Novel quantum secret image-sharing scheme**Project supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan (Grant Nos. 2018YFC1200200 and 2018YFC1200205), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61463016), and the “Science and Technology Innovation Action Plan” of Shanghai in 2017 (Grant No. 17510740300).

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a novel quantum secret image-sharing scheme which constructs m quantum secret images into m+1 quantum share images. A chaotic image generated by the logistic map is utilized to assist in the construction of quantum share images first. The chaotic image and secret images are expressed as quantum image representation by using the novel enhanced quantum representation. To enhance the confidentiality, quantum secret images are scrambled into disordered images through the Arnold transform. Then the quantum share images are constructed by performing a series of quantum swap operations and quantum controlled-NOT operations. Because all quantum operations are invertible, the original quantum secret images can be reconstructed by performing a series of inverse operations. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulation proved both the security and low computational complexity of the scheme, which has outperformed its classical counterparts. It also provides quantum circuits for sharing and recovery processes.