Simple Proof of Security of the BB84 Quantum Key Distribution Protocol
Open accessAbstract
We prove that the 1984 protocol of Bennett and Brassard (BB84) for quantum key distribution is secure. We first give a key distribution protocol based on entanglement purification, which can be proven secure using methods from Lo and Chau's proof of security for a similar protocol. We then show that the security of this protocol implies the security of BB84. The entanglement purification based protocol uses Calderbank-Shor-Steane codes, and properties of these codes are used to remove the use of quantum computation from the Lo-Chau protocol.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The technique used in the source-independent QRNG protocol shares strong similarity with the one used in QKD.
“The technique used in the protocol shares strong similarity with the one used in QKD. 82”
From Quantum random number generation (2016) · cites this paper as [82]
The BB84 description (Protocol 3, p. 4) sets out a QKD technique involving random basis choices and check bits. The paper does not discuss the source-independent QRNG protocol or compare its technique with QKD, so it cannot establish the claimed strong similarity. (LLM, conf=0.78)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Quantum cryptography: Public key distribution and coin tossing
Bennett, C. H., & Brassard, G. (2014) · Theoretical Computer Science · doi:10.1016/j.tcs.2014.05.025 · Cited by 8,299 · see citing works
Quantum cryptography: Public key distribution and coin tossing
Bennett, C. H., & Brassard, G. (2020) · arXiv · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2003.06557 · Cited by 8,299 · see citing works
Mixed-state entanglement and quantum error correction
Bennett, C. H., DiVincenzo, D. P., Smolin, J. A., & Wootters, W. K. (1996) · Physical Review A · doi:10.1103/physreva.54.3824 · Cited by 5,272 · see citing works
Good quantum error-correcting codes exist
Calderbank, A. R., & Shor, P. W. (1996) · Physical Review A · doi:10.1103/physreva.54.1098 · Cited by 2,516 · see citing works
Self-citationUnconditional Security of Quantum Key Distribution over Arbitrarily Long Distances
Lo, H., & Chau, H. F. (1999) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.283.5410.2050 · Cited by 1,867 · see citing works
Multiple-particle interference and quantum error correction
(1996) · Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspa.1996.0136 · Cited by 1,284 · see citing works
Unconditional security in quantum cryptography
Mayers, D. (2001) · Journal of the ACM · doi:10.1145/382780.382781 · Cited by 1,036 · see citing works
A Proof of the Security of Quantum Key Distribution
Biham, E., Boyer, M., Boykin, P. O., Mor, T., & Roychowdhury, V. (2006) · Journal of Cryptology · doi:10.1007/s00145-005-0011-3 · Cited by 216 · see citing works
A Proof of the Security of Quantum Key DistributionPreprint
Biham, E., Boyer, M., Boykin, P. O., Mor, T., & Roychowdhury, V. (1999) · arXiv (Cornell University) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.quant-ph/9912053 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Gisin, N., Ribordy, G., Tittel, W., & Zbinden, H. (2002) · Reviews of Modern Physics · doi:10.1103/revmodphys.74.145 · Cited by 8,515 · see citing works
Quantum information with continuous variables
Braunstein, S. L., & van Loock, P. (2005) · Reviews of Modern Physics · doi:10.1103/revmodphys.77.513 · Cited by 3,858 · see citing works
Encoding a qubit in an oscillator
Gottesman, D., Kitaev, A., & Preskill, J. (2001) · Physical Review A · doi:10.1103/physreva.64.012310 · Cited by 1,532 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Private Classical Capacity and Quantum Capacity of a Quantum Channel
Devetak, I. (2005) · IEEE Transactions on Information Theory · doi:10.1109/tit.2004.839515 · Cited by 823 · see citing works
Experimental demonstration of memory-enhanced quantum communication
Bhaskar, M. K., Riedinger, R., Machielse, B., Levonian, D. S., Nguyen, C. T., Knall, E. N., Park, H., Englund, D., Lončar, M., Sukachev, D. D., et al. (2020) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2103-5 · Cited by 587 · see citing works
Quantum random number generation
Ma, X., Yuan, X., Cao, Z., Qi, B., & Zhang, Z. (2016) · npj Quantum Information · doi:10.1038/npjqi.2016.21 · Cited by 445 · see citing works
Quantum computing for healthcare: a review
