Brassard, Gilles

Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Time: 10:30
Place: USI Lugano, room A 22, Red Building (Via G. Buffi 13)
Host: Stefan Wolf

A Personal Perspective on Quantum Cryptography

Gilles Brassard
Université de Montréal, Canada

Quantum Cryptography is the first near-term practical application of the emerging field of quantum information science. It enables two parties to exchange messages with provably perfect confidentiality under the nose of an eavesdropper whose computational power is unlimited and whose technology is restricted only by the accepted laws of physics. In this lecture, we shall tell the tale of the origin of Quantum Cryptography from the birth of the first idea by Wiesner in 1970 to the invention of Quantum Key Distribution in 1983, to the first prototypes and ensuing commercial ventures, to successful hacking attacks on imperfect apparatus, to exciting prospects for the future.