Experimental implementation of secure anonymous protocols on an eight-user quantum key distribution network

Zixin Huang, Siddarth Koduru Joshi, Djeylan Aktas, Cosmo Lupo, Armanda O. Quintavalle, Natarajan Venkatachalam, Sören Wengerowsky, Martin Lončarić, Sebastian Philipp Neumann, Bo Liu, Željko Samec, Laurent Kling, Mario Stipčević, Rupert Ursin, John G. Rarity

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Citations (Scopus)
45 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Anonymity in networked communication is vital for many privacy-preserving tasks. Secure key distribution alone is insufficient for high-security communications. Often, knowing who transmits a message to whom and when must also be kept hidden from an adversary. Here, we experimentally demonstrate five information-theoretically secure anonymity protocols on an eight user city-wide quantum network using polarisation entangled photon pairs. At the heart of these protocols is anonymous broadcasting, which is a cryptographic primitive that allows one user to reveal one bit of information while keeping their identity anonymous. For a network of n users, the protocols retain anonymity for the sender, given that no more than n − 2 users are colluding. This is an implementation of genuine multi-user cryptographic protocols beyond standard QKD. Our anonymous protocols enhance the functionality of any fully-connected Quantum Key Distribution network without trusted nodes.
Original languageEnglish
Article number25
Pages (from-to)1-7
Number of pages7
Journalnpj Quantum Information
Volume8
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Mar 2022

Bibliographical note

© The Author(s) 2022. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

  • Information theory and computation
  • Quantum information
  • Quantum optics

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