Quantum key distribution networks and their applications for blockchain technologies (A. Fedorov)

  • Datum: 07.02.2018
  • Uhrzeit: 14:00 - 15:00
  • Vortragende(r): Aleksey Fedorov
  • Russian Quantum Center (RQC), Moscow, Russia
  • Raum: New Lecture Hall, Room B 0.32
  • Gastgeber: MPQ, Theory Division
The blockchain is a distributed ledger platform with high Byzantine fault tolerance, which enables achieving consensus in a large decentralized network of parties who do not trust each other.

A paramount feature of blockchains is the accountability and transparency of transactions, which makes it attractive for a variety of applications ranging from smart contracts and finance to manufacturing and healthcare. Blockchain relies on two one-way computational technologies: hash functions and digital signatures. Most blockchain platforms rely on the elliptic curve public-key cryptography or the integer factorization problem to generate a digital signature. The security of these algorithms is based on the assumption of computational complexity of certain mathematical problems. A universal quantum computer would enable efficient solving of these problems, thereby making digital signatures, including those used in blockchains, insecure. A way to guarantee authentication in the quantum era is to use quantum key distribution, which guarantees information-theoretic security based on the laws of quantum physics. Quantum key distribution is able to generate a secret key between two parties connected by a quantum channel (for transmitting quantum states) and a public classical channel (for post processing). We describe a blockchain platform that is based on quantum key distribution and implement an experiment demonstrating its capability in a three-node urban quantum key distribution network.

Zur Redakteursansicht