Quantum cryptography using partially entangled states

Abstract

We show that non-maximally entangled states can be used to build a quantum key distribution (QKD) scheme where the key is probabilistically teleported from Alice to Bob. This probabilistic aspect of the protocol ensures the security of the key without the need of non-orthogonal states to encode it, in contrast to other QKD schemes. Also, the security and key transmission rate of the present protocol is nearly equivalent to those of standard QKD schemes and these aspects can be controlled by properly harnessing the new free parameter in the present proposal, namely, the degree of partial entanglement. Furthermore, we discuss how to build a controlled QKD scheme, also based on partially entangled states, where a third party can decide whether or not Alice and Bob are allowed to share a key.