LA COMUNICACIÓN CUÁNTICA - NOCIONES BÁSICAS

1. https://www.picoquant.com/applications/category/quantum-optics/quantum-
communication#papers

Quantum mechanics guarantee secure communication.

Quantum communication is a field of applied quantum physics closely related to quantum

information processing and quantum teleportation. Its most interesting application is
protecting information channels against eavesdropping by means of quantum
cryptography. The most well known and developed application of quantum cryptography
is quantum key distribution (QKD). QKD describes the use of quantum mechanical
effects to perform cryptographic tasks or to break cryptographic systems. The principle
of operation of a QKD system is quite straightforward: two parties (Alice and Bob) use
single photons that are randomly polarized to states representing ones and zeroes to
transmit a series of random number sequences that are used as keys in cryptographic
communications. Both stations are linked together with a quantum channel and a classical
channel. Alice generates a random stream of qubits that are sent over the quantum
channel. Upon reception of the stream Bob and Alice — using the classical channel —
perform classical operations to check if an eavesdroper has tried to extract information
on the qubits stream. The presence of an eavesdropper is revealed by the imperfect
correlation between the two lists of bits obtained after the transmission of qubits between
the emitter and the receiver. One important component of virtually all proper encryption
schemes is true randomnessm which can elegantly be generated by means of quantum
optics.

In a typical QKD set-up, the photons are generated by a single photon source, encoded
into binary values (i.e., representing "0" and "1") and then transmitted to the receiver
either via optical fibers or in free space. The receiver then decodes the state of photons
and detects them using single photon sensitive detectors and time-tagging electronics.
There are several methods for encoding and decoding the photons:

• via polarization: the binary information "1" or "0" is defined by the polarization
of the single photons, e.g., binary "0" correlates with the horizontally polarized
photon and binary "1" with vertically polarized photon
• via the phase, which requires the use of a interferometer system: the phase
difference Δφ = φAlice - φBob of the two interferometers is then used for
encoding the binary values, e.g., a phase difference Δφ=0 correlates with the
binary "0" and the phase difference Δφ=π correlates with the binary "1"
• via entangled photons, which requires one sender of entangled photon pairs and
two receivers (Alice and Bob) each equipped with a polarizer. Alice and Bob set
the two angles at their respective polarization rotator randomly. If the angles of
Alice and Bob match, both photons behave exactly the same at the beam splitter,
i.e., they are either transmitted (binary "1") or reflected (binary "0").
TYPICAL SETUPS FOR QUANTUM KEY DISTRIBUTION (QKD)
2. MIT - https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/02/14/103409/what-is-quantum-
communications/

Explainer: What is quantum communication?

Researchers and companies are creating ultra-secure communication networks that could form
the basis of a quantum internet. This is how it works.

Barely a week goes by without reports of some new mega-hack that’s exposed huge
amounts of sensitive information, from people’s credit card details and health records to
companies’ valuable intellectual property. The threat posed by cyberattacks is forcing
governments, militaries, and businesses to explore more secure ways of transmitting
information.

Today, sensitive data is typically encrypted and then sent across fiber-optic cables and
other channels together with the digital “keys” needed to decode the information. The
data and the keys are sent as classical bits—a stream of electrical or optical pulses
representing 1s and 0s. And that makes them vulnerable. Smart hackers can read and copy
bits in transit without leaving a trace.

Quantum communication takes advantage of the laws of quantum physics to protect data.
These laws allow particles—typically photons of light for transmitting data along optical
cables—to take on a state of superposition, which means they can represent multiple
combinations of 1 and 0 simultaneously. The particles are known as quantum bits, or
qubits.

The beauty of qubits from a cybersecurity perspective is that if a hacker tries to observe
them in transit, their super-fragile quantum state “collapses” to either 1 or 0. This means
a hacker can’t tamper with the qubits without leaving behind a telltale sign of the activity.

Some companies have taken advantage of this property to create networks for transmitting
highly sensitive data based on a process called quantum key distribution, or QKD. In
theory, at least, these networks are ultra-secure.
What is quantum key distribution?
QKD involves sending encrypted data as classical bits over networks, while the keys to
decrypt the information are encoded and transmitted in a quantum state using qubits.

