Improving device-independent quantum key distribution protocols through multiple routed Bell tests

@misc{vijayaraj2026improving,
  title = {{Improving device-independent quantum key distribution protocols through multiple routed Bell tests}},
  author = {Sujan Vijayaraj and Mauro Paternostro},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2606.26329},
  eprint = {2606.26329},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.26329},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Improving device-independent quantum key distribution protocols through multiple routed Bell tests
AU  - Sujan Vijayaraj
AU  - Mauro Paternostro
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/13
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2606.26329
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.26329
AB  - Device-independent quantum key distribution (DI-QKD) guarantees security with a minimal set of assumptions about the experimental setup. The challenge posed by its implementation could be tackled using routed Bell tests with entanglement swapping, or distant Bell state measurement (BSM) units. However, practical distances still require local tests with close-to-ideal violations or BSMs with high efficiency. We propose a DI-QKD protocol based on a multi-port BSM, and multiple sources and measurement devices, where in each round, routed tests are performed on randomly selected local devices. The violation of local Bell tests is checked even for the subset of rounds where successful BSM projections are achieved. By requiring that this violation remain consistent with the overall average, we specifically show improvements in the critical efficiencies of a three-port BSM, of up to 6% in absolute terms for high visibilities. Without ideal violations, we also achieve arbitrarily small efficiencies with arbitrarily many BSM ports. Our approach enables long-distance DI-QKD, with access to highly efficient loophole-free routing setups, and multiple local tests (possibly imperfect) with very high local detection efficiencies. Remarkably, it avoids the use of quantum memories and the need for long-range Bell tests. Finally, we extend the concept of routing to dimension witnesses, where qubit-bounded sources send states to the BSM. This can be seen as a semi-device-independent extension of the aforementioned protocol.
ER  -