Robust One-Sided Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution via High-Dimensional Steering

Authors

Abstract

Quantum key distribution (QKD) brings the promise of communication with information-theoretic security, but is limited in practice due to its susceptibility to noise, losses, and difficulty in accounting for device imperfections. To address these challenges, we propose a robust high-dimensional (HD) one-sided device-independent QKD (1sDI-QKD) protocol whose security is certified through the violation of steering inequalities. Motivated by recent demonstrations of steering in high-dimensional systems with enhanced robustness to noise and loss [PhysRevX.12.041023], we present a systematic security analysis of HD 1sDI-QKD protocols leveraging quantum steering to certify security. We analyze the achievable secret key rates for protocols with different measurement configurations and system dimensions, combined with the reverse reconciliation scheme, which leads to significant improvements in secret key rates. Our results demonstrate two key advantages: (i) the protocols offer enhanced robustness of the key rates against noise and loss in comparison to fully device-independent QKD, and (ii) the key rate performance shows favorable scaling with increasing dimensions. Finally, we characterize the noise-loss trade-off, highlighting the feasibility of HD 1sDI-QKD in practical scenarios. We further demonstrate progress towards a proof-of-concept experimental implementation of HD 1sDI-QKD by exploring multi-outcome projective measurements across all mutually unbiased bases up to dimension 11. We observe steering violations demonstrating advantages for QKD up to dimension 7 under the fair-sampling assumption. Finally, we discuss perspectives towards a loophole-free implementation of 1sDI-QKD.