Quantum Computing · Instrument 07 · Quantum Key Distribution

BB84 — a shared secret an eavesdropper can't steal unseen

Classical key exchange bets on math being hard to reverse. BB84 bets on physics instead: a qubit can't be copied, and measuring it in the wrong basis disturbs it. So any eavesdropper who intercepts the key leaves fingerprints — a spike in the error rate Alice and Bob can simply measure. Flip Eve on and watch a clean channel turn guilty.

Transmission — Alice's photons to Bob
+ rectilinear basis
=0 =1
× diagonal basis
=0 =1
tinted rows = bases matched → kept
Key sifting & error check
qubits sent
key bits kept
QBER — error rate on the sifted key
The sifted key
Why an eavesdropper can't hide