Various approaches, or protocols, have been developed for implementing QKD. A widely
used one known as BB84 works like this. Imagine two people, Alice and Bob. Alice wants
to send data securely to Bob. To do so, she creates an encryption key in the form of qubits
whose polarization states represent the individual bit values of the key.

The qubits can be sent to Bob through a fiber-optic cable. By comparing measurements
of the state of a fraction of these qubits—a process known as “key sifting”—Alice and
Bob can establish that they hold the same key.

As the qubits travel to their destination, the fragile quantum state of some of them will
collapse because of decoherence. To account for this, Alice and Bob next run through a
process known as “key distillation,” which involves calculating whether the error rate is
high enough to suggest that a hacker has tried to intercept the key.

If it is, they ditch the suspect key and keep generating new ones until they are confident
that they share a secure key. Alice can then use hers to encrypt data and send it in classical
bits to Bob, who uses his key to decode the information.

We’re already starting to see more QKD networks emerge. The longest is in China, which
boasts a 2,032-kilometer (1,263-mile) ground link between Beijing and Shanghai. Banks
and other financial companies are already using it to transmit data. In the US, a startup
called Quantum Xchange has struck a deal giving it access to 500 miles (805 kilometers)
of fiber-optic cable running along the East Coast to create a QKD network. The initial leg
will link Manhattan with New Jersey, where many banks have large data centers.

Although QKD is relatively secure, it would be even safer if it could count on quantum
repeaters.
What is a quantum repeater?
Materials in cables can absorb photons, which means they can typically travel for no more
than a few tens of kilometers. In a classical network, repeaters at various points along a
cable are used to amplify the signal to compensate for this.

QKD networks have come up with a similar solution, creating “trusted nodes” at various
points. The Beijing-to-Shanghai network has 32 of them, for instance. At these
waystations, quantum keys are decrypted into bits and then reencrypted in a fresh
quantum state for their journey to the next node. But this means trusted nodes can’t really
be trusted: a hacker who breached the nodes’ security could copy the bits undetected and
thus acquire a key, as could a company or government running the nodes.

Ideally, we need quantum repeaters, or waystations with quantum processors in them that
would allow encryption keys to remain in quantum form as they are amplified and sent
over long distances. Researchers have demonstrated it’s possible in principle to build such
repeaters, but they haven’t yet been able to produce a working prototype.

There’s another issue with QKD. The underlying data is still transmitted as encrypted bits
across conventional networks. This means a hacker who breached a network’s defenses
could copy the bits undetected, and then use powerful computers to try to crack the key
used to encrypt them.
The most powerful encryption algorithms are pretty robust, but the risk is big enough to
spur some researchers to work on an alternative approach known as quantum
teleportation.

What is quantum teleportation?

This may sound like science fiction, but it’s a real method that involves transmitting data
wholly in quantum form. The approach relies on a quantum phenomenon known as
entanglement.

Quantum teleportation works by creating pairs of entangled photons and then sending one
of each pair to the sender of data and the other to a recipient. When Alice receives her
entangled photon, she lets it interact with a “memory qubit” that holds the data she wants
to transmit to Bob. This interaction changes the state of her photon, and because it is
entangled with Bob’s, the interaction instantaneously changes the state of his photon too.

In effect, this “teleports” the data in Alice’s memory qubit from her photon to Bob’s. The
graphic below lays out the process in a little more detail:

Researchers in the US, China, and Europe are racing to create teleportation networks
capable of distributing entangled photons. But getting them to scale will be a massive
scientific and engineering challenge. The many hurdles include finding reliable ways of
churning out lots of linked photons on demand, and maintaining their entanglement over
very long distances—something that quantum repeaters would make easier.

Still, these challenges haven’t stopped researchers from dreaming of a future quantum
internet.
What is a quantum internet?
Just like the traditional internet, this would be a globe-spanning network of networks. The
big difference is that the underlying communications networks would be quantum ones.

It isn’t going to replace the internet as we know it today. Cat photos, music videos, and a
great deal of non-sensitive business information will still move around in the form of
classical bits. But a quantum internet will appeal to organizations that need to keep
particularly valuable data secure. It could also be an ideal way to connect information
flowing between quantum computers, which are increasingly being made available
through the computing cloud.

