Transmission of quantum-secured images

Transmission of quantum-secured images | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Transmission of quantum-secured images Steven Johnson, John Rarity, Miles Padgett This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4094671/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The secure transmission of an image can be accomplished by encoding the image information, securely communicating this information, and subsequently reconstructing the image. Alternatively, here we show how the image itself can be directly transmitted while ensuring that the presence of any eavesdropper is revealed in a way akin to quantum key distribution (QKD). We achieve this transmission using a photon-pair source with the deliberate addition of a thermal light source as background noise. One photon of the pair illuminates the object, which is masked from an eavesdropper by adding indistinguishable thermal photons, the other photon of the pair acts as a time reference with which the intended recipient can preferentially filter the image carrying photons from the background. These reference photons are themselves made sensitive to the presence of an eavesdropper by traditional polarisation-based QKD encoding. Interestingly the security verification is performed in the two-dimensional polarisation-basis, but the image information is encoded in a much higher-dimensional, hence information-rich, pixel basis. In our example implementation, our image comprises of 152 independent pixels. Beyond the secure transmission of images, our approach to the distribution of secure high-dimensional information may offer new high-bandwidth approaches to QKD. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 18 Apr, 2024 Reviews received at journal 17 Apr, 2024 Reviews received at journal 16 Apr, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Apr, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Apr, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 31 Mar, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 31 Mar, 2024 Editor invited by journal 31 Mar, 2024 Submission checks completed at journal 31 Mar, 2024 First submitted to journal 13 Mar, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4094671","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":286253198,"identity":"7ce872b2-c919-4147-bbef-d1ebae4fc8cd","order_by":0,"name":"Steven Johnson","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"University of Glasgow","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Steven","middleName":"","lastName":"Johnson","suffix":""},{"id":286253199,"identity":"e9b9778c-e0a3-483d-9b86-279c2cebe472","order_by":1,"name":"John Rarity","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Bristol","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"John","middleName":"","lastName":"Rarity","suffix":""},{"id":286253200,"identity":"b735fdc9-395f-44f7-b51f-b00edff2412b","order_by":2,"name":"Miles Padgett","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Glasgow","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Miles","middleName":"","lastName":"Padgett","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-03-13 16:29:22","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4094671/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4094671/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":54049683,"identity":"166364d4-89e6-41ff-be4a-d3c6c5cdc8be","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-03 20:55:43","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1387797,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Transmissionofquantumsecuredimages.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4094671/v1_covered_b6ff99f2-b87e-450d-8638-85b2c65c27d8.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Transmission of quantum-secured images","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4094671/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4094671/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The secure transmission of an image can be accomplished by encoding the image information, securely communicating this information, and subsequently reconstructing the image. 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