Quantum oblivious transfer: a short review

TL;DR

This paper reviews the development, security challenges, and theoretical models of quantum oblivious transfer, highlighting its potential for quantum-safe computation and the conditions needed for its security.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive survey of quantum oblivious transfer protocols, security requirements, and the impossibility results in the field of quantum cryptography.

Findings

Analysis of proposed QOT protocols and their security models

Discussion of impossibility results in quantum oblivious transfer

Overview of quantum security models enabling QOT security

Abstract

Quantum cryptography is the field of cryptography that explores the quantum properties of matter. Its aim is to develop primitives beyond the reach of classical cryptography or to improve on existing classical implementations. Although much of the work in this field is dedicated to quantum key distribution (QKD), some important steps were made towards the study and development of quantum oblivious transfer (QOT). It is possible to draw a comparison between the application structure of both QKD and QOT primitives. Just as QKD protocols allow quantum-safe communication, QOT protocols allow quantum-safe computation. However, the conditions under which QOT is actually quantum-safe have been subject to a great amount of scrutiny and study. In this review article, we survey the work developed around the concept of oblivious transfer in the area of theoretical quantum cryptography, with an emphasis on some proposed protocols and their security requirements. We review the impossibility results that daunt this primitive and discuss several quantum security models under which it is possible to prove QOT security.