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Security analysis for single-state circular mediated semi-quantum key distribution

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Abstract

In this paper, we prove the unconditional security of a single-state circular mediated semi-quantum key distribution protocol. It starts with a third-party quantum server, TP, sending a string of qubits sequentially through two classical users Alice and Bob, and finally back to TP. We derive an expression for the key rate in the asymptotic scenario. When the communication parties Alice and Bob observe that the error rate is less than a determined threshold, the key rate is always greater than 0, so they can distill a string of secure secret keys. At the end of this paper, we extend this protocol to the multiple users case, where more than two classical users establish a string of security keys.

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Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to Professor You-Long Yang for the encouragement to study security proofs of CMSQKD. This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (61573266) and Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi (Program No.2021JM-133).

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Author notes

  1. Youlong Yang and Tong Ning have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mathematics and Statistics, Xidian University, Xing long Street, Xi’an, 710126, Shaanxi Province, China

    Zhenye Du, Youlong Yang & Tong Ning

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  1. Zhenye Du
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  2. Youlong Yang
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  3. Tong Ning
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Correspondence to Youlong Yang.

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Du, Z., Yang, Y. & Ning, T. Security analysis for single-state circular mediated semi-quantum key distribution. Quantum Inf Process 22, 280 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11128-023-04029-7

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