Due to techno­log­i­cal advances we can now build devices that actively manip­u­late quantum mechan­i­cal objects, and using quantum objects as infor­ma­tion carri­ers has many impor­tant impli­ca­tions for future commu­ni­ca­tion. Quantum infor­ma­tion can be used to achieve perfect security and provide efficiency for commu­ni­ca­tion networks. This research project focuses on design­ing secure and anony­mous quantum commu­ni­ca­tion proto­cols in an effort to build a future quantum internet.

The second quantum revolu­tion is currently under­way. Techno­log­i­cal advances are allow­ing us to build devices that actively manip­u­late quantum mechan­i­cal objects and use them as infor­ma­tion carri­ers. This research project deals with the possi­bil­i­ties to lever­age quantum infor­ma­tion carri­ers to develop commu­ni­ca­tion proto­cols for the future. It will examine how to commu­ni­cate securely over quantum networks, while preserv­ing anonymity for the partic­i­pat­ing parties. It specif­i­cally aims to explore which commu­ni­ca­tion tasks obtain an advan­tage in terms of security and anonymity when using quantum infor­ma­tion carri­ers, and for which partic­u­lar network archi­tec­tures. A first approach is to extend well known settings between two commu­ni­ca­tion parties (Quantum Key Distri­b­u­tion) to multi­ple parties (Confer­ence Key Agree­ment). Other tasks like coin flipping, obliv­i­ous trans­fer, paral­lel gener­a­tion of keys and secret-sharing, which are indis­pens­able for estab­lish­ing quantum networks as a medium for commu­ni­ca­tion, will also be explored. Differ­ent network archi­tec­tures will be studied start­ing with nearest-neigh­bour archi­tec­tures, which are the most promis­ing for near-future deploy­ment. The goal is to enable the use of current exper­i­men­tal quantum quantum resources to carry out these tasks, by estab­lish­ing proto­cols that are secure and anony­mous, but at the same time remain practical.