China is in the vanguard of the push toward a quantum internet. It launched a dedicated
quantum communications satellite called Micius a few years ago, and in 2017 the satellite
helped stage the world’s first intercontinental, QKD-secured video conference, between
Beijing and Vienna. A ground station already links the satellite to the Beijing-to-Shanghai
terrestrial network. China plans to launch more quantum satellites, and several cities in
the country are laying plans for municipal QKD networks.

Some researchers have warned that even a fully quantum internet may ultimately become
vulnerable to new attacks that are themselves quantum based. But faced with the hacking
onslaught that plagues today’s internet, businesses, governments, and the military are
going to keep exploring the tantalizing prospect of a more secure quantum alternative.
TRADUCCIÓN

¿Qué es la comunicación cuántica? Definición y conceptos clave

Las maravillas del mundo cuántico no se limitan a los ordenadores. La transferencia de
datos en este estado promete reducir al máximo los hackeos. Por eso, cada vez más
gobiernos y empresas apuestan por las infraestructuras de comunicación cuántica que
podrían crear la base de internet cuántico

Casi cada semana vemos noticias de algún megahackeo que deja expuestas enormes
cantidades de información sensible, desde datos de tarjetas de crédito e informes
médicos hasta la valiosa propiedad intelectual empresarial. La amenaza de los
ciberataques está obligando a gobiernos, ejércitos y empresas a explorar formas más
seguras de transmitir la información.

Hoy en día, los datos confidenciales se encriptan y luego se envían a través de cables de
fibra óptica y otros canales, junto con las "claves" digitales necesarias para descifrar la
información. Los datos y las claves se transmiten en forma de bits clásicos, un flujo
de pulsos eléctricos u ópticos representados en forma de ceros y unos. Y es esta
codificación la que los vulnerables ante los hackers más habilidosos, que pueden leer y
copiar los bits en tránsito sin dejar rastro.

La comunicación cuántica aprovecha las leyes de la física cuántica para proteger los
datos. Estas leyes permiten que las partículas, normalmente fotones de luz que
transmiten los datos mediante los cables ópticos, tengan un estado de superposición en
el que pueden adoptar un estado de cero y de uno de forma simultánea, un fenómeno
conocido como superposición cuántica. Estas partículas son conocidas como bits
cuánticos, o cúbits (ver ¿Qué es un ordenador cuántico? Definición y conceptos clave).

Lo bueno de los cúbits desde la perspectiva de la ciberseguridad es que, si un hacker

intenta espiarlos mientras están siendo transferidos, su estado cuántico súper frágil
"colapsa" en forma de cero o de uno. Esto significa que ningún hacker puede
manipular los cúbits revelarlo.

Algunas empresas están aprovechando esta propiedad para crear redes de transmisión de
datos altamente confidenciales basadas en un proceso denominado distribución de
claves cuánticas (QKD, por sus siglas en inglés). En teoría, estas redes deben resultar
ultra seguras (ver La física cuántica ya permite enviar mensajes de forma 100%
segura).
¿Qué es la distribución de claves cuánticas?

La QKD envía datos cifrados en forma de bits clásicos a través de las redes, pero las
claves necesarias para para descifrar la información se codifican y transmiten en un
estado cuántico mediante cúbits.

Se han desarrollado varios métodos, o protocolos, para implementar la QKD. Uno de

ellos, ampliamente utilizado, llamado BB84, funciona así: imaginemos a dos personas,
Alicia y Roberto. Alicia quiere enviar datos de forma segura a Roberto. Para ello, crea
una clave cifrada en forma de cúbits cuyos estados de polarización representan los
valores de bits individuales de la clave.

Los cúbits se pueden enviar a Roberto a través de un cable de fibra óptica. Al comparar
las mediciones del estado de fracción de estos cúbits, un proceso conocido como
"comprobación de claves", Alicia y Roberto pueden confirmar que tienen la misma
clave.

A medida que los cúbits viajan a su destino, el frágil estado cuántico de algunos de ellos
colapsará debido al fenómeno de la decoherencia. Para compensarlo, Alicia y Roberto
realizan un proceso conocido como "destilación de claves", que consiste en calcular
si la tasa de error es lo suficientemente alta como para sugerir que un hacker ha
intentado interceptar la clave.

Si es así, desechan la clave sospechosa y generan una nueva hasta que están
convencidos de que comparten una clave segura. Luego, Alicia puede usar la suya
para cifrar los datos y enviarlos en forma de bits clásicos a Roberto, quien usa la suya
para decodificar la información.

