Detector noise in continuous-variable quantum key distribution

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Pan, Shihong, Monokandylos, Dimitri, Qi, Bing
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Pan, Shihong
Monokandylos, Dimitri
Qi, Bing
author_facet Pan, Shihong
Monokandylos, Dimitri
Qi, Bing
contents In continuous-variable (CV) QKD with optical coherent detection, the widely adopted \textit{trusted detector noise} model improves both the secret key rate and the transmission distance. This model assumes that detector noise is inherently random and inaccessible to an adversary. While substantial research has focused on shielding the detector, it is far more difficult to justify the adversary's ignorance of the detector noise. In this paper, we introduce a \textit{calibrated detector noise} model for CV-QKD, which relies solely on the isolation of the detector from the adversary's intervention. Specifically, our model applies even when detector noise is predictable to the adversary. We analyze the electrical noise of a commercial balanced photoreceiver and perform numerical simulations to compare different noise models. Our results show that when the detector noise variance is an order of magnitude below the vacuum noise, the proposed model achieves a secret key rate comparable to that of the trusted detector noise model, while eliminating the questionable assumption of ``truly random'' detector noise.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_20441
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Detector noise in continuous-variable quantum key distribution
Pan, Shihong
Monokandylos, Dimitri
Qi, Bing
Quantum Physics
In continuous-variable (CV) QKD with optical coherent detection, the widely adopted \textit{trusted detector noise} model improves both the secret key rate and the transmission distance. This model assumes that detector noise is inherently random and inaccessible to an adversary. While substantial research has focused on shielding the detector, it is far more difficult to justify the adversary's ignorance of the detector noise. In this paper, we introduce a \textit{calibrated detector noise} model for CV-QKD, which relies solely on the isolation of the detector from the adversary's intervention. Specifically, our model applies even when detector noise is predictable to the adversary. We analyze the electrical noise of a commercial balanced photoreceiver and perform numerical simulations to compare different noise models. Our results show that when the detector noise variance is an order of magnitude below the vacuum noise, the proposed model achieves a secret key rate comparable to that of the trusted detector noise model, while eliminating the questionable assumption of ``truly random'' detector noise.
title Detector noise in continuous-variable quantum key distribution
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.20441