Security of Binary-Modulated Optical Key Distribution Against Quantum-Enhanced Coherent Eavesdropping
Summarize this article with:
Quantum Physics arXiv:2603.20395 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 20 Mar 2026] Title:Security of Binary-Modulated Optical Key Distribution Against Quantum-Enhanced Coherent Eavesdropping Authors:Karol Łukanowski, Michał Wójcik, Stefano Olivares, Konrad Banaszek, Marcin Jarzyna View a PDF of the paper titled Security of Binary-Modulated Optical Key Distribution Against Quantum-Enhanced Coherent Eavesdropping, by Karol {\L}ukanowski and 4 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Optical key distribution (OKD) protects the physical layer of communication links by taking advantage of the inherent noise present in the photodetection process. It allows for efficient generation of a shared random key between two distant users which can subsequently be used for cryptographic purposes secure against passive eavesdropping. Moreover, it can be straightforwardly implemented over standard intensity modulation and direct detection links, making it an attractive alternative to quantum key distribution. Here we present a comprehensive security analysis against more powerful eavesdroppers possessing either the ability to perform coherent detection, or even quantum-optimal measurements on the intercepted transmission. Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph) Cite as: arXiv:2603.20395 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2603.20395v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2603.20395 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Karol Łukanowski [view email] [v1] Fri, 20 Mar 2026 18:15:22 UTC (206 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Security of Binary-Modulated Optical Key Distribution Against Quantum-Enhanced Coherent Eavesdropping, by Karol {\L}ukanowski and 4 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-03 References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) Links to Code Toggle Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)