Frédéric Grosshans | LIP6 - Équipe QI

Private training in quantum machine learning

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

With the emergence of machine learning (ML) models trained on large datasets containing potentially sensitive data, a major question in AI safety is how to make learning private with respect to the training data. Similar to classical machine learning, quantum machine learning (QML) models are not devoid of privacy vulnerabilities. Differential privacy (DP) is a standard tool for training ML models on sensitive data, but its impact in QML remains poorly understood. In this work we study private training in hybrid variational QML models using a classical private DP-SGD optimizer applied to pipelines with classical inputs and outputs. We analyze the interplay between gradient clipping and calibrated noise addition in DP-SGD, and its impact on optimization and accuracy for noisy and noiseless quantum models. We first explain why quantum noise does not provide a satisfactory replacement for the calibrated noise in DP-SGD for ensuring privacy. We then show how the deterministic bounds on gradient norms for a wide class of quantum models translate into explicit control of the detrimental clipping bias introduced by DP-SGD. Finally, we formulate a numerical comparison protocol under fixed clipping threshold and privacy budget and evaluate it on synthetic and image-classification tasks for equivalent quantum and classical models. Our results suggest that quantum models can retain higher accuracy in private-training regimes where the formal privacy guarantee is ensured by a classical DP-SGD mechanism.

A unified framework for Bell inequalities from continuous-variable contextuality

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Although the original EPR paradox was formulated in terms of position and momentum, most studies of these phenomena have focused on measurement scenarios with only a discrete number of possible measurement outcomes. Here, we present a framework for studying non-locality that is agnostic to the dimension of the physical systems involved, allowing us to probe purely continuous-variable, discrete-variable, or hybrid non-locality. Our approach allows us to find the optimal Bell inequality for any given measurement scenario and quantifies the amount of non-locality that is present in measurement statistics. This formalism unifies the existing literature on continuous-variable non-locality and allows us to identify new states in which Bell non-locality can be probed through homodyne detection. Notably, we find the first example of continuous-variable non-locality that cannot be mapped to a CHSH Bell inequality. Moreover, we provide several examples of simple hybrid DV-CV entangled states that could lead to near-term violation of Bell inequalities.

Robustly self-testing all maximally entangled states in every finite dimension

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

We establish a device-independent, noise-tolerant certification of maximally entangled states in every finite dimension $d$. The core ingredient is a $d$-input, $d$-outcome Bell experiment that generalizes the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt test from qubits to qudits, where each setting is a non-diagonal Heisenberg-Weyl observable. For every odd prime $d \geq 3$, the associated Bell operator has an exact sum-of-positive-operators decomposition, yielding the Cirelson bound in closed form, from which we reconstruct the Heisenberg-Weyl commutation relations on the support of the state. We then extend the Mayers-Yao local isometry from qubits to prime-dimensional systems and show that any $ε$-near-optimal strategy below that bound is, up to local isometries, within trace distance $δ= \mathcal{O}(\sqrtε)$ of the ideal maximally entangled state; the implemented measurements are correspondingly close to the target observables. Via a tensor-factor argument, the prime-dimension result extends the self-testing protocol to every composite dimension $d$. The protocol uses standard Heisenberg-Weyl operations and non-Clifford phase gates that are diagonal in the computational basis, making it directly applicable to high-dimensional photonic and atomic platforms.

Non-Interactive and Non-Destructive Zero-Knowledge Proofs on Quantum States and Multi-Party Generation of Authorized Hidden GHZ States

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

We propose the first generalization of the famous Non-Interactive Zero-Knowledge (NIZK) proofs to quantum languages (NIZKoQS) and we provide a protocol to prove advanced properties on a received quantum state non-destructively and non-interactively (a single message being sent from the prover to the verifier).In our second orthogonal contribution, we improve the costly Remote State Preparation protocols [Cojocaru et al. 2019; Gheorghiu and Vidick 2019] that can classically fake a quantum channel (this is at the heart of our NIZKoQS protocol) by showing how to create a multi-qubit state from a single superposition.Finally, we generalize these results to a multi-party setting and prove that multiple parties can anonymously distribute a GHZ state in such a way that only participants knowing a secret credential can share this state, which could have applications to quantum anonymous transmission, quantum secret sharing, quantum onion routing and more.

