arXiv subjects

Matej Pivoluska

Publications and source records attributed to Matej Pivoluska.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Deployment of Entanglement-Based QKD in Financial Infrastructure

We demonstrate the feasibility of entanglement-based quantum key distribution (eQKD) in high-security financial infrastructure over a 22 km fiber link with 8 dB loss between two data centers using polarization entanglement. The fully automated system continuously generated secure keys for four months at an average rate of 63.8 kb/s, which were stored into a key management system and consumed to establish a VPN tunnel. The setup achieved 93.7% total up-time, with no downtime caused by the quantum optical components. Active polarization control kept the quantum bit error rate below 2% for 97.4% of the time and timing synchronization based on the entangled photon pairs' intrinsic temporal correlations achieved sub-300 ps precision. Our standalone system requires neither polarized guide lasers nor external high-precision time references. These results show practical integration of eQKD into operational financial infrastructure.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Tighter Asymptotic Key Rates for Intensity-Correlated Decoy-State QKD via Nonlinear Programming

Decoy-state QKD with phase-randomized weak coherent pulses is typically analyzed assuming independent, precisely prepared intensities. Real sources, however, can exhibit correlated intensity drift across rounds, potentially leaking intensity information and breaking the standard decoy-state reduction to linear programs. Cauchy--Schwarz (CS) constraints can restore security by coupling $n$-photon yields across intensities, but they introduce nonlinear square-root constraints that are commonly handled via outer linearisation around channel-model-based reference points. We propose a reproducible alternative: first solve the full CS-constrained parameter-estimation problems using the interior-point nonlinear solver IPOPT, then use the resulting candidate solution as the linearisation point for the outer optimisation that certifies a valid lower bound on the asymptotic key rate. Simulations for both coarse-grained model-independent correlations and fine-grained truncated-Gaussian models show consistently tighter key-rate bounds than canonical reference points, and in some cases allow certifying optimality when both optimisation stages coincide.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Quantum Key Distribution with Imperfections: Recent Advances in Security Proofs

In contrast to classical public-key cryptosystems, where the security of encoded messages relies on on computational assumptions, Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) enables two distant parties to establish a shared secret key that, when combined with a one-time pad, provides information-theoretically secure encryption, provided that the QKD protocol is supported by a rigorous security proof. In the last decades, security proofs robust against a wide range of eavesdropping strategies have established the theoretical soundness of several QKD protocols. However, most proofs are based on idealized models of the physical systems involved in such protocols and often include assumptions that are not satisfied in practical implementations. This mismatch creates a gap between theoretical security guarantees and actual experimental realizations, making QKD protocols vulnerable to attacks. To ensure the security of real-world QKD systems, it is therefore essential to account for imperfections in security analyses. In this article, we present an overview of recent analytical and numerical developments in QKD security proofs, which provide a versatile approach for incorporating imperfections and re-establishing the security of quantum communication protocols under realistic conditions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Harnessing high-dimensional temporal entanglement using limited interferometric setups

High-dimensional entanglement has shown to have significant advantages in quantum communication. It is available in many degrees of freedom and in particular in the time-domain routinely produced in down-conversion (SPDC). While advantageous in the sense that only a single detector channel is needed locally, it is notoriously hard to analyze, especially in an assumption-free manner that is required for quantum key distribution applications. We develop the first complete analysis of high-dimensional entanglement in the polarization-time-domain and show how to efficiently certify relevant density matrix elements and security parameters for Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). In addition to putting past experiments on rigorous footing, we also develop physical noise models and propose a novel setup that can further enhance the noise resistance of free-space quantum communication.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Harmonic Oscillator based Particle Swarm Optimization

