Anonymous Conference Key Agreement in Quantum Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces the first protocol for anonymous conference key agreement in quantum networks, enabling multiple parties to establish shared secret keys while protecting their identities, demonstrated with four-photon GHZ states.

Contribution

The paper presents the first protocol for anonymous quantum conference key agreement and demonstrates it experimentally with four-photon GHZ states.

Findings

First protocol for anonymous quantum conference key agreement

Experimental demonstration using four-photon GHZ states

Enhanced privacy in quantum networks for multiple parties

Abstract

Quantum Conference Key Agreement (CKA) is a cryptographic effort of multiple parties to establish a shared secret key. While bipartite quantum key distribution protocols are also useful in the context of CKA, multipartite protocols allow for a more efficient generation of the necessary correlations and are therefore viewed favorably in the context of quantum networks. In future quantum networks, generating secret keys in an anonymous way is of tremendous importance for parties that do not only want to keep their shared key secret but also protect their own identity, e.g. in the context of whistle-blowing. In this paper we provide the first protocol for Anonymous Quantum Conference Key Agreement and demonstrate it using four-photon Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger ($\mathrm{GHZ}$) states.