{
  "abstract": "The integration of digital twin technology into large-scale Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations introduces critical security challenges, particularly under emerging quantum threats. This paper proposes a quantum-assisted multi-layer authentication framework for satellite–digital twin communication that combines entanglement-based verification with hardware-rooted identity using Quantum Physical Unclonable Functions (QPUFs). The protocol employs Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen (EPR) pair-based key establishment and decoy-state mechanisms to detect entangle-and-measure (EMA) and intercept-and-resend (IRA) attacks, where the induced disturbance attains 0.25 per decoy qubit under a maximally informative attack. The probability of undetected attacks decreases exponentially as $$(3/4)^u$$ , rapidly approaching zero for moderate decoy lengths. Cabello’s qubit efficiency of the scheme is derived as $$\\beta = \\frac{k}{6n + 2u}$$ . Experimental validation using Qiskit simulation confirms entanglement correlation preservation across mutually unbiased bases and demonstrates QPUF response uniformity of 0.588, a stabilized majority-based reliability of $$100\\%$$ under noiseless simulation, and a response uniqueness of 0.508. The results establish the feasibility of integrating quantum authentication and hardware-root security within digital twin–assisted satellite networks.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Aryan Rana"
    },
    {
      "name": "Palak Bhangalia"
    },
    {
      "name": "Vivekananda Bhat K"
    },
    {
      "name": "Pankaj Kumar"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3kk9by7pb2ny9.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1038/s41598-026-74126-x",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "3kk9by7pb2ny9",
  "issns": [
    "2045-2322"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-74126-x",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1702|Quantum Information and Cryptography"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221928103",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-74126-x_reference.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-14",
  "publisher": "Springer Science and Business Media LLC",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3kk9by7pb2ny9.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:28Z",
      "native_id": "10.1038/s41598-026-74126-x",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-74126-x"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [],
  "title": "Quantum authentication framework for digital twin–driven satellite networks",
  "title_text": "Quantum authentication framework for digital twin–driven satellite networks",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:28Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3kk9by7pb2ny9",
  "venue": "Scientific Reports",
  "versions": []
}