Multicopy quantum state teleportation with application to storage and retrieval of quantum programs

Sat, 21 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This work considers a teleportation task for Alice and Bob in a scenario where Bob cannot perform corrections. In particular, we analyse the task of \textit{multicopy state teleportation}, where Alice has $k$ identical copies of an arbitrary unknown $d$-dimensional qudit state $\vert\psi\rangle$ to teleport a single copy of $\vert\psi\rangle$ to Bob using a maximally entangled two-qudit state shared between Alice and Bob without Bob’s correction. Alice may perform a joint measurement on her half of the entangled state and the $k$ copies of $\vert\psi\rangle$. We prove that the maximal probability of success for teleporting the exact state $\vert\psi\rangle$ to Bob is $p(d,k)=\frac{k}{d(k-1+d)}$ and present an explicit protocol to attain this performance. Then, by utilising $k$ copies of an arbitrary target state $\vert\psi\rangle$, we show how the multicopy state teleportation protocol can be employed to enhance the success probability of storage and retrieval of quantum programs, which aims to universally retrieve the action of an arbitrary quantum channel that is stored in a state. Our proofs make use of group representation theory methods, which may find applications beyond the problems addressed in this work.

Entanglement Swapping in Orbit: a Satellite Quantum Link Case Study

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Satellite quantum communication is a promising way to build long distance quantum links, making it an essential complement to optical fiber for quantum internetworking beyond metropolitan scales. A satellite point to point optical link differs from the more common fiber links in many ways, both quantitative (higher latency, strong losses) and qualitative (nonconstant parameter values during satellite passage, intermittency of the link, impossibility to set repeaters between the satellite and the ground station). We study here the performance of a quantum link between two ground stations, using a quantum-memory-equipped satellite as a quantum repeater. In contrast with quantum key distribution satellite links, the number of available quantum memory slots m, together with the unavoidable round-trip communication latency t of at least a few milliseconds, severely reduces the effective average repetition rate to m/t – at most a few kilohertz for foreseeable quantum memories. Our study uses two approaches, which validate each other: 1) a simple analytical model of the effective rate of the quantum link; 2) an event-based simulation using the open source Quantum Internet Simulation Package (QuISP). The important differences between satellite and fiber links led us to modify QuISP itself. This work paves the way to the study of hybrid satellite- and fiber-based quantum repeater networks interconnecting different metropolitan areas.

Bell Nonlocality from Wigner Negativity in Qudit Systems

Wed, 12 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Nonlocality is an essential concept that distinguishes quantum from classical models and has been extensively studied in systems of qubits. For higher-dimensional systems, certain results for their two-level counterpart, like Bell violations with stabilizer states and Clifford operators, do not generalize. On the other hand, similar to continuous variable systems, Wigner negativity is necessary for nonlocality in qudit systems. We propose a family of Bell inequalities that inquire correlations related to the Wigner negativity of stabilizer states under the adjoint action of a generalization of the qubit $\pi/8$ gate, which, in the bipartite case, is an abstraction of the CHSH inequality. The classical bound is simple to compute, and a specified stabilizer state maximally violates the inequality among all qudit states based on the Wigner negativity and an inequality between the 1-norm and the maximum norm. The Bell operator not only serves as a measure for the singlet fraction but also quantifies the volume of Wigner negativity. Furthermore, we give deterministic Bell violations, as well as violations with a constant number of measurements, for the Bell state relying on operators innate to higher-dimensional systems than the qudit at hand.