Cada vez hay más redes QKD. La más larga está en China y cuenta con un enlace
terrestre de 2.032 kilómetros entre Pekín y Shanghái. Varios bancos y otras compañías
financieras ya la están utilizando para transmitir datos. En EE. UU., una start-up
llamada Quantum Xchange ha llegado a un acuerdo que le da acceso a más de 80o
kilómetros de cable de fibra óptica a lo largo del país para crear una red QKD. Y Europa
también tiene su propio proyecto de comunicación cuántica.

Pero aunque la QKD es relativamente segura, lo sería mucho más si dispusiera de

repetidores cuánticos.

¿Qué es un repetidor cuántico?

Los materiales de los cables pueden absorber fotones, lo que significa que normalmente
solo pueden viajar unas pocas decenas de kilómetros. Para compensarlo, las redes
clásicas usan repetidores en varios puntos a lo largo de un cable para amplificar la señal.

Las redes QKD pueden aprovechar un enfoque similar, creando "nodos de confianza"
en varios puntos. La red china tiene 32 de ellos, por ejemplo. En estas estaciones, las
claves cuánticas se descifran en bits y luego se vuelven a cifrar en un nuevo estado
cuántico para viajar al siguiente nodo. Pero esto significa que realmente no se puede
confiar en los nodos de confianza: si un hacker viola la seguridad de los nodos podría
copiar los bits sin ser detectado y adquirir la clave, al igual que las empresas y
gobiernos que controlen los nodos.

Para un funcionamiento ideal, hacen falta repetidores cuánticos o estaciones de paso con
procesadores cuánticos integrados que permitan que las claves de cifrado permanezcan
en estado cuántico a medida que se amplifican y se envían a largas distancias. Los
investigadores han demostrado que, en principio, es posible construir tales
repetidores, pero aún no han podido crear un prototipo funcional.

Hay otro problema con la QKD. Los datos subyacentes se siguen transmitiendo en
forma de bits cifrados a través de las redes convencionales. Esto significa que un hacker
que viole las defensas de la red podría copiar los bits sin ser detectado, y luego usar
un ordenador con mucha potencia para intentar descifrar la clave.
Los algoritmos de cifrado más potentes son bastante robustos, pero el riesgo es lo
suficientemente grande como para que algunos investigadores hayan optado por
investigar un enfoque alternativo conocido como teletransporte cuántico.

¿Qué es el teletransporte cuántico?

Aunque suene a ciencia ficción, se trata de un método real que consiste en transmitir
datos en estado cuántico al 100 %. El enfoque se basa en un fenómeno cuántico
conocido como entrelazamiento (ver Un fotón se teletransporta desde la Tierra al
espacio por primera vez).

El teletransporte cuántico se basa en parejas de fotones entrelazados. Uno de ellos se

envía al destinatario y el otro al remitente de la información. Cuando Alicia recibe su
fotón entrelazado, lo deja interactuar con un "cúbit de memoria" que contiene los datos
que quiere transmitir a Roberto. Esta interacción cambia el estado de su fotón, y como
está entrelazado con el de Roberto, esa interacción también cambia
instantáneamente el estado de su fotón.

En efecto, esto "teletransporta" los datos al cúbit de memoria de Alicia desde su fotón
hasta el de Roberto. El siguiente gráfico muestra el proceso con un poco más de detalle.

Muchos investigadores en Estados Unidos, China y Europa están compitiendo para

crear redes de teletransporte capaces de distribuir fotones entrelazados. Pero aumentar
su alcance será un gran desafío científico e ingeniero. Entre los numerosos obstáculos
está el de encontrar formas seguras de generar muchos fotones entrelazados a
demanda y mantener su enlazamiento en distancias muy largas, algo que sería más
fácil con repetidores cuánticos.

No obstante, estos retos no han impedido que los investigadores sueñen con un futuro
internet cuántico.
¿Qué es internet cuántico?

Al igual que internet tradicional, se trata de una red de redes que abarca todo el
mundo. La gran diferencia es que las redes de comunicaciones subyacentes serían
cuánticas.

No va a reemplazar al internet que conocemos ahora. Las fotos de gatos, los vídeos
musicales y una gran cantidad de información comercial no sensible se seguirá
transmitiendo en forma de bits clásicos. Pero internet cuántico atraerá a las
organizaciones que necesitan asegurar datos particularmente valiosos. También
podría ser una forma ideal de conectar la información que fluye entre los ordenadores
cuánticos, que cada vez están más disponibles a través de la nube informática.