Numerical optimization techniques are widely used in a broad area of science and technology, from finding the minimal energy of systems in Physics or Chemistry to finding optimal routes in logistics or optimal strategies for high speed trading. In general, a set of parameters (parameter space) is tuned to find the lowest value of a function depending on these parameters (cost function). In most cases the parameter space is too big to be completely searched and the most efficient techniques combine stochastic elements (randomness included in the starting setting and decision making during the optimization process) with well designed deterministic process. Thus there is nothing like a universal best optimization method; rather than that, different methods and their settings are more or less efficient in different contexts. Here we present a method that integrates Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), a highly effective and successful algorithm inspired by the collective behavior of a flock of birds searching for food, with the principles of Harmonic Oscillators. This physics-based approach introduces the concept of energy, enabling a smoother and a more controlled convergence throughout the optimization process. We test our method on a standard set of test functions and show that in most cases it can outperform its natural competitors including the original PSO as well as the broadly used COBYLA and Differential Evolution optimization methods.

cs.NE↗

arXiv2023

Quantum key distribution rates from semidefinite programming

Computing the key rate in quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols is a long standing challenge. Analytical methods are limited to a handful of protocols with highly symmetric measurement bases. Numerical methods can handle arbitrary measurement bases, but either use the min-entropy, which gives a loose lower bound to the von Neumann entropy, or rely on cumbersome dedicated algorithms. Based on a recently discovered semidefinite programming (SDP) hierarchy converging to the conditional von Neumann entropy, used for computing the asymptotic key rates in the device independent case, we introduce an SDP hierarchy that converges to the asymptotic secret key rate in the case of characterised devices. The resulting algorithm is efficient, easy to implement and easy to use. We illustrate its performance by recovering known bounds on the key rate and extending high-dimensional QKD protocols to previously intractable cases. We also use it to reanalyse experimental data to demonstrate how higher key rates can be achieved when the full statistics are taken into account.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Resource-efficient utilization of quantum computers

The current state of quantum computing is commonly described as the Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum era. Available computers contain a few dozens of qubits and can perform a few dozens of operations before the inevitable noise erases all information encoded in the calculation. Even if the technology advances fast within the next years, any use of quantum computers will be limited to short and simple tasks, serving as subroutines of more complex classical procedures. Even for these applications the resource efficiency, measured in the number of quantum computer runs, will be a key parameter. Here we suggest a general optimization procedure for hybrid quantum-classical algorithms that allows finding the optimal approach with limited quantum resources. We demonstrate this procedure on a specific example of variational quantum algorithm used to find the ground state energy of a hydrogen molecule.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Distribution of genuine high-dimensional entanglement over 10.2 km of noisy metropolitan atmosphere

In a recent quantum key distribution experiment, high-dimensional protocols were used to show an improved noise resistance over a 10.2 km free-space channel. One of the unresolved questions in this context is whether the communicating parties actually shared genuine high-dimensional entanglement. In this letter we introduce an improved discretisation and entanglement certification scheme for high-dimensional time-bin setups and apply it to the data obtained during the experiment. Our analysis answers the aforementioned question affirmatively and thus the experiment constitutes the first transmission of genuine high-dimensional entanglement in a single degree of freedom over a long-range free-space channel.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Improved noise resistance analysis for path-entangled subspace quantum key distribution

We revisit the practical implementation of high-dimensional quantum key distribution protocol using path entanglement reported in [Phys.Rev.Lett.~127,~110505,~2021]. Here we refine the noise robustness analysis performed there by simulating the effect of different types of channel noise on the noiseless experimental data. Further, we extend the analysis to two kinds of asymmetric scenarios. In the first scenario the entanglement source is placed in Alice's lab and thus Only one noisy channel has to be considered. In the second scenario, Bob's detectors are placed at different physical locations and therefore such scenario implements a simple communication network. Our analysis can also be extended to other experimental platforms and therefore provides a novel framework for fair noise robustness comparison of high-dimensional quantum key distribution protocols.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Self-testing quantum states via nonmaximal violation in Hardy's test of nonlocality

Self-testing protocols enable certification of quantum devices without demanding full knowledge about their inner workings. A typical approach in designing such protocols is based on observing nonlocal correlations which exhibit maximum violation in a Bell test. We show that in Bell experiment known as Hardy's test of nonlocality not only the maximally nonlocal correlation self-tests a quantum state, rather a non-maximal nonlocal behavior can serve the same purpose. We, in fact, completely characterize all such behaviors leading to self-test of every pure two qubit entangled state except the maximally entangled ones. Apart from originating a novel self-testing protocol, our method provides a powerful tool towards characterizing the complex boundary of the set of quantum correlations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Finite-Function-Encoding Quantum States

