Quantum lock on dark states

TL;DR

This paper introduces a quantum lock based on dark states of atomic ensembles in optical cavities, offering perfect secrecy and potential for practical quantum key distribution with small atomic groups.

Contribution

It proposes a novel quantum protection scheme utilizing dark states and EPR singlets, enhancing security beyond classical cryptography.

Findings

The quantum lock ensures perfect secrecy against classical hacking.

The scheme can generate secret keys with tens of atoms.

Dark states can be created via Stark shift of atomic energy.

Abstract

We propose quantum protection circuit (quantum lock), based on dark states of ensembles of two-level atoms in optical cavity. The secret key is the splitting of atoms into pairs, and publicly accessible part of the lock is the tensor product of EPR singlets, corresponding to the given splitting. To open the lock one must move synchronously pairs of atoms from the correct splitting to the other cavity; the lock will open if atoms do not emit photons. This scheme has perfect secrecy: it is impossible to hack it, even with effective solutions of any classical computational problems, in contrast to the RSA scheme. The method of obtaining dark states through Stark shift of atomic excitation energy is also proposed. This scheme makes possible to create secret keys of a few tens of atoms that is sufficient for the most practical applications.