China está a la vanguardia de internet cuántico. Lanzó un satélite de comunicaciones

cuánticas llamado Micius hace unos años, y en 2017, el satélite ayudó a organizar la
primera videoconferencia intercontinental, asegurada por QKD, entre Pekín y Viena
(Austria). Una estación terrestre ya conecta el satélite con la red terrestre de Pekín a
Shanghái. China planea lanzar más satélites cuánticos, y varias ciudades del país están
creando planes para las redes municipales de QKD.

Algunos investigadores han advertido que incluso un internet completamente cuántico

puede llegar a ser vulnerable a nuevos ataques que también serían cuánticos. Pero
frente a los ciberataques que afectan al internet actual, las empresas, los gobiernos y los
militares van a seguir explorando la tentadora idea de tener una alternativa cuántica más
segura.
3. NEW SCIENTIST - https://www.newscientist.com/article/2253448-secure-
quantum-communications-network-is-the-largest-of-its-kind/

Secure quantum communications network is the largest of its kind

A more secure internet could be around the corner thanks to the reported largest-ever
quantum network of its kind.

Quantum communication systems are more secure than regular networks, because they
rely on the quantum properties of photons, rather than computer code that can be cracked.
But building one is expensive. “It just doesn’t scale well,” says Siddarth Joshi at the
University of Bristol, UK.

Now Joshi and his colleagues have developed a kind of quantum network using a method
called multiplexing entanglement. Entanglement is a quantum property that sees two
objects, such as a pair of photons, linked so that measuring one of them instantly
influences the measured state of the other, regardless of the distance between them. This
can be used to generate a secure encryption key.

Rather than connecting users one-to-one, which is costly when dealing with a large
network, multiplexing entanglement splits photons from a single laser according to their
wavelength. Each wavelength can hold a data stream, meaning the system could support
between 50 and 100 users with existing hardware, says Joshi.

The team tested the system with eight users on existing optical fibres in Bristol. More
than 100 people could potentially use the system, says Joshi, because not everyone needs
to be connected all the time

The team says its test system is the world’s largest entanglement-based network, in terms
of number of users, and is different from larger networks, such as one in China, that use
a method called “trusted nodes”. There, a message is passed along a line of users, meaning
any legitimate user on the network can listen in.

“The Chinese network is addressing how to build a 2000-kilometre link between Beijing
and Shanghai,” says Joshi. “We’re addressing how to connect everyone together.”

That step away from trusted nodes is a major development, says Harun Šiljak at Trinity
College Dublin, Ireland. The Bristol development is “an important step towards the
quantum internet idea of unprecedented security and privacy”, he says.

But Šiljak cautions that this is a proof of concept and has questions about keeping the
error rates of photon recognition in realistic bounds when operating a larger network. If
error rates exceed a certain percentage, it may not be possible to produce secure
encryption keys.

Joshi believes that risk is manageable, and the method can be used to connect millions of
devices together. “What I am trying to set out to do is to build the quantum internet,” he
says.
4. INFOSECURITY MAGAZINE - https://www.newscientist.com/article/2253448-
secure-quantum-communications-network-is-the-largest-of-its-kind/

Debunking Myths about Quantum Cryptography

It’s clear that quantum computing will vastly change what we can do with computers. It
will bring unprecedented speed and capabilities that will lead to fast scientific and
medical advances, better diagnosis of illness, faster production of drugs and improved
modelling of climate change forecasts, among many other things that will greatly
impact society. It also will break the encryption we use to protect data and computer
systems today. Given how much data is stolen from U.S. industry and government, this
is a huge problem.

While the cybersecurity industry understands the implications of quantum computing on

security, less is known about how to protect against the quantum threat to data security.
NIST is leading efforts to create algorithms strong enough to protect against quantum
attacks, but this is several years away and updating current mathematical algorithms
will extend protections only for a limited time, until advances in quantum computers
make it easy to crack.

Quantum cryptography solves this problem by exploiting the properties of quantum

mechanics to securely transmit cryptographic keys using laser-generated photons of
light. The best known example of quantum cryptography is Quantum Key Distribution
(QKD). Because QKD is rooted in the laws of physics, not mathematical computations
like traditional encryption, the system is theoretically unbreakable.