Self-Testing Graph States Permitting Bounded Classical Communication

Sun, 05 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Self-testing identifies quantum states and correlations that exhibit non-locality, distinguishing them, up to local transformations, from other quantum states. Due to their strong non-locality, all graph states can be self-tested with strictly local measurement devices. Moreover, graph states display non-local correlations even when bounded classical communication on the underlying graph is permitted, a feature that has found applications in proving a circuit-depth separation between classical and quantum computing. In the framework of bounded classical communication, we show that certain graph states with appropriate symmetry can be robustly self-tested, by providing an explicit self-test for the circular graph state and the honeycomb cluster state. Since communication generally obstructs self-testing of graph states, we further provide a procedure to robustly self-test any graph state from larger ones that exhibit non-local correlations in the communication scenario. Furthermore, in the standard setup without classical communication, we demonstrate that any graph state from an underlying connected graph with at least three vertices can be robustly self-tested using only Pauli measurements.

A Linear Algebraic Framework for Dynamic Scheduling Over Memory-Equipped Quantum Networks

Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Quantum Internetworking is a recent field that promises numerous interesting applications, many of which require the distribution of entanglement between arbitrary pairs of users. This work deals with the problem of scheduling in an arbitrary entanglement swapping quantum network - often called first generation quantum network - in its general topology, multicommodity, loss-aware formulation. We introduce a linear algebraic framework that exploits quantum memory through the creation of intermediate entangled links. The framework is then employed to mathematically derive a natural class of quadratic scheduling policies for quantum networks by applying Lyapunov Drift Minimization, a standard technique in classical network science. Moreover, an additional class of Max-Weight inspired policies is proposed and benchmarked, reducing significantly the computation cost, at the price of a slight performance degradation. The policies are compared in terms of information availability, localization and overall network performance through an ad-hoc simulator that admits user-provided network topologies and scheduling policies in order to showcase the potential application of the provided tools to quantum network design.

Linear optical logical Bell state measurements with optimal loss-tolerance threshold

Mon, 06 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Quantum threshold theorems impose hard limits on the hardware capabilities to process quantum information. We derive tight and fundamental upper bounds to loss-tolerance thresholds in different linear-optical quantum information processing settings through an adversarial framework, taking into account the intrinsically probabilistic nature of linear optical Bell measurements. For logical Bell state measurements - ubiquitous operations in photonic quantum information - we demonstrate analytically that linear optics can achieve the fundamental loss threshold imposed by the no-cloning theorem even though, following the work of Lee et al., (Phys. Rev. A 100, 052303 (2019)), the constraint was widely assumed to be stricter. We spotlight the assumptions of the latter publication and find their bound holds for a logical Bell measurement built from adaptive physical linear-optical Bell measurements. We also give an explicit even stricter bound for non-adaptive Bell measurements.

Cost and Routing of Continuous Variable Quantum Networks

Fri, 20 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

We study continuous-variable graph states as quantum communication networks. We explore graphs with regular and complex network shapes distributed among different agents and we report for their cost as a global measure of squeezing and number of squeezed modes that are necessary to build the network. We show that the trend of the squeezing cost presents a non-trivial scaling with the size of the network strictly dependent on its topology. We devise a routing protocol based on local quadrature measurements for reshaping the network in order to perform teleportation protocol between two arbitrary nodes of the networks. The \textit{Routing} protocol, which is based on wire-shortening over parallel paths among the nodes, improves the final entanglement between the two nodes in a considerable amount of cases, and it is particularly efficient in running-time for complex sparse networks.

Inflated Graph States Refuting Communication-Assisted LHV Models

Wed, 05 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Standard Bell inequalities hold when distant parties are not allowed to communicate. Barrett et al. found correlations from Pauli measurements on certain network graphs refute a local hidden variable (LHV) description even allowing some communication along the graph. This has recently found applications in proving separation between classical and quantum computing, in terms of shallow circuits, and distributed computing. The correlations presented by Barrett et al. can be understood as coming from an extension of three party GHZ state correlations which can be embedded on a graph state. In this work, we propose systematic extensions of any graph state, which we dub inflated graph states such that they exhibit correlations which refute any communication assisted LHV model. We further show the smallest possible such example, with a 7-qubit linear graph state, as well as specially crafted smaller examples with 5 and 4 qubits. The latter is the smallest possible violation using binary inputs and outputs.