Ur Rasool, R., Ahmad, H. F., Rafique, W., Qayyum, A., Qadir, J., & Anwar, Z. (2023) · Future Internet · doi:10.3390/fi15030094 · Cited by 242 · see citing works
The Universal Composable Security of Quantum Key Distribution
Ben-Or, M., Horodecki, M., Leung, D. W., Mayers, D., & Oppenheim, J. (2005) · Lecture Notes in Computer Science · doi:10.1007/978-3-540-30576-7_21 · Cited by 227 · see citing works
Imany, P., Jaramillo-Villegas, J. A., Odele, O. D., Han, K., Leaird, D. E., Lukens, J. M., Lougovski, P., Qi, M., & Weiner, A. M. (2018) · Optics Express · doi:10.1364/oe.26.001825 · Cited by 185 · see citing works
The Squashed Entanglement of a Quantum Channel
Takeoka, M., Guha, S., & Wilde, M. M. (2014) · IEEE Transactions on Information Theory · doi:10.1109/tit.2014.2330313 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Relativistic quantum information
Mann, R. B., & Ralph, T. C. (2012) · Classical and Quantum Gravity · doi:10.1088/0264-9381/29/22/220301 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Quantum Key Distribution Networks - Key Management: A Survey
Dervisevic, E., Tankovic, A., Fazel, E., Kompella, R., Fazio, P., Voznak, M., & Mehic, M. (2025) · ACM Computing Surveys · doi:10.1145/3730575 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Deterministic spin-photon entanglement from a trapped ion in a fiber Fabry–Perot cavity
Kobel, P., Breyer, M., & Köhl, M. (2021) · npj Quantum Information · doi:10.1038/s41534-020-00338-2 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Monogamy of correlations and entropy inequalities in the Bloch picture
Appel, P., Huber, M., & Klöckl, C. (2020) · Journal of Physics Communications · doi:10.1088/2399-6528/ab6fb4 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
A Quantum Cryptographic Protocol for Secure Vehicular Communication
Sutradhar, K. (2024) · IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems · doi:10.1109/tits.2023.3322728 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
A tuneable telecom wavelength entangled light emitting diode deployed in an installed fibre network
Xiang, Z.-H., Huwer, J., Skiba-Szymanska, J., Stevenson, R. M., Ellis, D. J. P., Farrer, I., Ward, M. B., Ritchie, D. A., & Shields, A. J. (2020) · Communications Physics · doi:10.1038/s42005-020-0390-7 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Cyber-physical defense in the quantum Era
Barbeau, M., & Garcia-Alfaro, J. (2022) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-022-05690-1 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Parasitic photon-pair suppression via photonic stop-band engineering
Helt, L. G., Brańczyk, A. M., Liscidini, M., & Steel, M. J. (2017) · Physical Review Letters · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.118.073603 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Garapo, K., Mafu, M., & Petruccione, F. (2016) · Chinese Physics B · doi:10.1088/1674-1056/25/7/070303 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Quantum permutation pad for quantum secure symmetric and asymmetric cryptography
Kuang, R. (2025) · Academia Quantum · doi:10.20935/acadquant7457 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
- Authors
- Shor, P. W., & Preskill, J.
- Affiliations
- AT&T (United States) (US)
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Venue
- Physical Review Letters
- Publisher
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Published
- 2000-07-10
- Volume
- 85
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 441-444
- ISSN
- 0031-9007 (ISSN-L)
- 1079-7114
- OpenAlex
- W2071764857
- Cited by
- 3,047
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 177 · 2025: 192 · 2024: 202 · 2023: 166 · 2022: 168 · 2021: 204 · 2020: 183 · 2019: 165 · 2018: 137 · 2017: 132 · 2016: 119 · 2015: 121 · 2014: 129 · 2013: 93 · 2012: 86
- FWCI
- 45.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- arxiv.org
- Locations
- Physical Review Letters (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- CERN Document Server (European Organization for Nuclear Research) (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Quantum Information and Cryptography
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Quantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Wireless Communication Security Techniques
- Keywords
- BB84 protocol, quantum key distribution, security proofs, entanglement distillation, Calderbank-Shor-Steane codes, quantum error correction, quantum cryptography
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
