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A universal simulating framework for quantum key distribution systems

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Abstract

Quantum key distribution (QKD) provides a physical-based way to conciliate keys between remote users securely. Simulation is an essential method for designing and optimizing QKD systems. We develop a universal simulation framework based on quantum operator descriptions of photon signals and optical devices. The optical devices can be freely combined and driven by the photon excitation events, which make it appropriate for arbitrary QKD systems in principle. Our framework focuses on realistic characters of optical devices and system structures. The imperfections of the devices and the non-local properties of a quantum system are taken into account when modeling. We simulate the single-photon and Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference optical units, which are fundamental of QKD systems. The results using this event-driven framework agree well with the theoretical results, which indicate its feasibility for QKD.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2018YFA0306400), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61627820, 61675189, 61622506, 61822115), Anhui Initiative in Quantum Information Technologies (Grant No. AHY030000). We also appreciate Dr. Xuebi AN and Yuyang DING of Anhui Qasky, Co. Ltd. for helpful discussion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Quantum Information, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    Guan-Jie Fan-Yuan, Wei Chen, Feng-Yu Lu, Zhen-Qiang Yin, Shuang Wang, Guang-Can Guo & Zheng-Fu Han

  2. State Key Laboratory of Cryptography, P.O. Box 5159, Beijing, 100878, China

    Guan-Jie Fan-Yuan, Wei Chen, Feng-Yu Lu, Zhen-Qiang Yin, Shuang Wang, Guang-Can Guo & Zheng-Fu Han

  3. CAS Center for Excellence and Synergetic Innovation Center in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    Guan-Jie Fan-Yuan, Wei Chen, Feng-Yu Lu, Zhen-Qiang Yin, Shuang Wang, Guang-Can Guo & Zheng-Fu Han

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  1. Guan-Jie Fan-Yuan
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  2. Wei Chen
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Correspondence to Wei Chen or Zheng-Fu Han.

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Fan-Yuan, GJ., Chen, W., Lu, FY. et al. A universal simulating framework for quantum key distribution systems. Sci. China Inf. Sci. 63, 180504 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11432-020-2886-x

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