{
  "abstract": "Orbital angular momentum (OAM) multiplexing provides an infinite-dimensional discrete Hilbert space ideally suited for high-capacity free-space quantum key distribution (QKD). Nevertheless, pure scalar spatial modes carrying topological charge ($|\\ell| \\ge 1$) undergo severe decoherence when transmitted through terrestrial atmospheric turbulence. Turbulent refractive-index eddies split high-order vortex singularities, induce catastrophic intermodal crosstalk across adjacent topological channels, and rapidly drive the quantum bit error rate (QBER) well above the unconditional 11% security threshold associated with individual cloning attacks. Here, we demonstrate that hybrid polarization-OAM entangled states, known as vector vortex beams (VVBs), provide intrinsic, hardware-free immunity against turbulent perturbations. Because the optical anisotropy of terrestrial air is exceedingly small ($Δn < 10^{-9}$), refractive-index fluctuations couple symmetrically to orthogonal circular polarization modes as an identical common-mode scalar phase screen that cancels in the relative polarization-phase degree of freedom. By numerically propagating modal fields through modified power-spectral phase screens over turbulence strengths ranging from $D/r_0 = 0$ to $3.0$, we show that the VVB encoding protocol suppresses the asymptotic QBER from 42.0% to 4.8%, yielding an error-suppression factor of approximately 11.6 without requiring active adaptive optics or deformable mirrors.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.01523",
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Behnam Talari"
    },
    {
      "name": "Rouhollah Karimzadeh"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/65e2kf9b0zamk.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.01523",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "65e2kf9b0zamk",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.01523",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.optics"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "quant-ph"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1702|Quantum Information and Cryptography"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7216458494",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.01523",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/65e2kf9b0zamk.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:26:03Z",
      "native_id": "2610.01523",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.01523"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.optics",
      "subfield": "optics-photonics"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:quant-ph",
      "subfield": "quantum"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Inherent Turbulence Immunity of Vector Vortex Beams in Free Space Quantum Key Distribution",
  "title_text": "Inherent Turbulence Immunity of Vector Vortex Beams in Free Space Quantum Key Distribution",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:26:03Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/65e2kf9b0zamk",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}