Xiang-Bin Wang

Beating the Photon-Number-Splitting Attack in Practical Quantum Cryptography

We propose an efficient method to verify the upper bound of the fraction of counts caused by multiphoton pulses in practical quantum key distribution using weak coherent light, given whatever type of Eves action. The protocol simply uses two coherent states for the signal pulses and vacuum for the decoy pulse. Our verified upper bound is sufficiently tight for quantum key distribution with a very lossy channel, in both the asymptotic and nonasymptotic case. So far our protocol is the only decoy-state protocol that works efficiently for currently existing setups.

Quantum information with Gaussian states

Quantum optical Gaussian states are a type of important robust quantum states which are manipulatable by the existing technologies. So far, most of the important quantum information experiments are done with such states, including bright Gaussian light and weak Gaussian light. Extending the existing results of quantum information with discrete quantum states to the case of continuous variable quantum states is an interesting theoretical job. The quantum Gaussian states play a central role in such a case. We review the properties and applications of Gaussian states in quantum information with emphasis on the fundamental concepts, the calculation techniques and the effects of imperfections of the real-life experimental setups. Topics here include the elementary properties of Gaussian states and relevant quantum information device, entanglement-based quantum tasks such as quantum teleportation, quantum cryptography with weak and strong Gaussian states and the quantum channel capacity, mathematical theory of quantum entanglement and state estimation for Gaussian states.

Quantum cloning machines for equatorial qubits

Quantum cloning machines for equatorial qubits are studied. For the case of a one to two phase-covariant quantum cloning machine, we present the networks consisting of quantum gates to realize the quantum cloning transformations. The copied equatorial qubits are shown to be separable by using Peres-Horodecki criterion. The optimal one to M phase-covariant quantum cloning transformations are given.

Three-intensity decoy-state method for device-independent quantum key distribution with basis-dependent errors

We study the measurement device independent quantum key distribution (MDIQKD) in practice with limited resource, when there are only 3 different states in implementing the decoy-state method and when there are basis dependent coding errors. We present general formulas for the decoy-state method for two-pulse sources with 3 different states, which can be applied to the recently proposed MDIQKD with imperfect single-photon source such as the coherent states or the heralded states from the parametric down conversion. We point out that the existing result for secure QKD with source coding errors does not always hold. We find that very accurate source coding is not necessary. In particular, we loosen the precision of existing result by several magnitude orders for secure QKD.

Phase-covariant quantum cloning of qudits

We study the phase-covariant quantum cloning machine for qudits, i.e., the input states in a d-level quantum system have complex coefficients with arbitrary phase but constant module. A cloning unitary transformation is proposed. After optimizing the fidelity between input state and single qudit reduced density operator of output state, we obtain the optimal fidelity for 1 to 2 phase-covariant quantum cloning of qudits and the corresponding cloning transformation.

Quantum Key Distribution with Two-Qubit Quantum Codes

We propose a prepare-and-measure scheme for quantum key distribution with two-qubit quantum codes. The protocol is unconditionally secure under all types of intercept-and-resend attack. Given the symmetric and independent errors to the transmitted qubits, our scheme can tolerate a bit of an error rate up to 26% in four-state protocol and 30% in six-state protocol, respectively. These values are higher than all currently known threshold values for the prepare-and-measure protocols. Moreover, we give a practically implementable linear optics realization for our scheme.

Quantum entanglement via two-qubit quantum Zeno dynamics

We propose a method to generate large cluster states without using conditional (e.g., CNOT, C-phase) gates. Indeed, an arbitrarily large cluster state can be generated and expanded almost deterministically by single-qubit rotations and a special non-deterministic collective detection. If the rotation of each step is sufficiently small, the quantum Zeno effect will guarantee that the state is projected into the intended subspace after each measurement, and an almost-perfect cluster state can be produced. We also propose a possible implementation of this approach using superconducting flux qubits.

Efficient one-step generation of large cluster states with solid-state circuits

Highly entangled states called cluster states are a universal resource for measurement-based quantum computing (QC). Here we propose an efficient method for producing large cluster states using superconducting quantum circuits. We show that a large cluster state can be efficiently generated in just one step by turning on the interqubit coupling for a short time. Because the interqubit coupling is only switched on during the time interval for generating the cluster state, our approach is also convenient for preparing the initial state for each qubit and for implementing one-way QC via single-qubit measurements. Moreover, the cluster state is robust against parameter variations.

Satellite-to-ground quantum key distribution

Quantum key distribution (QKD) uses individual light quanta in quantum superposition states to guarantee unconditional communication security between distant parties. However, the distance over which QKD is achievable has been limited to a few hundred kilometres, owing to the channel loss that occurs when using optical fibres or terrestrial free space that exponentially reduces the photon transmission rate. Satellite-based QKD has the potential to help to establish a global-scale quantum network, owing to the negligible photon loss and decoherence experienced in empty space. Here we report the development and launch of a low-Earth-orbit satellite for implementing decoy-state QKD—a form of QKD that uses weak coherent pulses at high channel loss and is secure because photon-number-splitting eavesdropping can be detected. We achieve a kilohertz key rate from the satellite to the ground over a distance of up to 1,200 kilometres. This key rate is around 20 orders of magnitudes greater than that expected using an optical fibre of the same length. The establishment of a reliable and efficient space-to-ground link for quantum-state transmission paves the way to global-scale quantum networks.

Protecting quantum states from decoherence of finite temperature using weak measurement

We show how to optimally protect quantum states and quantum entanglement under non-zero temperature based on measurement reversal from weak measurement. In particular, we present explicit formulas of the protection.