We introduce finite-function-encoding (FFE) states which encode arbitrary $d$-valued logic functions, i.e., multivariate functions over the ring of integers modulo $d$, and investigate some of their structural properties. We also point out some differences between polynomial and non-polynomial function encoding states: The former can be associated to graphical objects, that we dub tensor-edge hypergraphs (TEH), which are a generalization of hypergraphs with a tensor attached to each hyperedge encoding the coefficients of the different monomials. To complete the framework, we also introduce a notion of finite-function-encoding Pauli (FP) operators, which correspond to elements of what is known as the generalized symmetric group in mathematics. First, using this machinery, we study the stabilizer group associated to FFE states and observe how qudit hypergraph states introduced in arXiv:1612.06418v2 admit stabilizers of a particularly simpler form. Afterwards, we investigate the classification of FFE states under local unitaries (LU), and, after showing the complexity of this problem, we focus on the case of bipartite states and especially on the classification under local FP operations (LFP). We find all LU and LFP classes for two qutrits and two ququarts and study several other special classes, pointing out the relation between maximally entangled FFE states and complex Butson-type Hadamard matrices. Our investigation showcases also the relation between the properties of FFE states, especially their LU classification, and the theory of finite rings over the integers.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Non-local temporal interferometry for highly resilient free-space quantum communication

Entanglement distribution via photons over long distances enables many applications, including quantum key distribution (QKD), which provides unprecedented privacy. The inevitable degradation of entanglement through noise accumulated over long distances remains one of the key challenges in this area. Exploiting the potential of higher-dimensional entangled photons promises to address this challenge, but poses extreme demands on the experimental implementation. Here, we present an interstate free-space quantum link, distributing hyper-entanglement over $10.2\,$km with flexible dimensionality of encoding by deploying a phase-stable non-local Franson interferometer. With this distribution of multidimensional energy-time entangled photons, we analyse the achievable key rate in a dimensionally-adaptive QKD protocol that can be optimized with respect to any environmental noise conditions. Our approach enables and emphasises the power of high-dimensional entanglement for quantum communication, yielding a positive asymptotic key rate well into the dawn of the day.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Implementation of quantum compression on IBM quantum computers

Advances in development of quantum computing processors brought ample opportunities to test the performance of various quantum algorithms with practical implementations. In this paper we report on implementations of quantum compression algorithm that can efficiently compress unknown quantum information. We restricted ourselves to compression of three pure qubits into two qubits, as the complexity of even such a simple implementation is barely within the reach of today's quantum processors. We implemented the algorithm on IBM quantum processors with two different topological layouts - a fully connected triangle processor and a partially connected line processor. It turns out that the incomplete connectivity of the line processor affects the performance only minimally. On the other hand, it turns out that the transpilation, i.e. compilation of the circuit into gates physically available to the quantum processor, crucially influences the result. We also have seen that the compression followed by immediate decompression is, even for such a simple case, on the edge or even beyond the capabilities of currently available quantum processors.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Best-practice aspects of quantum-computer calculations: A case study of hydrogen molecule

Quantum computers are reaching one crucial milestone after another. Motivated by their progress in quantum chemistry, we have performed an extensive series of simulations of quantum-computer runs that were aimed at inspecting best-practice aspects of these calculations. In order to compare the performance of different set-ups, the ground-state energy of hydrogen molecule has been chosen as a benchmark for which the exact solution exists in literature. Applying variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) to a qubit Hamiltonian obtained by the Bravyi-Kitaev transformation we have analyzed the impact of various computational technicalities. These include (i) the choice of optimization methods, (ii) the architecture of quantum circuits, as well as (iii) different types of noise when simulating real quantum processors. On these we eventually performed a series of experimental runs as a complement to our simulations. The SPSA and COBYLA optimization methods have clearly outperformed the Nelder-Mead and Powell methods. The results obtained when using the $R_{\mathrm{y}}$ variational form were better than those obtained when the $R_{\mathrm{y}}R_{\mathrm{z}}$ form was used. The choice of an optimum {entangling layer} was sensitively interlinked with the choice of the optimization method. The circular {entangling layer} has been found to worsen the performance of the COBYLA method while the full {entangling layer} improved it. All four optimization methods sometimes lead to an energy that corresponds to an excited state rather than the ground state. We also show that a similarity analysis of measured probabilities can provide a useful insight.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

