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Noise Resilient 1SDIQKD for Practical Quantum Networks

Quantum Physics 2026-02-03 v1

Abstract

One-sided device-independent quantum key distribution (1SDI-QKD) offers a practical middle ground between fully device-independent protocols and standard QKD, achieving security with detection efficiencies as low as 50.1\% on the untrusted side. However, prior analyses assumed idealized channels, neglecting realistic noise sources. We extend the 1SDI-QKD framework to include amplitude damping, dephasing, and depolarizing noise, quantifying their impact on secure key rates and efficiency requirements. Our results reveal a clear noise hierarchy: dephasing is most tolerable (secure keys achievable at 70\% efficiency with 30\% noise), while amplitude damping and depolarizing noise dramatically elevate requirements to over 90\%. Crucially, we find that security is lost while substantial entanglement remains (concurrence C0.7C \approx 0.7--0.80.8), demonstrating that steering violation, not merely entanglement, determines 1SDI-QKD security. To mitigate noise effects, we integrate the BBPSSW entanglement purification protocol, showing that 2--4 rounds can restore positive key rates in otherwise insecure regimes. Our resource overhead analysis reveals that effective key rates peak at moderate purification depths; excessive rounds become counterproductive. These findings establish practical boundaries for deploying 1SDI-QKD over metropolitan-scale quantum networks.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2602.00916,
  title  = {Noise Resilient 1SDIQKD for Practical Quantum Networks},
  author = {Syed M Arslan and Muhammad T Rahim and Asad Ali and Hashir Kuniyil and Saif Al Kuwari},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.00916},
  year   = {2026}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T09:29:44.045Z