Work

Tighter asymptotic key rates for intensity-correlated decoy-state quantum key distribution via nonlinear programming

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Decoy-state QKD with phase-randomized weak coherent pulses is typically analyzed assuming independent, precisely prepared intensities. Real sources, however, can exhibit correlated intensity drift across rounds, potentially leaking intensity information and breaking the standard decoy-state reduction to linear programs. Cauchy--Schwarz (CS) constraints can restore security by coupling $n$-photon yields across intensities, but they introduce nonlinear square-root constraints that are commonly handled via outer linearisation around channel-model-based reference points. We propose a reproducible alternative: first solve the full CS-constrained parameter-estimation problems using the interior-point nonlinear solver IPOPT, then use the resulting candidate solution as the linearisation point for the outer optimisation that certifies a valid lower bound on the asymptotic key rate. Simulations for both coarse-grained model-independent correlations and fine-grained truncated-Gaussian models show consistently tighter key-rate bounds than canonical reference points, and in some cases allow certifying optimality when both optimisation stages coincide.

Source: Physical Review A

DOI: 10.1103/m9sj-srsc

Authors: Matej Pivoluska, Mateus Araújo

Institution: Universidad de Valladolid

Language: English

Topic: Quantum Information and Cryptography

Subfield: Artificial Intelligence

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Federación Española de Enfermedades Raras, Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft, Junta de Castilla y León, Agencia Estatal de Investigación

Awards: G1013351803, G3557743789