arXiv subjects

H. -K. Lo

Publications and source records attributed to H. -K. Lo.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2019

Proof-of-principle experimental demonstration of twin-field type quantum key distribution

The twin-field (TF) quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol and its variants are highly attractive because they can beat the well-known rate-loss limit (i.e., the PLOB bound) for QKD protocols without quantum repeaters. In this paper, we perform a proof-of-principle experimental demonstration of TF-QKD based on the protocol proposed by Curty et al. which removes from the original TF-QKD scheme the need for post-selection on the matching of a global phase, and can deliver nearly an order of magnitude higher secret key rate. Furthermore, we overcome the major difficulty in the practical implementation of TF-QKD, namely, the need to stabilize the phase of the quantum state over kilometers of fiber. A Sagnac loop structure is utilized to ensure excellent phase stability between the different parties. Using decoy states, we demonstrate secret-key generation rates that beat the PLOB bound when the channel loss is above 40 dB.

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arXiv2014

No Superluminal Signaling Implies Unconditionally Secure Bit Commitment

Bit commitment (BC) is an important cryptographic primitive for an agent to convince a mutually mistrustful party that she has already made a binding choice of 0 or 1 but only to reveal her choice at a later time. Ideally, a BC protocol should be simple, reliable, easy to implement using existing technologies, and most importantly unconditionally secure in the sense that its security is based on an information-theoretic proof rather than computational complexity assumption or the existence of a trustworthy arbitrator. Here we report such a provably secure scheme involving only one-way classical communications whose unconditional security is based on no superluminal signaling (NSS). Our scheme is inspired by the earlier works by Kent, who proposed two impractical relativistic protocols whose unconditional securities are yet to be established as well as several provably unconditionally secure protocols which rely on both quantum mechanics and NSS. Our scheme is conceptually simple and shows for the first time that quantum communication is not needed to achieve unconditional security for BC. Moreover, with purely classical communications, our scheme is practical and easy to implement with existing telecom technologies. This completes the cycle of study of unconditionally secure bit commitment based on known physical laws.

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arXiv2005

Practical Decoy State for Quantum Key Distribution

Decoy states have recently been proposed as a useful method for substantially improving the performance of quantum key distribution. Here, we present a general theory of the decoy state protocol based on only two decoy states and one signal state. We perform optimization on the choice of intensities of the two decoy states and the signal state. Our result shows that a decoy state protocol with only two types of decoy states--the vacuum and a weak decoy state--asymptotically approaches the theoretical limit of the most general type of decoy state protocols (with an infinite number of decoy states). We also present a one-decoy-state protocol. Moreover, we provide estimations on the effects of statistical fluctuations and suggest that, even for long distance (larger than 100km) QKD, our two-decoy-state protocol can be implemented with only a few hours of experimental data. In conclusion, decoy state quantum key distribution is highly practical.

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arXiv1997

Why Quantum Bit Commitment And Ideal Quantum Coin Tossing Are Impossible

There had been well known claims of unconditionally secure quantum protocols for bit commitment. However, we, and independently Mayers, showed that all proposed quantum bit commitment schemes are, in principle, insecure because the sender, Alice, can almost always cheat successfully by using an Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) type of attack and delaying her measurements. One might wonder if secure quantum bit commitment protocols exist at all. We answer this question by showing that the same type of attack by Alice will, in principle, break any bit commitment scheme. The cheating strategy generally requires a quantum computer. We emphasize the generality of this ``no-go theorem'': Unconditionally secure bit commitment schemes based on quantum mechanics---fully quantum, classical or quantum but with measurements---are all ruled out by this result. Since bit commitment is a useful primitive for building up more sophisticated protocols such as zero-knowledge proofs, our results cast very serious doubt on the security of quantum cryptography in the so-called ``post-cold-war'' applications. We also show that ideal quantum coin tossing is impossible because of the EPR attack. This no-go theorem for ideal quantum coin tossing may help to shed some lights on the possibility of non-ideal protocols.

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arXiv1997

Making An Empty Promise With A Quantum Computer

Alice has made a decision in her mind. While she does not want to reveal it to Bob at this moment, she would like to convince Bob that she is committed to this particular decision and that she cannot change it at a later time. Is there a way for Alice to get Bob's trust? Until recently, researchers had believed that the above task can be performed with the help of quantum mechanics. And the security of the quantum scheme lies on the uncertainty principle. Nevertheless, such optimism was recently shattered by Mayers and by us, who found that Alice can always change her mind if she has a quantum computer. Here, we survey this dramatic development and its implications on the security of other quantum cryptographic schemes.

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arXiv1996

One-way Functions In Reversible Computations

One-way functions are used in modern cryto-systems as doortraps because their inverse functions are supposed to be difficult to compute. Nonetheless with the discovery of reversible computation, it seems that one may break a one-way function by running a reversible computer backward. Here, we argue that reversible computation alone poses no threat to the existence of one-way functions because of the generation of ``garbage bits'' during computations. Consequently, we prove a necessary and sufficient condition for a one-to-one function to be a one-way in terms of the growth rate of the total number of possible garbage bit configurations with the input size.

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arXiv1996

Primality Test Via Quantum Factorization

We consider a probabilistic quantum implementation of a variable of the Pocklington-Lehmer $N-1$ primality test using Shor's algorithm. O($\log^3 N \log\log N \log\log\log N$) elementary q-bit operations are required to determine the primality of a number $N$, making it (asymptotically) the fastest known primality test. Thus, the potential power of quantum mechanical computers is once again revealed.

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arXiv1996

How much does it cost to teleport?

We show that the entropy of entanglement of a state characterizes its ability to teleport. In particular, in order to teleport faithfully an unknown quantum $N$-state, the two users must share an entangled state with at least $\log_2 N$ bits entropy of entanglement. We also note that the maximum capacity for a mixed state ${\cal M}$ to teleport equals the maximum amount of entanglement entropy that can be distilled out from ${\cal M}$. Our result, therefore, provides an alternative interpretation for entanglement purification.

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