A Linear Algebraic Framework for Quantum Internet Dynamic Scheduling

Sun, 18 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Future quantum internet aims to enable quantum communication between arbitrary pairs of distant nodes through the sharing of end-to-end entanglement, a universal resource for many quantum applications. As in classical networks, quantum networks also have to resolve problems related to routing and satisfaction of service at a sufficient rate. We deal here with the problem of scheduling when multiple commodities must be served through a quantum network based on first generation quantum repeaters, or quantum switches. To this end, we introduce a novel discrete-time algebraic model for arbitrary network topology, including transmission and memory losses, and adapted to dynamic scheduling decisions. Our algebraic model allows the scheduler to use the storage of temporary intermediate links to optimize the performance, depending on the information availability, ranging from full global information for a centralized scheduler to partial local information for a distributed one. As an illustrative example, we compare a simple greedy scheduling policy with several Max-Weight inspired scheduling policies and illustrate the resulting achievable rate regions for two competing pairs of clients through a network.

Detecting a target with quantum entanglement

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In the last decade a lot of research activity focused on the use of quantum entanglement as a resource for remote target detection, i.e. on the design of a quantum radar. The literature on this subject uses tools of quantum optics and quantum information theory, and therefore often results obscure to radar scientists. This review has been written with purpose of removing this obscurity. As such, it contains a review of the main advances in the quantum radar literature together accompanied by a thorough introduction of the quantum optics background necessary for its understanding.

Classical-quantum network coding: a story about tensor

Tue, 30 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

We study here the conditions to perform the distribution of a pure state on a quantum network using quantum operations which can succeed with a non-zero probability, the Stochastic Local Operation and Classical Communication (SLOCC) operations. In their pioneering 2010 work, Kobayashi et al. showed how to convert any classical network coding protocol into a quantum network coding protocol. However, they left open whether the existence of a quantum network coding protocol implied the existence of a classical one. Motivated by this question, we characterize the set of distribution tasks achievable with non zero probability for both classical and quantum networks. We develop a formalism which encompasses both types of distribution protocols by reducing the solving of a distribution task to the factorization of a tensor with complex coefficients or real positive ones. Using this formalism, we examine the equivalences and differences between both types of distribution protocols exhibiting several elementary and fundamental relations between them as well as concrete examples of both convergence and divergence. We answer by the negative to the issue previously left open: some tasks are achievable in the quantum setting, but not in the classical one. We believe this formalism to be a useful tool for studying the extent of quantum network ability to perform multipartite distribution tasks.

Non-Destructive Zero-Knowledge Proofs on Quantum States, and Multi-Party Generation of Authorized Hidden GHZ States

Sat, 27 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Due to the special no-cloning principle, quantum states appear to be very useful in cryptography. But this very same property also has drawbacks: when receiving a quantum state, it is nearly impossible for the receiver to efficiently check non-trivial properties on that state without destroying it. In this work, we initiate the study of Non-Destructive Zero-Knowledge Proofs on Quantum States. Our method binds a quantum state to a classical encryption of that quantum state. That way, the receiver can obtain guarantees on the quantum state by asking to the sender to prove properties directly on the classical encryption. This method is therefore non-destructive, and it is possible to verify a very large class of properties. For instance, we can force the sender to send different categories of states depending on whether they know a classical password or not. Moreover, we can also provide guarantees to the sender: for example, we can ensure that the receiver will never learn whether the sender knows the password or not. We also extend this method to the multi-party setting. We show how it can prove useful to distribute a GHZ state between different parties, in such a way that only parties knowing a secret can be part of this GHZ. Moreover, the identity of the parties that are part of the GHZ remains hidden to any malicious party. A direct application would be to allow a server to create a secret sharing of a qubit between unknown parties, authorized for example by a third party Certification Authority. Finally, we provide simpler “blind” versions of the protocols that could prove useful in Anonymous Transmission or Quantum Onion Routing, and we explicit a cryptographic function required in our protocols based on the Learning With Errors hardness problem.

