Quantum Cryptography

Advanced lecture winter 2010/11

Instructor Dominique Unruh <<surname> at mmci dot uni-saarland dot de>
Lecture Period Tue, October 19 - Wed, February 9
Lectures Tuesday, 10:15am-12:00, E1 3, seminar room 014
Tutorials Wednesday, 10:15am-12:00, E1 3, seminar room 014
Course Material Lecture notes (split lecture-wise), blackboard photos, and papers suggested during the course
Mailing list
qc10@mail-infsec.cs.uni-saarland.de (please register here)
Language English
Exam February 15, 2010, 10:00am (backup: April 5, 10:00am)
Contact Dominique Unruh <<surname> at mmci dot uni-saarland dot de>

News

Topics covered

2010-10-19 (lecture) Short "historical" overview, introduction to quantum mechanics using the example of polarisation (slides PPT, PDF)
2010-10-26 (lecture)
Mathematics of the single qubit, Elitzur-Vaidman bomb tester
2010-10-27 (tutorial)
Examples of single-qubit operations on photons
2010-11-02 (lecture)
Mathematics of higher-dimensional quantum systems; composition of quantum systems
2010-11-03 (tutorial)
Quantum teleportation
2010-11-09 (lecture)
Measurements in composed systems. Complete sets of gates (mentioned). Fault-tolerant computation (mentioned).
2010-11-10 (tutorial)
Implementing classical functions in quantum circuits.
2010-11-16 (lecture)
Quantum ensembles; density operators
2010-11-17 (tutorial)
?
2010-11-23 (lecture)
Partial trace. Purification. Quantum operations.
2010-11-24 (tutorial)
Defining and analysing security using partial trace.
2010-11-30 (lecture)
Trace distance. Intro to quantum key distribution.
2010-12-01 (lecture)
Quantum key distribution: Security definition and start of proof.
2010-12-14 (lecture)
Finished QKD proof.
2010-12-15 (tutorial)
?
2011-01-04 (lecture)
Impossibility of quantum bit commitment. Bit commitment in the bounded quantum storage model.
2010-01-05 (tutorial)
Impossibility of quantum oblivious transfer.
2010-01-11 (lecture)
Security proof of bit commitment in the bounded quantum storage model.
2010-01-12 (tutorial)
Oblivious transfer in the bounded quantum storage model.
2010-01-18 (lecture)
Definition of quantum zero-knowledge. The problem with rewinding.
2010-01-25 (lecture)
Quantum rewinding lemma. Graph isomorphism has a statistical QZK proof.
2010-01-26 (tutorial)
Quantum proofs of knowledge. Showing that graph isomorphism has a QPoK.
2010-02-01 (lecture)
Shor's algorithm (order finding, factoring, discrete logarithm).
2010-02-02 (tutorial)
Constructing the DFT.
2010-02-08 (lecture)
Revocable time-vaults.
2010-02-09 (tutorial)
Q&A session.

Homework

Your current amount of points in the homework can be accessed here (as soon as the first sheet has been corrected).
Out / due
Homework
Solution
2010-10-26 / 2010-11-02
Homework 1
Solution 1
2010-11-03 / 2010-11-09
Homework 2
Solution 2
2010-11-10 / 2010-11-16
Homework 3
Solution 3
2010-11-17 / 2010-11-23
Homework 4
Solution 4
2010-11-24 / 2010-11-30
Homework 5
Solution 5
2010-12-01 / 2010-12-14
Homework 6
Solution 6
2010-12-15 / 2011-01-04
Homework 7
Solution 7
2011-01-05 / 2011-01-11
Homework 8
Solution 8
2011-01-12 / 2011-01-18
Homework 9
Solution 9
2011-01-19 / 2011-01-25
Homework 10
Solution 10
2011-02-02 / 2011-02-08
Homework 11

Description

In quantum cryptography we use quantum mechanical effects to construct secure protocols. The paradoxical nature of quantum mechanics allows for constructions that solve problems known to be impossible without quantum mechanics. This lecture gives an introduction into this fascinating area.

Possible topics include:

Requirements

You need no prior knowledge of quantum mechanics. You should have heard some introductory lecture on cryptography. You should enjoy math and have a sound understanding of linear algebra.

Reading

[NC00] Nielsen, Chuang. "Quantum Computation and Quantum Information" Cambridge University Press, 2000. A standard textbook on quantum information and quantum computing. Also contains some quantum cryptography.

Further reading may be suggested during the course. See the "further reading" paragraphs in the lecture notes.