Cadet Garrett Simon presented his work on Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution (MDI-QKD), a two-photon protocol that was devised to eliminate eavesdropping attacks by an eavesdropper (Eve) that interrogate or control the detector in conventional quantum key distribution protocols. In MDI-QKD, the measurements are carried out by a potentially untrusted third party and all the results are announced openly. Knowledge or control of the measurement results gives Eve no information about the secret key. Even in the absence of non-ideal optical components and detectors, error-free implementation of the MDI-QKD protocol requires the crypto-communicating parties to independently prepare and transmit single photons that are physically indistinguishable, with the possible exception of their polarization states.
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