Entropic uncertainty relations and the measurement range problem, with consequences for high-dimensional quantum key distribution

Abstract

The measurement range problem, where one cannot determine the data outside the range of the detector, limits the characterization of entanglement in high-dimensional quantum systems when employing, among other tools from information theory, the entropic uncertainty relations. Practically, the measurement range problem weakens the security of entanglement-based large-alphabet quantum key distribution (QKD) employing degrees of freedom including time-frequency or electric field quadrature. We present a modified entropic uncertainty relation that circumvents the measurement range problem under certain conditions, and apply it to well-known QKD protocols. For time-frequency QKD, although our bound is an improvement, we find that high channel loss poses a problem for its feasibility. In continuous variable QKD, we find our bound provides a quantitative way to monitor for saturation attacks.

18 pages, 3 figures