FET: Small: Theoretical Foundations and Applications of High Dimensional Quantum Communication

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Quantum cryptography promises a future communication infrastructure that is secure not only today, but also against future technological breakthroughs, such as the development of large-scale quantum computers. However, despite this great potential, there are two critical shortcomings that must be overcome before this technology can see wide-scale adoption. First is noise tolerance and the second is efficiency. High-dimensional quantum states are a prime candidate to solve both problems as preliminary evidence shows, however an exact study of why this true; when it actually occurs; and how to effectively harness this power are still unanswered questions. This project deepens our understanding of high-dimensional quantum communication, develops insights to answer these questions, while also discovering new applications and protocols to more readily, and more effectively, harness the power of higher-dimensional quantum communication systems. Furthermore, this project provides opportunities for undergraduate researchers to become involved and also provides new material for undergraduate education in quantum technology, vital to the future workforce and research.This project's ultimate goal is to shed light on the theoretical foundations of high-dimensional quantum secure communication in applications including, and beyond, quantum key distribution. The PI is developing novel quantum protocols utilizing high-dimensional quantum states, while also developing the necessary information theoretic tools needed to analyze their behavior and security. Various noise scenarios are considered, along with novel adaptive protocols allowing for optimized performance over a variety of operational scenarios. The information theoretic methods developed in this project, allowing us to prove security of these new protocols, also have broad application to other research areas within quantum information science. Furthermore, these new protocols hold numerous advantages over current work, while also allowing us to probe further at the foundations of quantum secure communication. New cryptographic applications of high-dimensional states are also under investigation, in a variety of security models, creating theoretical insights, and also potentially more practical systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.