Adaptive Quadrature Detection for Multicarrier Continuous-Variable Quantum Key Distribution

Abstract: We propose the adaptive quadrature detection for multicarrier continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD). A multicarrier CVQKD scheme uses Gaussian subcarrier continuous variables for the information conveying and Gaussian sub-channels for the transmission. The proposed multicarrier detection scheme dynamically adapts to the sub-channel conditions using a corresponding statistics which is provided by our sophisticated sub-channel estimation procedure. The sub-channel estimation phase determines the transmittance coefficients of the sub-channels, which information are used further in the adaptive quadrature decoding process. We define the technique called subcarrier spreading to estimate the transmittance conditions of the sub-channels with a theoretical error-minimum in the presence of a Gaussian noise. We introduce the terms of single and collective adaptive quadrature detection. We also extend the results for a multiuser multicarrier CVQKD scenario. We prove the achievable error probabilities, the signal-to-noise ratios, and quantify the attributes of the framework. The adaptive detection scheme allows to utilize the extra resources of multicarrier CVQKD and to maximize the amount of transmittable valuable information in diverse measurement and transmission conditions. The framework is particularly convenient for experimental CVQKD scenarios.