Ramona Wolf - Quantum Key Distribution: An Introduction with Exercises (Lecture Notes in Physics)

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These lecture notes grew out of a course on quantum key distribution taught at Leibniz Universitt Hannover during the summer term of 2020 as part of the physics masters programme. When preparing the course, I discovered that there are very few textbooks that introduce quantum cryptography and quantum key distribution from the ground up, especially with regard to recent developments both on the theoretical and on the experimental front. Therefore, although the course was originally intended as a masters course, I decided to prepare these notes for a wider audience, including PhD students and postdocs who are new to the field of quantum key distribution.

This book is intended to serve as an introduction to the fast-developing field of quantum key distribution. It requires only basic knowledge of quantum mechanics and linear algebra but no prior knowledge of quantum information theory. The mathematical tools needed are presented in the first part of the book, using a variety of worked-out examples and exercises. In particular, the topic of classical and quantum entropies is presented in detail since it is a crucial ingredient of security proofs of quantum key distribution protocols but usually not part of theoretical physics courses. The book furthermore presents a variety of quantum key distribution protocols and different techniques to prove their security. In addition, we discuss the advances and challenges that occur when abstract quantum key distribution protocols are turned into technological prototypes, demonstrating its value to state-of-the-art cryptography and communication.

I would like to thank Alexander Kranz, Renato Renner, Ren Schwonnek, and Christian Staufenbiel for helpful discussions and comments on the manuscript. Special thanks goes to Tobias J. Osborne for encouraging me to publish these notes.