We investigate the optical absorption and scattering properties of four different kinds of seawater as the quantum channel. The models of discrete-modulated continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) in free-space seawater channel are briefly described, and the performance of the four-state protocol and the eight-state protocol in asymptotic and finite-size cases is analyzed in detail. Simulation results illustrate that the more complex is the seawater composition, the worse is the performance of the protocol. For different types of seawater channels, we can improve the performance of the protocol by selecting different optimal modulation variances and controlling the extra noise on the channel. Besides, we can find that the performance of the eight-state protocol is better than that of the four-state protocol, and there is little difference between homodyne detection and heterodyne detection. Although the secret key rate of the protocol that we propose is still relatively low and the maximum transmission distance is only a few hundred meters, the research on CV-QKD over the seawater channel is of great significance, which provides a new idea for the construction of global secure communication network.

Measurement-device-independent continuous-variable quantum key distribution (MDI-CVQKD) protocol calibrates the phase reference frames by transmitting local oscillator pulses between two legitimate parties. The above implementation leaves massive loopholes; in particular, an eavesdropper can attack the system by manipulating the power of the local oscillator pulses. In this paper, a Bayesian phase-noise estimation model is proposed to estimate the phase drift and its uncertainty in the MDI-CVQKD protocol. The model employs the Bayesian estimation of the very weak quantum signal pulses and eliminates the necessity of transmitting local oscillator pulses between two legitimate parties. Moreover, the Bayesian inference algorithm has the characteristic of high robustness to noise and can achieve a well-motivated confidence interval of the estimated eigenphase. Comparing with its Gaussian counterpart, we adopt the discrete modulation in the MDI-CVQKD protocol, which allows a much better reconciliation efficiency at low signal-to-noise ratio. With simpler implementation, the proposed Bayesian phase-noise estimation model precisely avoids the security bottleneck due to the transmitted local oscillator pulses.

As the number of users in quantum key distribution (QKD) networks continues to grow, parameter selection (e.g., probability of X-bases, signal state strength, and decoy state levels) has become increasingly complex. Traditional methods such as local search algorithms (LSA) are commonly employed for parameter optimization but suffer from significant computational overhead, slow execution on low-power platforms, and resultant system delays. These limitations hinder the scalability and real-time requirements of large-scale QKD networks. To address these challenges, this paper proposes an innovative approach that combines Bayesian optimization with XGBoost model to optimize QKD system parameters. The proposed model is evaluated against random forest (RF) and back-propagation neural network (BPNN) models based on three critical metrics: prediction accuracy, model fitting, and training efficiency. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed model significantly outperforms both RF and BPNN in terms of accuracy and computational efficiency. Notably, while achieving predictive performance comparable to LSA, the proposed method reduces computation time by three orders of magnitude. This research introduces a novel and efficient framework for QKD parameter optimization, providing new insights and directions for enhancing the performance, scalability, and real-time adaptability of QKD systems.

Continuous-variable quantum key distribution with local local oscillator (LLO-CVQKD) eliminates the security loophole caused by transmitting high power local oscillator (LO). However, in order to establish a common phase frame between the sender and receiver, a low power phase reference needs to be transmitted with quantum signals, which may bring in new security problems for eavesdroppers to obtain information illegally. Especially in trusted phase noise model, phase noise associated with detectors is regarded as trusted noise in order to obtain a higher secret key rate and transmission distance, which further provides opportunities for eavesdroppers. To this end, we propose an optical attenuator-oriented attack strategy against the LLO-CVQKD system under the trusted phase noise model, where Eve can inject suitable light into the optical attenuator in reference light path to reduce the attenuation level of it, thereby controlling the intensity of the reference pulses and resulting in an underestimated excess noise. Simulation results show that the proposed attack strategy can render the estimated secret key rate much higher than the actual values. When the transmission distance exceeds 25 km, the eavesdropper can obtain approximately 90% of the key information by adjusting the intensity of the reference pulses to twice the original value.