English

Quantum Candies and Quantum Cryptography

Physics Education 2020-12-08 v1 Cryptography and Security Quantum Physics

Abstract

The field of quantum information is becoming more known to the general public. However, effectively demonstrating the concepts underneath quantum science and technology to the general public can be a challenging job. We investigate, extend, and much expand here "quantum candies" (invented by Jacobs), a pedagogical model for intuitively describing some basic concepts in quantum information, including quantum bits, complementarity, the no-cloning principle, and entanglement. Following Jacob's quantum candies description of the well known quantum key distribution protocol BB84, we explicitly demonstrate various additional quantum cryptography protocols using quantum candies in an approachable manner. The model we investigate can be a valuable tool for science and engineering educators who would like to help the general public to gain more insights about quantum science and technology: most parts of this paper, including many protocols for quantum cryptography, are expected to be easily understandable by a layperson without any previous knowledge of mathematics, physics, or cryptography.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2011.02837,
  title  = {Quantum Candies and Quantum Cryptography},
  author = {Junan Lin and Tal Mor},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2011.02837},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

To be presented at the 9th International Conference on the Theory and Practice of Natural Computing (TPNC 2020; postponed and merged with TPNC 2021). The final authenticated publication is available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63000-3_6

R2 v1 2026-06-23T19:56:15.530Z