Quantum secret sharing using weak coherent states

Journal Article · 28 August 2019 · Physical Review A

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.100.022339 · OSTI ID:1559651

Grice, Warren P. ^[1]; Qi, Bing  ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Secret sharing allows a trusted party (the dealer) to distribute a secret to a group of players, who can only access the secret cooperatively. Quantum secret sharing (QSS) protocols could provide unconditional security based on fundamental laws in physics. While the general security proof has been established recently in an entanglement-based QSS protocol, the tolerable channel loss is unfortunately rather small. Here we propose a continuous variable QSS protocol using conventional laser sources and homodyne detectors. In this protocol, a Gaussian-modulated coherent state (GMCS) prepared by one player passes through the secure stations of the other players sequentially, and each of the other players injects a locally prepared, independent GMCS into the circulating optical mode. Finally, the dealer measures both the amplitude and the phase quadratures of the receiving optical mode using double homodyne detectors. Collectively, the players can use their encoded random numbers to estimate the measurement results of the dealer and further generate a shared key. We prove the unconditional security of the proposed protocol against both eavesdroppers and dishonest players in the presence of high channel loss, and discuss various practical issues.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1559651
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1559083
• Journal Information: Physical Review A, Vol. 100, Issue 2; ISSN 2469-9926
• Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English