Deciphering the quantum fingerprint – The Varsity

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As sophisticated as quantum mechanics may appear, its applications can be found wherever computer chips are used – from electronics to semiconductors to children’s toys.

Quantum mechanics, in short, is the study of the behavior of subatomic particles such as electrons, protons, and even particles of light called photons. In addition to its applications in Performing specific and complex calculationsQuantum mechanics can be used in communication to send information back and forth between different parties.

Professor Li Qian, professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of T, proposed a new approach to improve the efficiency of quantum communication in a current publication in Nature communication. In conversation with The varsity, Qian explained how this novel technique of quantum communication works.

What is quantum fingerprint?

In Professor Qian’s current study, she and her colleagues worked on a specific problem of communication complexity. Communication complexity problems are a series of problems that ask the minimum amount of communication required to accomplish a given task. In this case, it is important to find out whether two parties have exactly the same file or the same digital document.

The communication problem that quantum fingerprints are supposed to deal with is simple: the first party, which we can call Alice, and the second party, which we can call Bob, want to determine whether their respective copies of a particular file or document are identical with the copy of the other. It is possible for one of them to simply send their file to the other and review it, but the advantage of the quantum fingerprinting method is that the same effect can be achieved by sending just a tiny bit of information – the so-called “fingerprint” of the file. Best of all, with no direct access to the files, a third party can compare Alice and Bob’s fingerprints and see if their files are identical or not.

Fingerprinting a 1 megabyte file – a file the size of a digital photo – would regularly require about 300 bytes to be transferred. In comparison, the new quantum fingerprinting method would only need about three bytes – data worth three letters. This new approach to coding information drastically reduces the time, energy and data required compared to traditional telecommunication methods.

Effects and possible uses

While comparing two files isn’t all that exciting, research is immensely important because of its potential applications on both macro and microscale. Although the specific fingerprint problem examined in Qian’s paper is a particularly good example of the dramatic reduction in the information required in quantum fingerprinting, the method could be extended to more complex multi-user situations in large networks. The concept of quantum fingerprinting could also facilitate communication between microscopic networks, for example between different locations on a computer chip.

In addition, quantum fingerprinting could have applications in cryptography and secure communication technologies that are used millions of times every day when someone logs into their social media accounts, logs into online banking, or makes an online purchase. “A lot of people have worked in this field and shown that quantum communication is the kind of [data] Security that classic communication cannot, ”said Qian.

Qian also added that breakthroughs in issues like these can have an impact. By increasing the efficiency of communication systems, we can reduce their energy consumption, which would also lead to a lower carbon footprint.

The use of quantum mechanics in computers and communications is a relatively new practice, and the proliferation of such applications would require further research and the construction of a quantum communications infrastructure that is compatible with our current technology.

Another important step in promoting the use of quantum communication – and general quantum mechanical concepts – is public education. The concept of quantum mechanics is not intuitive to the general public as most people do not encounter it on a daily basis. Qian believes that introducing concepts of quantum systems earlier into public education will generate more interest and better intuition in this emerging field of communication research.

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