Quantum key distribution based on orthogonal states allows secure quantum bit commitment

Abstract

For more than a decade, it was believed that unconditionally secure quantum bit commitment (QBC) is impossible. But based on a previously proposed quantum key distribution scheme using orthogonal states, here we build a QBC protocol in which the density matrices of the quantum states encoding the commitment do not satisfy a crucial condition on which the no-go proofs of QBC are based. Thus, the no-go proofs could be evaded. Our protocol is fault-tolerant and very feasible with currently available technology. It reopens the venue for other ‘post-cold-war’ multi-party cryptographic protocols, e.g. quantum bit string commitment and quantum strong coin tossing with an arbitrarily small bias. This result also has a strong influence on the Clifton–Bub–Halvorson theorem which suggests that quantum theory could be characterized in terms of information-theoretic constraints.