Numerical analysis of decoy state quantum key distribution protocols

Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2008 · Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics

OSTI ID:956671

Harrington, Jim W ^[1]; Rice, Patrick R ^[1]

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1. Los Alamos National Laboratory

Decoy state protocols are a useful tool for many quantum key distribution systems implemented with weak coherent pulses, allowing significantly better secret bit rates and longer maximum distances. In this paper we present a method to numerically find optimal three-level protocols, and we examine how the secret bit rate and the optimized parameters are dependent on various system properties, such as session length, transmission loss, and visibility. Additionally, we show how to modify the decoy state analysis to handle partially distinguishable decoy states as well as uncertainty in the prepared intensities.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC52-06NA25396
• OSTI ID: 956671
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-08-08036; LA-UR-08-8036; PLRAAN; TRN: US201016%%2356
• Journal Information: Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, Journal Name: Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
DISTRIBUTION
LENGTH
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
PULSES
QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY
QUANTUM INFORMATION
TRANSMISSION
VISIBILITY