Gaussian postselection and virtual noiseless amplification in continuous-variable quantum key distribution

Noiseless amplification or attenuation are two heralded filtering operations that enable amplifying or de-amplifying a quantum state of light with no added noise, at the cost of a small success probability. We show that inserting such noiseless operations in a transmission line improves the performances of continuous-variable quantum key distribution over this line. Remarkably, these noiseless operations do not need to be physically implemented but can simply be simulated in the classical data postprocessing stage. Hence, virtual noiseless amplification or attenuation amounts to performing a Gaussian postselection, which enhances the secure range or tolerable excess noise while keeping the benefits of Gaussian security proofs. © 2012 American Physical Society.SCOPUS: ar.j