I see this as the first step towards a global network of information controlled by the combined power of relativity and quantum theory
- Adrian Kent
Scientists sent encrypted data between pairs of sites in Geneva and Singapore, kept “perfectly secure” for 15 milliseconds - putting into practice what cryptographers call a ‘bit commitment’ protocol, based on theoretical work by study co-author Dr Adrian Kent from Cambridge’s Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.
Researchers describe it as the first step towards impregnable information networks controlled by “the combined power of Einstein’s relativity and quantum theory” which might one day, for example, revolutionise financial trading and other markets across the world.
'Bit commitment’ is a mathematical version of a securely sealed envelope. Data are delivered from party A to party B in a locked state that cannot be changed once sent and can only be revealed when party A provides the key – with security guaranteed, even if either of the parties tries to cheat.
The technique could one day be used for everything from global financial trading to secure voting and even long-distance gambling, although researchers point out that this is the “very first step into new territory”.
This is a significant breakthrough in the world of ‘quantum cryptography’ – one that was once believed to be impossible. The results are published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
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Image:Supernova
Credit: Paul Hocksenar
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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