Quantum key distribution with authentication

Guihua Zeng, Xinmei Wang

Published 1998-12-10, updated 1999-10-28Version 2

The security of the previous quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols, which is guaranteed by the nature of physics law, is based on the legitimate users. However, impersonation of the legitimate communicators by eavesdroppers, in practice, will be inevitable. In fact, the previous QKD protocols is unsecure without authentication in practical communication. In this paper, we proposed an improved QKD protocol that can simultaneously distribute the quantum secret key and verify the communicators' identity. This presented authentication scheme is provably secure.