1998/09/15 by Dominic Mayers, Andrew Yao, Andrew Chi-Chih Yao +2 · 10 citations
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Quantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.quant-ph/9809039
7 pages (To appear in FOCS 98)
arxiv created 1998/09/15 · openalex publication_date 1998/09/15 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Quantum key distribution, first proposed by Bennett and Brassard, provides a possible key distribution scheme whose security depends only on the quantum laws of physics. So far the protocol has been proved secure even under channel noise and detector faults of the receiver, but is vulnerable if the photon source used is imperfect. In this paper we propose and give a concrete design for a new concept, \it self-checking source, which requires the manufacturer of the photon source to provide certain tests; these tests are designed such that, if passed, the source is guaranteed to be adequate for the security of the quantum key distribution protocol, even though the testing devices may not be built to the original specification. The main mathematical result is a structural theorem which states that, for any state in a Hilbert space, if certain EPR-type equations are satisfied, the state must be essentially the orthogonal sum of EPR pairs.