An Optical Emulation of the BB84 Quantum Key Distribution Protocol

[2509.04389] An Optical Emulation of the BB84 Quantum Key Distribution Protocol Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Quantum Physics arXiv:2509.04389 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 4 Sep 2025 ( v1 ), last revised 24 Aug 2026 (this version, v3)] Title: An Optical Emulation of the BB84 Quantum Key Distribution Protocol Authors: Alec L. Riso , Karthik Thyagarajan , Connor Whiting , Katherine Jimenez View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract: Quantum key distribution (QKD) is an approach to secure communication that uses the principles of quantum mechanics to generate a shared secret key which can be used in encrypting messages. Unlike traditional cryptography, which relies on mathematical problems too computationally difficult for a classical computer to solve, an ideal QKD protocol can be secure even against the capabilities of quantum algorithms. The BB84 protocol, a famous implementation of QKD, uses the polarization states of photons to carry information. We constructed an accessible, fiber-optic-based apparatus that emulates the generation of a key through the BB84 protocol. Although a true demonstration of BB84 would require a single-photon regime, our many-photon system shows the information encoding, transmission, and basis-sifting steps of the protocol. Due to its accessibility and visual clarity, our apparatus is intended as an educational tool that makes each logical step of the protocol visible. Comments: Published in the Journal of Undergraduate Research in Physics and Astronomy (JURPA), Vol. 35, No. 1 (2026) Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph) ; Physics Education (physics.ed-ph); Optics (physics.optics) Cite as: arXiv:2509.04389 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2509.04389v3 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2509.04389 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Journal reference: Journal of Undergraduate Research in Physics and Astronomy (JURPA), Vol. 35, No. 1 (2026) Submission history From: Alec Riso [ view email ] [v1] Thu, 4 Sep 2025 16:59:17 UTC (1,374 KB) [v2] Sun, 7 Sep 2025 17:05:51 UTC (1,371 KB) [v3] Mon, 24 Aug 2026 18:29:35 UTC (1,313 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View PDF HTML (experimental) TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph < prev | next > new | recent | 2025-09 Change to browse by: physics physics.ed-ph physics.optics References & Citations INSPIRE HEP SciX Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer ( What is the Explorer? ) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers ( What is Connected Papers? ) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps ( What is Litmaps? ) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations ( What are Smart Citations? ) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv ( What is alphaXiv? ) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers ( What is CatalyzeX? ) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub ( What is DagsHub? ) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub ( What is GotitPub? ) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face ( What is Huggingface? ) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast ( What is ScienceCast? ) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate ( What is Replicate? ) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces ( What is Spaces? ) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI ( What is TXYZ.AI? ) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower ( What are Influence Flowers? ) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender ( What is CORE? ) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs . Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax ( What is MathJax? ) We gratefully acknowledge support from our major funders , member institutions , and all contributors. About · Help · Contact · Subscribe · Copyright · Privacy · Accessibility · Operational Status (opens in new tab) Major funding support from (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)

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