A Quantum Enigma Machine: Experimentally Demonstrating Quantum Data Locking
Abstract
Claude Shannon proved in 1949 that information-theoretic-secure encryption is possible if the encryption key is used only once, is random, and is at least as long as the message itself. Notwithstanding, when information is encoded in a quantum system, the phenomenon of quantum data locking allows one to encrypt a message with a shorter key and still provide information-theoretic security. We present one of the first feasible experimental demonstrations of quantum data locking for direct communication and propose a scheme for a quantum enigma machine that encrypts 6 bits per photon (containing messages, new encryption keys, and forward error correction bits) with less than 6 bits per photon of encryption key while remaining information-theoretically secure.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1605.06556,
title = {A Quantum Enigma Machine: Experimentally Demonstrating Quantum Data Locking},
author = {Daniel J. Lum and M. S. Allman and Thomas Gerrits and Cosmo Lupo and Varun B. Verma and Seth Lloyd and Sae Woo Nam and John C. Howell},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1605.06556},
year = {2016}
}
Comments
10 Figures