Perception and Awareness Survey on Quantum Key Distribution Methods

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2024 in the subject Physics - Quantum Physics, grade: 11, , course: Quantum Computing, language: English, abstract: Quantum Computing uses specialized technology, including computer hardware and algorithms that take advantage of quantum mechanics to solve complex problems that classical computers or supercomputers can't solve, or can't solve quickly enough. Quantum Cryptography, specifically Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), employs techniques from Quantum Computing to perform cryptographic tasks, with QKD offering to solve the key exchange problem. We survey a group of school-aged participants, and show that presenting descriptions of various QKD protocols exhibits an increase in subjective assessment of their understanding of QKD, along with an increase in trust of the protocols demonstrated. This potentially underlines the importance of public education for enabling popular adoption of novel applications for QKD.