Despite its promise for ultra-secure transmissions of sensitive information, there are a
number of misconceptions about QKD. Given that QKD offers protection today for the
quantum threats that are around the corner, addressing the myths of QKD is essential for
ensuring that our encrypted data stays secret and out of the hands of hackers and foreign
governments.

Myth #1: It only works for short distances

Historically, the use of QKD has been very limited due to the limitations of current
networking infrastructure. Fiber optic cables can only carry photons a short distance,
about 100 km or 62 miles, before the photons break down. This isn’t useful for most
companies today, which have offices, partners and suppliers located across the globe.
New technologies have eliminated those distance limitations: The University of Geneva
and Corning Inc. collaborated to develop a system that can carry a photon more than
300 km or 186 miles.

Myth #2: It will slow down data transfer

In the past there were concerns that the quantum cryptographic process would increase
the latency associated with data transmission, something that would be a deal breaker
for industries such as financial services where trades are done in milliseconds. Yet
quantum key distribution solves this problem by separating the encryption keys from
the message content: it creates two separate data flows and uses a single key to decode
many messages, which means it has no effect whatsoever on the speed of the data
transfer. In fact, Toshiba and the University of Cambridge have demonstrated the ability
to exchange secure keys at 1 Mbit per second over 20 km of optical fiber.
Myth #3: The quantum threat is far off
Until recently, quantum computing was considered a threat that was on the distant
horizon because of the challenges in developing such an advanced technology. Even
though it’s clear that once it comes it will instantly render current encryption obsolete,
there hasn’t been the urgency because everyone is waiting for quantum computing to be
deployed before they worry about the crypto threat it poses.

However, China is stealing and stockpiling sensitive data from U.S. databases,
compromising data like intelligence officer contact information and employment
records from the Office of Personnel Management and Lockheed Martin’s F-35
development plans. Even if the data is encrypted, the minute China has quantum
computing capable of cracking the encryption all the secrets will be spilled.

Recent announcements show that we are nearer to quantum computing than we

previously thought. Google announced it had built a quantum computer last year that
could shave 10,000 years off the computational time of the fastest classical computers,
and Amazon soon followed with an announcement of its own. Given how heated the
race to develop Quantum Computing is; the estimate of 5-10 years is looking
increasingly conservative.

Myth #4: It’s theoretical

QKD isn’t science fiction; it’s here today and already being deployed, with projects in
China, Canada, Austria, South Korea, the UK, Switzerland and the U.S. China likely
leads the way in QKD development, with a number of projects. This includes a QKD
system developed by Peking University and Beijing University of Posts and
Telecommunications - and the world’s first space-ground quantum network that is
expected to send transmissions using up to 10 satellites for global coverage by 2030.

In Europe, the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information in Vienna
developed a quantum channel that enabled the first intercontinental quantum video call.
QKD has been securing elections in Switzerland for a decade, protecting voting data
sent between the central ballot-counting station in downtown Geneva and government
data centers in the suburbs.

Myth #5: Fiber is hard to come by and too expensive

Fiber optics is a critical component for 5G infrastructure and is readily available and
affordable. It’s being deployed at record levels with more than 400,000 fiber routes
deployed in the last year alone, according to the Fiber Broadband Association.

In addition to that, cities are sitting on top of tons of unused fiber optic cable — called
“dark fiber” — that was laid underground during the rush to build out the internet in the
late 1990s and early 2000s. Costs to light it are a fraction of what they were then with
little to no labor costs because it’s already in the ground.

Also, there are technologies, such as Phio TX, that support QKD without the need for
dedicated fiber. QKD requires a fiber link between two QKD boxes to generate the
unique photon-based keys but they can be sitting right next to each other. Once the key
is generated it can be transmitted over any transport (WAN, fiber, copper, wireless,
free-space optical) to its destination.
5. PHYS.ORG - https://www.newscientist.com/article/2253448-secure-quantum-
communications-network-is-the-largest-of-its-kind/

The world's first integrated quantum communication network

Chinese scientists have established the world's first integrated quantum communication
network, combining over 700 optical fibers on the ground with two ground-to-satellite
links to achieve quantum key distribution over a total distance of 4,600 kilometers for
users across the country. The team, led by Jianwei Pan, Yuao Chen, Chengzhi Peng from
the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, reported in Nature their
latest advances towards the global, practical application of such a network for future
communications.

