Quantum Cryptography: A Tale of Secrets Hidden and Revealed Through the Laws of Physics

Abstract

Sensitive information can be valuable to others - from your personal credit card numbers to state and military secrets. Throughout history, sophisticated codes have been developed in an attempt to keep important data from prying eyes. But now, new technologies are emerging based on the surprising laws of quantum physics that govern the atomic scale. These powerful techniques threaten to crack some secret codes in widespread use today and, at the same time, offer new quantum cryptographic protocols which could one day profoundly alter the way we safeguard critical information. Quantum cryptography, quantum physics, Daniel Gottesman, cryptography, one-time pad, RSA, encryption, public key, decryption, private key, quantum computer, qubit, shor\'s algorithm, quantum key distribution, QKD