |
quantum cryptography is a field at the intersection of Charles H. Bennett and Gilles Brassard's foundational work and later advances in Artur Ekert's protocols, combining principles of Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty, John Bell's inequalities, and Paul Dirac's formalism to secure information exchange. It spans theoretical results and experimental implementations involving organizations such as IBM, Google, ID Quantique, and national laboratories including Los Alamos National Laboratory and National Institute of Standards and Technology. Research and deployment are influenced by policies and standards set by bodies like European Telecommunications Standards Institute, NATO, and national agencies including National Institute of Standards and Technology and China Academy of Sciences.
Overview
Quantum cryptography leverages quantum-mechanical effects discovered by Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, and Erwin Schrödinger to achieve cryptographic tasks that complement classical schemes used by RSA (cryptosystem), Diffie–Hellman key exchange, and Advanced Encryption Standard. The area is central to programs at institutions such as MIT, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Tsinghua University, University of Waterloo, and industrial research groups at Microsoft Research and Xerox PARC. Funding and interest have come from initiatives like the European Union Horizon 2020 program, the U.S. Department of Defense, and national quantum initiatives in China, United Kingdom, and Canada.
Principles and Techniques
Foundational techniques draw on Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, John Bell's theorem, and Claude Shannon's information theory to quantify secrecy and detect eavesdropping. Protocol design often references the work of Bennett and Brassard, Artur Ekert, and security proofs by H.-K. Lo, Xiongfeng Ma, and Renato Renner. Quantum states of light—single photons, entangled pairs, and coherent states—are prepared, manipulated, and measured using devices developed by groups at Bell Labs, Fujitsu, NTT, and Toshiba Research. Error correction and privacy amplification build on concepts from Richard Hamming, Claude Shannon, Peter Shor, and Andrew Steane.
Quantum Key Distribution
Quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols include protocols introduced by Charles H. Bennett and Gilles Brassard and entanglement-based schemes proposed by Artur Ekert. Practical QKD systems have been demonstrated by companies like ID Quantique and consortia such as the SECOQC project and testbeds led by Chinese Academy of Sciences and European Space Agency. Security proofs reference works by Hugh- K. Lo, Xiao Ma, Renato Renner, and Miklos Santha; composable security frameworks use techniques developed at University of Cambridge and ETH Zurich. Field trials have linked metropolitan networks in projects funded by European Commission and national programs in China, Austria, Japan, and South Korea.
Implementations and Technologies
Hardware implementations exploit sources and detectors from vendors including ID Quantique, Princeton Lightwave, and laboratory groups at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and University of Geneva. Free-space QKD demonstrations involve platforms tested by European Space Agency and missions influenced by work at Cnes and collaborations with Chinese Academy of Sciences for satellite links. Integrated photonics platforms draw on fabrication foundries at IMEC, CSEM, and Teledyne e2v while superconducting and single-photon detectors reference research at National Institute of Standards and Technology and NIST laboratories. Quantum random number generators and hardware security modules are commercialized by firms including ID Quantique and startups spun out from University of Waterloo and Tsinghua University.
Security Analysis and Attacks
Security analysis employs mathematical frameworks developed by Claude Shannon, Ronald Rivest, and security theorists such as Renato Renner and H.-K. Lo. Practical attack classes include photon-number-splitting attacks explored by Norbert Lütkenhaus and side-channel attacks studied at University of Geneva and University of Tokyo. Countermeasures such as decoy-state methods were proposed by researchers including Xiongfeng Ma and validated by experimental teams at Tsinghua University and University of Bristol. Device-independent approaches trace conceptual ancestry to John Bell and have been pursued by teams at Perimeter Institute, IQC (Institute for Quantum Computing), and University of Vienna.
Applications and Integration
Applications target secure communications for institutions like European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, and national critical infrastructure operators, and integration efforts involve telecommunications companies such as BT Group, NTT, and Deutsche Telekom. QKD links have been trialed with classical encryption systems including Advanced Encryption Standard deployments and key-management integration by vendors such as Cisco Systems and Huawei. Research collaborations with cloud providers including IBM and Google explore hybrid classical-quantum architectures and post-quantum cryptography interoperability driven by standards bodies like ISO and IEEE.
History and Development
Key milestones begin with the 1984 protocol by Charles H. Bennett and Gilles Brassard, the 1991 commercial and experimental advances by research groups at Los Alamos National Laboratory and IBM, and the 1990s theoretical security work by Norbert Lütkenhaus and Hugh- K. Lo. The 2000s saw metropolitan networks and industry efforts from ID Quantique and governmental programs in China and European Union initiatives including SECOQC. Recent decades feature satellite QKD projects led by Chinese Academy of Sciences and space agencies such as European Space Agency and integration research at Perimeter Institute and Institute for Quantum Computing.