FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

GLOSSARY

What is QKD?

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a mechanism for agreeing on encruption keys between remote parties, relying on the properties of quantum mechanics to ensure the security of the key. The two parties must have entangled particles (or photons). Since the particles are entangled, their observed spins ('up' or 'down' for instance) will be opposite and both parties can thus agree upon an encryption key using the spins without ever having to transfer information about those spins through classical channels.

What is RSA encryption?

RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) encryption is the most common form of encryption used today. It relies on a mathematical operation that is computationally difficult to do but easy to check; specifically what amounts to finding the prime factorization of extremely large composite numbers. RSA relies on a publicly visible key and a private hidden key, where Alice may send a message to Bob by encrypting her message with Bob's public key knowing that it can only be decrypted using Bob's private key.

What is quantum memory? What is a qubit?

Quantum Memory is very similar to memory stored in a classical computer, except instead of a binary "bit" it uses "qubits". A qubit is a two-state quantum mechanical system that differs from a classical bit by utilizing the properties of quantum mechanics to be able to exist in a coherent superposition of both states at the same time. Qubits are also unique in their ability to be entangled with other qubits, which causes their values to be dependent on each other even if they are separated by an arbitrary distance or barrier.

What is error correction?

Quantum error correction (QEC) is a methodology for protecting quantum information from errors caused by decoherence (disentanglement), control imperfection and other noise sources. Since quantum entanglement is very susceptible to noise, it is important to be able to detect and correct errors caused by these various noise sources without destroying the encoded information. This is done by a type of redundant encoding which protects a single qubit of quantum information by creating highly symmetrical entangled quantum states over many physical qubits. The symmetries of these encoded quantum states can then be used to identify and correct the encoded information.

BASICS

What is a Quantum Hard Drive?

A Quantum Harddrive is a collection of stable, long-lived qubits, just as a regular harddrive is a collection of physical objects that can store reliably - for extended periods of time - classical bits (1s and 0s). As a quantum hard drive has the capability to store entangled quantum states, not just encoded information, Turing’s hard drive system can prepare and distribute a resource state for quantum communications that in and of itself is an information commodity.

What problem does Turing solve?

Turing solves the problem that quantum computers pose to cyber security. As quantum computers are developed (see href1 or href2), they threaten our classic means of encryption such as RSA encryption. Turing's quantum hard drives can be used for QKD, which is theoretically secure, and are designed to eventually augment all internet traffic.

How does the QuBE work?

The Turing QuBE (first generation: XGR-1) is a physical movable quantum hard drive. Two QuBEs can be entangled via fiber optic cable and moved across the globe. When the users on both sides are ready, the QuBEs will verify their link and then generate a random unique Quantum Key with which to encrypt the user's message. Depending on the number of QuBits in the QuBE, it may be used several times or just once before having to 'recharge' by entangling with another QuBE either with another user or within the network.

How do I "Recharge" a QuBE and what does that mean?

Turing's QuBE system requires the qubits in one QuBE to be entangled with another's. When entangling in this way, we call that "recharging" since the entanglement in the QuBE is used up when the qubits are read. QuBEs can be recharged by connecting them through a fiber optic cable, but that means the QuBEs have to be in the same location at the same time.

What can I use the QuBE for?

Our first QuBE models will be useful for single-shot Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) which can be used for situations like verifying identification or server passcodes. But as quantum technology improves, we will be increasing the capabilities of the QuBEs to encompass common transmission of messages and, eventually, any desired internet traffic entirely.