Security in quantum cryptography
This paper reviews this physical notion of security, focusing on quantum key distribution and secure communication, which relies entirely on the laws of quantum mechanics.
Abstract
Quantum cryptography exploits principles of quantum physics for the secure\nprocessing of information. A prominent example is secure communication, i.e.,\nthe task of transmitting confidential messages from one location to another.\nThe cryptographic requirement here is that the transmitted messages remain\ninaccessible to anyone other than the designated recipients, even if the\ncommunication channel is untrusted. In classical cryptography, this can usually\nonly be guaranteed under computational hardness assumptions, e.g., that\nfactoring large integers is infeasible. In contrast, the security of quantum\ncryptography relies entirely on the laws of quantum mechanics. Here we review\nthis physical notion of security, focusing on quantum key distribution and\nsecure communication.\n