Receiver-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution Protocols

Marie Ioannou, Pavel Sekatski, Alastair A. Abbott, Denis Rosset, Jean-Daniel Bancal, Nicolas Brunner

Published 2021-11-08Version 1

We consider a receiver-device-independent (RDI) approach to quantum key distribution. Specifically, we discuss protocols for a prepare-and-measure scenario and present a detailed security analysis. The sender's (Alice's) device is partially characterized, in the sense that we assume bounds on the overlaps of the prepared quantum states. The receiver's (Bob's) device requires no characterisation and can be represented as a black-box. Our protocols are therefore robust to any attack onBob, such as blinding attacks. In particular, we show that a secret key can be established even when the quantum channel has arbitrarily low transmission by considering RDI protocols exploiting sufficiently many states. Finally, we discuss how the hypothesis of bounded overlaps can be naturally applied to practical devices.