Unlike conventional encryption, quantum communication is considered unhackable and

therefore the future of secure information transfer for banks, power grids and other
sectors. The core of quantum communication is quantum key distribution (QKD), which
uses the quantum states of particles—e.g. photons—to form a string of zeros and ones,
while any eavesdropping between the sender and the receiver will change this string or
key and be noticed immediately. So far, the most common QKD technology uses optical
fibers for transmissions over several hundred kilometers, with high stability but
considerable channel loss. Another major QKD technology uses the free space between
satellites and ground stations for thousand-kilometer-level transmissions. In 2016, China
launched the world's first quantum communication satellite (QUESS, or Mozi/Micius)
and achieved QKD with two ground stations which are 2,600 km apart. In 2017, an over
2,000-km long optical fiber network was completed for QKD between Beijing and
Shanghai.

Using trusted relays, the ground-based fiber network and the satellite-to-ground links
were integrated to serve more than 150 industrial users across China, including state and
local banks, municipal power grids, and e-government websites. This work shows that
quantum communication technology can be used for future large-scale practical
applications. Similarly, a global quantum communication network can be established if
national quantum networks from different countries are combined, and if universities,
institutions and companies come together to standardize related protocols, hardware.

In the last couple of years, the team extensively tested and improved the performance of
different parts of the integrated network. For instance, with an increased clock rate and
more efficient QKD protocol, the satellite-to-ground QKD now has an average key
generation rate of 47.8 kilobits per second, which is 40 times higher than the previous
rate. The researchers have also pushed the record for ground-based QKD to beyond 500
km using a new technology called twin-field QKD (TF-QKD).

Next up, the team will further expand the network in China and with their international
partners from Austria, Italy, Russia and Canada. They also aim to develop small-scale,
cost-efficient QKD satellites and ground-based receivers, as well as medium and high
earth orbit satellites to achieve all-time, ten-thousand-km-level QKD.
Quantum cryptography keys for secure communication
distributed 1,000 kilometers farther than previous attempts
The exchange of a secret key for encrypting and decrypting messages over a distance of
1,120 kilometers is reported in Nature this week. This achievement is made using
entanglement-based quantum key distribution, a theoretically secure communication
technique. Previous attempts to directly distribute quantum keys between two ground
users under real-world conditions have reached distances of only around 100 kilometers.

Quantum communication uses photons to securely distribute a "secret key" to allow the
exchange of encrypted messages. Previous work has demonstrated quantum key
distribution along up to 404 kilometers of coiled optical fiber in a laboratory, or from a
satellite to a ground station up to 1,200 kilometers away. However, real-world application
between two users has been limited to around 100 kilometers. This is due to photon losses,
which increase rapidly with distance. Trusted relays or "repeaters" offer a way to extend
the distance and avoid photon loss, but the relay stations introduce security risks.

Jian-Wei Pan and colleagues circumvented the need for repeaters by using a satellite to
establish a secure link between two ground stations on Earth, using entangled photons.
Entangled photons are linked in such a way that, even when separated by long distances,
outcomes of measurements of their quantum properties are perfectly correlated. Two
telescopes, designed to receive such quantum signals, were built 1,120 kilometers apart
in Delingha and Nanshan in China. Entangled photons produced by the Micius satellite
are transmitted to the ground as the satellite passes over the stations. Although satellite-
based entanglement distribution has been reported before, the authors have now increased
their transmission efficiency and reduced error rates enough to use entanglement to
transmit quantum keys. They show that the system produces a secure channel that is
resistant to attacks.

The results represent a path toward entanglement-based global quantum networks, the
authors conclude.
6. COMPUTERHOY- https://computerhoy.com/noticias/tecnologia/china-
inaugura-primera-red-comunicacion-cuantica-integrada-786181

China inaugura la primera red de comunicación cuántica integrada

La comunicación cuántica se considera casi imposible de piratear. A diferencia del cifrado

tradicional, este podría ser el futuro de la comunicación bancaria y otros sectores igual de
sensibles a ataques.

China ha establecido la primera red de comunicación cuántica del mundo. Para ello se
han necesitado más de 700 fibras ópticas con dos enlaces tierra-satélite con los que
distribuir las claves cuánticas por 4.600 kilómetros, desde la ciudad de Xinlong a
Shanghai.

