<p>Device-independent quantum key distribution (DI-QKD) leverages nonlocal correlations to establish cryptographic keys between two honest parties while making minimal assumptions about the underlying systems. The security of DI-QKD is grounded in the validity of quantum theory, with Bell violations ensuring the intrinsic unpredictability of observed statistics, independent of the trustworthiness of the devices. While traditional collective QKD attacks assume that the adversary prepares the shared system, we analyse a scenario where the adversary does not control the source and instead interacts sequentially with the travelling system. In this setting, Eve performs an unsharp measurement that produces effective noise while preserving the observed Bell violation. Although such behaviour is already accounted for in existing DI-QKD security proofs, examining it through an explicit sequential interaction offers a concrete and physically motivated example of how these effective statistics can arise in practice. Our analysis further shows that within a specific parameter regime, this sequential strategy reproduces some features of an optimal collective attack.</p>

错误:搜索内容不能为空,请输入英文关键词
错误:关键词超出字数限制,请精简
高级检索

Security of device-independent quantum key distribution under sequential attack

  • Pritam Roy,
  • Souradeep Sasmal,
  • Subhankar Bera,
  • Shashank Gupta,
  • Arup Roy,
  • A. S. Majumdar

摘要

Device-independent quantum key distribution (DI-QKD) leverages nonlocal correlations to establish cryptographic keys between two honest parties while making minimal assumptions about the underlying systems. The security of DI-QKD is grounded in the validity of quantum theory, with Bell violations ensuring the intrinsic unpredictability of observed statistics, independent of the trustworthiness of the devices. While traditional collective QKD attacks assume that the adversary prepares the shared system, we analyse a scenario where the adversary does not control the source and instead interacts sequentially with the travelling system. In this setting, Eve performs an unsharp measurement that produces effective noise while preserving the observed Bell violation. Although such behaviour is already accounted for in existing DI-QKD security proofs, examining it through an explicit sequential interaction offers a concrete and physically motivated example of how these effective statistics can arise in practice. Our analysis further shows that within a specific parameter regime, this sequential strategy reproduces some features of an optimal collective attack.