arXiv subjects

Renato Renner

Publications and source records attributed to Renato Renner.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

de Finetti reductions for correlations

When analysing quantum information processing protocols one has to deal with large entangled systems, each consisting of many subsystems. To make this analysis feasible, it is often necessary to identify some additional structure. de Finetti theorems provide such a structure for the case where certain symmetries hold. More precisely, they relate states that are invariant under permutations of subsystems to states in which the subsystems are independent of each other. This relation plays an important role in various areas, e.g., in quantum cryptography or state tomography, where permutation invariant systems are ubiquitous. The known de Finetti theorems usually refer to the internal quantum state of a system and depend on its dimension. Here we prove a different de Finetti theorem where systems are modelled in terms of their statistics under measurements. This is necessary for a large class of applications widely considered today, such as device independent protocols, where the underlying systems and the dimensions are unknown and the entire analysis is based on the observed correlations.

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arXiv2015

Gibbs-Preserving Maps outperform Thermal Operations in the quantum regime

In this brief note, we compare two frameworks for characterizing possible operations in quantum thermodynamics. One framework considers Thermal Operations---unitaries which conserve energy. The other framework considers all maps which preserve the Gibbs state at a given temperature. Thermal Operations preserve the Gibbs state; hence a natural question which arises is whether the two frameworks are equivalent. Classically, this is true---Gibbs-Preserving Maps are no more powerful than Thermal Operations. Here, we show that this no longer holds in the quantum regime: a Gibbs-Preserving Map can generate coherent superpositions of energy levels while Thermal Operations cannot. This gap has an impact on clarifying a mathematical framework for quantum thermodynamics.

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arXiv2015

Quantum conditional mutual information and approximate Markov chains

A state on a tripartite quantum system $A \otimes B \otimes C$ forms a Markov chain if it can be reconstructed from its marginal on $A \otimes B$ by a quantum operation from $B$ to $B \otimes C$. We show that the quantum conditional mutual information $I(A: C | B)$ of an arbitrary state is an upper bound on its distance to the closest reconstructed state. It thus quantifies how well the Markov chain property is approximated.

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arXiv2014

Using quantum key distribution for cryptographic purposes: a survey

The appealing feature of quantum key distribution (QKD), from a cryptographic viewpoint, is the ability to prove the information-theoretic security (ITS) of the established keys. As a key establishment primitive, QKD however does not provide a standalone security service in its own: the secret keys established by QKD are in general then used by a subsequent cryptographic applications for which the requirements, the context of use and the security properties can vary. It is therefore important, in the perspective of integrating QKD in security infrastructures, to analyze how QKD can be combined with other cryptographic primitives. The purpose of this survey article, which is mostly centered on European research results, is to contribute to such an analysis. We first review and compare the properties of the existing key establishment techniques, QKD being one of them. We then study more specifically two generic scenarios related to the practical use of QKD in cryptographic infrastructures: 1) using QKD as a key renewal technique for a symmetric cipher over a point-to-point link; 2) using QKD in a network containing many users with the objective of offering any-to-any key establishment service. We discuss the constraints as well as the potential interest of using QKD in these contexts. We finally give an overview of challenges relative to the development of QKD technology that also constitute potential avenues for cryptographic research.

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arXiv2014

Non-signalling parallel repetition using de Finetti reductions

In the context of multiplayer games, the parallel repetition problem can be phrased as follows: given a game $G$ with optimal winning probability $1-α$ and its repeated version $G^n$ (in which $n$ games are played together, in parallel), can the players use strategies that are substantially better than ones in which each game is played independently? This question is relevant in physics for the study of correlations and plays an important role in computer science in the context of complexity and cryptography. In this work the case of multiplayer non-signalling games is considered, i.e., the only restriction on the players is that they are not allowed to communicate during the game. For complete-support games (games where all possible combinations of questions have non-zero probability to be asked) with any number of players we prove a threshold theorem stating that the probability that non-signalling players win more than a fraction $1-α+β$ of the $n$ games is exponentially small in $nβ^2$, for every $0\leq β\leq α$. For games with incomplete support we derive a similar statement, for a slightly modified form of repetition. The result is proved using a new technique, based on a recent de Finetti theorem, which allows us to avoid central technical difficulties that arise in standard proofs of parallel repetition theorems.