Efficient verification of Boson Sampling

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The demonstration of quantum speedup, also known as quantum computational supremacy, that is the ability of quantum computers to outperform dramatically their classical counterparts, is an important milestone in the field of quantum computing. While quantum speedup experiments are gradually escaping the regime of classical simulation, they still lack efficient verification protocols and rely on partial validation. To that end, we derive an efficient protocol for verifying with single-mode Gaussian measurements the output states of a large class of continuous variable quantum circuits demonstrating quantum speedup, including Boson Sampling experiments, with and without i.i.d. assumption, thus enabling a convincing demonstration of quantum speedup with photonic computing. Beyond the quantum speedup milestone, our results also enable the efficient and reliable certification of a large class of intractable continuous variable multi-mode quantum states.

Efficient verification of Boson Sampling

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Error-correcting entanglement swapping using a practical logical photon encoding

Mon, 01 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The implementation of a quantum internet requires the distribution of entanglement over long distances, which is facilitated by entanglement swapping using photonic Bell state measurements (BSMs). Yet, two-photon Bell state measurement schemes have in general a success probability of at best 50%. Here, we propose to overcome this limitation by logically encoding photonic qubits onto photonic tree graph states, an error-correcting code that can be deterministically generated with few matter qubits. We show that we can perform a near-deterministic logical BSM even in the presence of photon losses through two measurement schemes that either use static linear optics or require feed-forward. In addition, we show that these two schemes are also resistant to errors.

Classical simulation of Gaussian quantum circuits with non-Gaussian input states

Tue, 06 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

We consider Gaussian quantum circuits supplemented with non-Gaussian input states and derive sufficient conditions for efficient classical strong simulation of these circuits. In particular, we generalise the stellar representation of continuous-variable quantum states to the multimode setting and relate the stellar rank of the input non-Gaussian states, a recently introduced measure of non- Gaussianity, to the cost of evaluating classically the output probability densities of these circuits. Our results have consequences for the strong simulability of a large class of near-term continuous-variable quantum circuits.

Witnessing Wigner Negativity

Tue, 08 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Negativity of the Wigner function is arguably one of the most striking non-classical features of quantum states. Beyond its fundamental relevance, it is also a necessary resource for quantum speedup with continuous variables. As quantum technologies emerge, the need to identify and characterize the resources which provide an advantage over existing classical technologies becomes more pressing. Here we derive witnesses for Wigner negativity of quantum states, based on fidelities with Fock states, which can be reliably measured using standard detection setups. They possess a threshold expected value indicating whether the measured state exhibits the desired property or not. We phrase the problem of finding the threshold values for our witnesses as an infinite-dimensional linear optimisation. By relaxing and restricting the corresponding linear programs, we derive two hierarchies of semidefinite programs, which provide numerical sequences of increasingly tighter upper and lower bounds for the threshold values. We further show that both sequences converge to the threshold value. Moreover, our witnesses form a complete family - each Wigner negative state is detected by at least one witness - thus providing a reliable method for experimentally witnessing Wigner negativity of quantum states from few measurements. From a foundational perspective, our work provides insights on the set of positive Wigner functions which still lacks a proper characterisation.

Witnessing Wigner Negativity

Tue, 08 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Certification of Non-Gaussian States with Operational Measurements

Thu, 03 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

We derive a theoretical framework for the experimental certification of non-Gaussian features of quantum states using double homodyne detection. We rank experimental non-Gaussian states according to the recently defined stellar hierarchy and we propose practical Wigner negativity witnesses. We simulate various use-cases ranging from fidelity estimation to witnessing Wigner negativity. Moreover, we extend results on the robustness of the stellar hierarchy of non-Gaussian states. Our results illustrate the usefulness of double homodyne detection as a practical measurement scheme for retrieving information about continuous-variable quantum states, and show that certification of high-order non-Gaussian features can be carried out experimentally with current technology.

