Quantum Key Distribution: from Principles to Practicalities

TL;DR

This paper reviews quantum key distribution protocols, discussing their principles, implementation challenges, security considerations, and current experimental progress in moving from theory to practice.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of quantum key distribution, highlighting recent experimental developments and practical considerations for real-world deployment.

Findings

Overview of main quantum key distribution protocols

Discussion of security from theoretical and practical perspectives

Current experimental advancements in implementation

Abstract

We review the main protocols for key distribution based on principles of quantum mechanics, describing the general underlying ideas, discussing implementation requirements and pointing out directions of current experiments. The issue of security is addressed both from a principal and real-life point of view.