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arXiv2014

Composable security of delegated quantum computation

Delegating difficult computations to remote large computation facilities, with appropriate security guarantees, is a possible solution for the ever-growing needs of personal computing power. For delegated computation protocols to be usable in a larger context---or simply to securely run two protocols in parallel---the security definitions need to be composable. Here, we define composable security for delegated quantum computation. We distinguish between protocols which provide only blindness---the computation is hidden from the server---and those that are also verifiable---the client can check that it has received the correct result. We show that the composable security definition capturing both these notions can be reduced to a combination of several distinct "trace-distance-type" criteria---which are, individually, non-composable security definitions. Additionally, we study the security of some known delegated quantum computation protocols, including Broadbent, Fitzsimons and Kashefi's Universal Blind Quantum Computation protocol. Even though these protocols were originally proposed with insufficient security criteria, they turn out to still be secure given the stronger composable definitions.

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arXiv2014

Cryptographic security of quantum key distribution

This work is intended as an introduction to cryptographic security and a motivation for the widely used Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) security definition. We review the notion of security necessary for a protocol to be usable in a larger cryptographic context, i.e., for it to remain secure when composed with other secure protocols. We then derive the corresponding security criterion for QKD. We provide several examples of QKD composed in sequence and parallel with different cryptographic schemes to illustrate how the error of a composed protocol is the sum of the errors of the individual protocols. We also discuss the operational interpretations of the distance metric used to quantify these errors.

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arXiv2014

Efficient Approximation of Quantum Channel Capacities

We propose an iterative method for approximating the capacity of classical-quantum channels with a discrete input alphabet and a finite dimensional output, possibly under additional constraints on the input distribution. Based on duality of convex programming, we derive explicit upper and lower bounds for the capacity. To provide an $\varepsilon$-close estimate to the capacity, the presented algorithm requires $O(\tfrac{(N \vee M) M^3 \log(N)^{1/2}}{\varepsilon})$, where $N$ denotes the input alphabet size and $M$ the output dimension. We then generalize the method for the task of approximating the capacity of classical-quantum channels with a bounded continuous input alphabet and a finite dimensional output. For channels with a finite dimensional quantum mechanical input and output, the idea of a universal encoder allows us to approximate the Holevo capacity using the same method. In particular, we show that the problem of approximating the Holevo capacity can be reduced to a multidimensional integration problem. For families of quantum channels fulfilling a certain assumption we show that the complexity to derive an $\varepsilon$-close solution to the Holevo capacity is subexponential or even polynomial in the problem size. We provide several examples to illustrate the performance of the approximation scheme in practice.

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arXiv2014

One-shot decoupling

If a quantum system A, which is initially correlated to another system, E, undergoes an evolution separated from E, then the correlation to E generally decreases. Here, we study the conditions under which the correlation disappears (almost) completely, resulting in a decoupling of A from E. We give a criterion for decoupling in terms of two smooth entropies, one quantifying the amount of initial correlation between A and E, and the other characterizing the mapping that describes the evolution of A. The criterion applies to arbitrary such mappings in the general one-shot setting. Furthermore, the criterion is tight for mappings that satisfy certain natural conditions. Decoupling has a number of applications both in physics and information theory, e.g., as a building block for quantum information processing protocols. As an example, we give a one-shot state merging protocol and show that it is essentially optimal in terms of its entanglement consumption/production.

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arXiv2014

Classical leakage resilience from fault-tolerant quantum computation

Physical implementations of cryptographic algorithms leak information, which makes them vulnerable to so-called side-channel attacks. The problem of secure computation in the presence of leakage is generally known as leakage resilience. In this work, we establish a connection between leakage resilience and fault-tolerant quantum computation. We first prove that for a general leakage model, there exists a corresponding noise model in which fault tolerance implies leakage resilience. Then we show how to use constructions for fault-tolerant quantum computation to implement classical circuits that are secure in specific leakage models.

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arXiv2014

Relative Thermalization

When studying thermalization of quantum systems, it is typical to ask whether a system interacting with an environment will evolve towards a local thermal state. Here, we show that a more general and relevant question is "when does a system thermalize relative to a particular reference?" By relative thermalization we mean that, as well as being in a local thermal state, the system is uncorrelated with the reference. We argue that this is necessary in order to apply standard statistical mechanics to the study of the interaction between a thermalized system and a reference. We then derive a condition for relative thermalization of quantum systems interacting with an arbitrary environment. This condition has two components: the first is state-independent, reflecting the structure of invariant subspaces, like energy shells, and the relative sizes of system and environment; the second depends on the initial correlations between reference, system and environment, measured in terms of conditional entropies. Intuitively, a small system interacting with a large environment is likely to thermalize relative to a reference, but only if, initially, the reference was not highly correlated with the system and environment. Our statement makes this intuition precise, and we show that in many natural settings this thermalization condition is approximately tight. Established results on thermalization, which usually ignore the reference, follow as special cases of our statements.

