Anna Pappa (University of Edinburgh)
Thu 28 May 2015, 14:00 - 15:00
Informatics Forum (IF-4.31/4.33)

If you have a question about this talk, please contact: Myrto Arapinis (marapini)

Performing complex cryptographic tasks will be an essential element in future quantum communication networks. These tasks are based on a handful of fundamental primitives, such as coin flipping, where two distrustful parties wish to agree on a randomly generated bit. Although it is known that quantum versions of these primitives can offer information-theoretic security advantages with respect to classical protocols, a demonstration of such an advantage in a practical communication scenario has remained elusive. I will first present some background on quantum computing and cryptography. Then, I will describe a quantum coin flipping protocol that performs strictly better than classically possible over a distance suitable for communication over metropolitan area optical networks. Finally, I will talk about an experimental implementation of the protocol, based on a commercial plug and play system, and I will discuss further possible improvements and open problems.