The Cost of Improving the Precision of the Variational Quantum Eigensolver for Quantum Chemistry

Quantum computing brings a promise of new approaches into computational quantum chemistry. While universal, fault-tolerant quantum computers are still not available, we want to utilize today's noisy quantum processors. One of their flagship applications is the variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) -- an algorithm to calculate the minimum energy of a physical Hamiltonian. In this study, we investigate how various types of errors affect the VQE, and how to efficiently use the available resources to produce precise computational results. We utilize a simulator of a noisy quantum device, an exact statevector simulator, as well as physical quantum hardware to study the VQE algorithm for molecular hydrogen. We find that the optimal way of running the hybrid classical-quantum optimization is to (i) allow some noise in intermediate energy evaluations, using fewer shots per step and fewer optimization iterations, but require high final readout precision, (ii) emphasize efficient problem encoding and ansatz parametrization, and (iii) run all experiments within a short time-frame, avoiding parameter drift with time. Nevertheless, current publicly available quantum resources are still very noisy and scarce/expensive, and even when using them efficiently it is quite difficult to obtain trustworthy calculations of molecular energies.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Fully passive entanglement based quantum key distribution scheme

In general, generation of entangled photon pairs and also the random choice of measurement basis can be implemented with passive optical devices in entanglement based quantum key distribution (QKD) system. However, auxiliary random numbers are still mandatory for conducting the privacy amplification procedure. In this paper, we propose a fully passive entanglement based QKD scheme in which certified random bits for privacy amplification are extracted from detection events of measurement-basis-mismatched entangled photon pairs. The privacy of these random bits can be certified by estimating the phase error rate in the sifted key. The idea of extracting certified random numbers from measurement-basis-mismatched photons, can be extended to all practical QKD schemes.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Pathways for entanglement based quantum communication in the face of high noise

Entanglement based quantum communication offers an increased level of security in practical secret shared key distribution. One of the fundamental principles enabling this security -- the fact that interfering with one photon will destroy entanglement and thus be detectable -- is also the greatest obstacle. Random encounters of traveling photons, losses and technical imperfections make noise an inevitable part of any quantum communication scheme, severely limiting distance, key rate and environmental conditions in which QKD can be employed. Using photons entangled in their spatial degree of freedom, we show that the increased noise resistance of high-dimensional entanglement, can indeed be harnessed for practical key distribution schemes. We perform quantum key distribution in eight entangled paths at various levels of environmental noise and show key rates that, even after error correction and privacy amplification, still exceed $1$ bit per photon pair and furthermore certify a secure key at noise levels that would prohibit comparable qubit based schemes from working.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

A model for optimizing quantum key distribution with continuous-wave pumped entangled-photon sources

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) allows unconditionally secure communication based on the laws of quantum mechanics rather then assumptions about computational hardness. Optimizing the operation parameters of a given QKD implementation is indispensable in order to achieve high secure key rates. So far, there exists no model that accurately describes entanglement-based QKD with continuous-wave pump lasers. For the first time, we analyze the underlying mechanisms for QKD with temporally uniform pair-creation probabilities and develop a simple but accurate model to calculate optimal trade-offs for maximal secure key rates. In particular, we find an optimization strategy of the source brightness for given losses and detection-time resolution. All experimental parameters utilized by the model can be inferred directly in standard QKD implementations, and no additional assessment of device performance is required. Comparison with experimental data shows the validity of our model. Our results yield a tool to determine optimal operation parameters for already existing QKD systems, to plan a full QKD implementation from scratch, and to determine fundamental key rate and distance limits of given connections.

quant-ph↗