Cabello Quintero, Adán2024-01-152024-01-152000-12-25Cabello Quintero, A. (2000). Quantum key distribution in the Holevo limit. Physical Review Letters, 85 (26), 5635-5638. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.5635.0031-90071079-7114https://hdl.handle.net/11441/153343A theorem by Shannon and the Holevo theorem impose that the efficiency of any protocol for quantum key distribution, E , defined as the number of secret (i.e., allowing eavesdropping detection) bits per transmitted bit plus qubit, is E ≤ 1. The problem addressed here is whether the limit E = 1 can be achieved. It is showed that it can be done by splitting the secret bits between several qubits and forcing Eve to have only a sequential access to the qubits, as proposed by Goldenberg and Vaidman. A protocol with E = 1 based on polarized photons and in which Bob's state discrimination can be implemented with linear optical elements is presented.application/pdf4 p.engAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Quantum keyHolevo limitinfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.5635