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arXiv2013

Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution with Local Bell Test

Device-independent quantum key distribution (DIQKD) in its current design requires a violation of Bell's inequality between two honest parties, Alice and Bob, who are connected by a quantum channel. However, in reality, quantum channels are lossy, and this can be exploited for attacks based on the detection loophole. Here, we propose a novel approach to DIQKD that overcomes this limitation. In particular, based on a combination between an entropic uncertainty relation and the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) test, we design a DIQKD protocol where the CHSH test is carried out entirely in Alice's laboratory. Thus the loophole caused by channel losses is avoided.

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arXiv2013

Security of two-way quantum key distribution

Quantum key distribution protocols typically make use of a one-way quantum channel to distribute a shared secret string to two distant users. However, protocols exploiting a two-way quantum channel have been proposed as an alternative route to the same goal, with the potential advantage of outperforming one-way protocols. Here we provide a strategy to prove security for two-way quantum key distribution protocols against the most general quantum attack possible by an eavesdropper. We utilize an entropic uncertainty relation, and only a few assumptions need to be made about the devices used in the protocol. We also show that a two-way protocol can outperform comparable one-way protocols.

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arXiv2013

True randomness from realistic quantum devices

Even if the output of a Random Number Generator (RNG) is perfectly uniformly distributed, it may be correlated to pre-existing information and therefore be predictable. Statistical tests are thus not sufficient to guarantee that an RNG is usable for applications, e.g., in cryptography or gambling, where unpredictability is important. To enable such applications a stronger notion of randomness, termed "true randomness", is required, which includes independence from prior information. Quantum systems are particularly suitable for true randomness generation, as their unpredictability can be proved based on physical principles. Practical implementations of Quantum RNGs (QRNGs) are however always subject to noise, i.e., influences which are not fully controlled. This reduces the quality of the raw randomness generated by the device, making it necessary to post-process it. Here we provide a framework to analyse realistic QRNGs and to determine the post-processing that is necessary to turn their raw output into true randomness.

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arXiv2013

Chain Rules for Smooth Min- and Max-Entropies

The chain rule for the Shannon and von Neumann entropy, which relates the total entropy of a system to the entropies of its parts, is of central importance to information theory. Here we consider the chain rule for the more general smooth min- and max-entropy, used in one-shot information theory. For these entropy measures, the chain rule no longer holds as an equality, but manifests itself as a set of inequalities that reduce to the chain rule for the von Neumann entropy in the i.i.d. case.

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arXiv2013

One-shot lossy quantum data compression

We provide a framework for one-shot quantum rate distortion coding, in which the goal is to determine the minimum number of qubits required to compress quantum information as a function of the probability that the distortion incurred upon decompression exceeds some specified level. We obtain a one-shot characterization of the minimum qubit compression size for an entanglement-assisted quantum rate-distortion code in terms of the smooth max-information, a quantity previously employed in the one-shot quantum reverse Shannon theorem. Next, we show how this characterization converges to the known expression for the entanglement-assisted quantum rate distortion function for asymptotically many copies of a memoryless quantum information source. Finally, we give a tight, finite blocklength characterization for the entanglement-assisted minimum qubit compression size of a memoryless isotropic qubit source subject to an average symbol-wise distortion constraint.

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arXiv2013

Smooth Max-Information as One-Shot Generalization for Mutual Information

We study formal properties of smooth max-information, a generalization of von Neumann mutual information derived from the max-relative entropy. Recent work suggests that it is a useful quantity in one-shot channel coding, quantum rate distortion theory and the physics of quantum many-body systems. Max-information can be defined in multiple ways. We demonstrate that different smoothed definitions are essentially equivalent (up to logarithmic terms in the smoothing parameters). These equivalence relations allow us to derive new chain rules for the max-information in terms of min- and max-entropies, thus extending the smooth entropy formalism to mutual information.

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arXiv2013

The completeness of quantum theory for predicting measurement outcomes

The predictions that quantum theory makes about the outcomes of measurements are generally probabilistic. This has raised the question whether quantum theory can be considered complete, or whether there could exist alternative theories that provide improved predictions. Here we review recent work that considers arbitrary alternative theories, constrained only by the requirement that they are compatible with a notion of "free choice" (defined with respect to a natural causal order). It is shown that quantum theory is "maximally informative", i.e., there is no other compatible theory that gives improved predictions. Furthermore, any alternative maximally informative theory is necessarily equivalent to quantum theory. This means that the state a system has in such a theory is in one-to-one correspondence with its quantum-mechanical state (the wave function). In this sense, quantum theory is complete.

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