La revista Nature ha publicado los avances conseguidos por el equipo de Jianwei Pan,
Yuao Chen, y Chengzhi Peng, investigadores de la Universidad de Ciencia y Tecnología
de China en Hefei (USTC). Jianwei Pan, profesor en esta universidad, asegura que este
proyecto demuestra que "la tecnología de comunicación cuántica es lo suficientemente
madura para aplicaciones prácticas a gran escala".

Las claves generadas por la comunicación cuántica o QKD (quantum key distribution)
se basan en los estados de las partículas cuánticas como por ejemplo, los fotones. Así se
forma una cadena de ceros y unos que, ante cualquier interferencia entre el emisor y el
receptor, la cadena cambia de inmediato evitando su descifrado.

Cada par de fotones entrelazados codifica un bit de la cadena. Al estar entrelazados si uno
de los fotones se ve alterado o es descubierto por un sistema ajeno, el entrelazado se
rompe porque el fotón ha cambiado su propiedades de forma inmediata. La clave
cambiaría antes de que se pudiera averiguar por completo, por eso se considera casi
imposible de piratear a esta nueva tecnología.

El equipo de investigadores ha conseguido mejorar el rendimiento de algunas de las partes

de la red de comunicación hasta conseguir una tasa promedio en la generación de las
claves de 47,8 kilobits por segundo, unas 40 veces más rápida. Además, a este proyecto
también se le podría atribuir el récord de QKD en tierra con más de 500 kilómetros gracias
al uso de la tecnología QKD de campo doble (TF-QKD).

Estas redes se podrían ampliar a nivel global uniendo las diferentes redes cuánticas de los
países y las instituciones y empresas, si se llegara a estandarizar los protocolos y hardware
necesario. El equipo de la USTC quiere ampliar esta red china con la ayuda de socios
internacionales de Austria, Italia, Rusia y Canadá. Otro de los objetivos próximos es
el desarrollo de satélites QKD y receptores terrestres de diferentes escalas para lograr una
red cuántica de hasta 10.000 kilómetros.
7. XATAKA- https://www.xatakaciencia.com/telecomunicaciones/primera-red-
comunicacion-cuantica-integrada-mundo-se-establece-china

La primera red de comunicación cuántica integrada del mundo se

establece en China
Más de 700 fibras ópticas con dos enlaces tierra-satélite para distribuir claves cuánticas
en 4.600 kilómetros constituyen la que es la primera red de comunicación cuántica
del mundo.

Detrás del proyecto, según se publica en un estudio en Nature, está un equipo de

científicos chinos liderado por Jianwei Pan, Yuao Chen, Chengzhi Peng de la Universidad
de Ciencia y Tecnología de China en Hefei (USTC).

Imposible de piratear

La comunicación cuántica se basa en el intercambio de claves cuánticas (QKD, del inglés

"quantum key distribution", distribución cuántica de claves), que utiliza los estados
cuánticos de las partículas para formar una cadena de ceros y unos, mientras que cualquier
interferencia entre el emisor y el receptor cambiará esta cadena o clave y se notará de
inmediato: por ello, a diferencia del cifrado convencional, la comunicación cuántica se
considera imposible de piratear.

Concretamente, el fundamento de esta tecnología reside en el hecho de que cada par de

fotones entrelazados codifica un bit de información de la clave. Su entrelazamiento
garantiza que si uno de los fotones se ve alterado, por ejemplo, debido a que alguien ha
conseguido observarlo, sus propiedades físicas cambian instantáneamente y el
entrelazamiento se rompe, por lo que el mensaje cifrado no puede ser vulnerado.

Hasta ahora, la tecnología QKD más común utiliza fibras ópticas para transmisiones de
varios cientos de kilómetros, con alta estabilidad pero considerable pérdida de canal, pero
los investigadores han ido más lejos utilizando una nueva tecnología llamada QKD
de campo doble (TF-QKD).

También tienen como objetivo desarrollar satélites QKD y receptores terrestres a pequeña
escala y rentables, así como satélites de órbita terrestre media y alta para lograr QKD de
nivel de diez mil kilómetros todo el tiempo. Por su parte, la Unión Europea también se ha
puesto en marcha con una iniciativa llamada European Union Quantum Communication
Initiative