Breaking simple quantum position verification protocols with little entanglement

Mon, 17 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Instantaneous nonlocal quantum computation (INQC) evades apparent quantum and relativistic constraints and allows to attack generic quantum position verification (QPV) protocols (aiming at securely certifying the location of a distant prover) at an exponential entanglement cost. We consider adversaries sharing maximally entangled pairs of qudits and find low-dimensional INQC attacks against the simple practical family of QPV protocols based on single photons polarized at an angle $\theta$. We find exact attacks against some rational angles, including some sitting outside of the Clifford hierarchy (e.g. $\pi/6$), and show no $\theta$ allows to tolerate errors higher than $\simeq 5\cdot 10^{-3}$ against adversaries holding two ebits per protocol’s qubit.

Building trust for continuous variable quantum states

Mon, 01 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

We first introduce heterodyne quantum state tomography, a reliable method for continuous variable quantum state certification which directly yields the elements of the density matrix of the state considered and analytical confidence intervals, using heterodyne detection. This method neither needs mathematical reconstruction of the data, nor discrete binning of the sample space, and uses a single Gaussian measurement setting. Beyond quantum state tomography and without its identical copies assumption, we also derive a general protocol for verifying continuous variable pure quantum states with Gaussian measurements against fully malicious adversaries. In particular, we make use of a De Finetti reduction for infinite-dimensional systems. As an application, we consider verified universal continuous variable quantum computing, with a computational power restricted to Gaussian operations and an untrusted non-Gaussian states source. These results are obtained using a new analytical estimator for the expected value of any operator acting on a continuous variable quantum state with bounded support over Fock basis, computed with samples from heterodyne detection of the state.

Stellar representation of non-Gaussian quantum states

Fri, 14 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The so-called stellar formalism allows to represent the non-Gaussian properties of single-mode quantum states by the distribution of the zeros of their Husimi Q-function in phase-space. We use this representation in order to derive an infinite hierarchy of single-mode states based on the number of zeros of the Husimi Q-function, the stellar hierarchy. We give an operational characterisation of the states in this hierarchy with the minimal number of single-photon additions needed to engineer them, and derive equivalence classes under Gaussian unitary operations. We study in detail the topological properties of this hierarchy with respect to the trace norm, and discuss implications for non-Gaussian state engineering, and continuous variable quantum computing.

Stellar representation of non-Gaussian quantum states

Fri, 14 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Distributing Graph States Over Arbitrary Quantum Networks

Wed, 27 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Multipartite entangled states are great resources for quantum networks. In this work we study the distribution, or routing, of entangled states over fixed, but arbitrary, physical networks. Our simplified model represents each use of a quantum channel as the sharing of a Bell pair; local operations and classical communications are considered to be free. We introduce two protocols to distribute respectively Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states and arbitrary graph states over arbitrary quantum networks. The GHZ states distribution protocol takes a single step and is optimal in terms of the number of Bell pairs used; the graph state distribution protocol uses at most twice as many Bell pairs and steps than the optimal routing protocol for the worst case scenario.

Random coding for sharing bosonic quantum secrets

Mon, 05 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000

We consider a protocol for sharing quantum states using continuous variable systems. Specifically we introduce an encoding procedure where bosonic modes in arbitrary secret states are mixed with several ancillary squeezed modes through a passive interferometer. We derive simple conditions on the interferometer for this encoding to define a secret sharing protocol and we prove that they are satisfied by almost any interferometer. This implies that, if the interferometer is chosen uniformly at random, the probability that it may not be used to implement a quantum secret sharing protocol is zero. Furthermore, we show that the decoding operation can be obtained and implemented efficiently with a Gaussian unitary using a number of single-mode squeezers that is at most twice the number of modes of the secret, regardless of the number of players. We benchmark the quality of the reconstructed state by computing the fidelity with the secret state as a function of the input squeezing.

Semi-device-independent quantum money with coherent states

Wed, 27 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

The no-cloning property of quantum mechanics allows unforgeability of quantum banknotes and credit cards. Quantum credit card protocols involve a bank, a client and a payment terminal, and their practical implementation typically relies on encoding information on weak coherent states of light. Here, we provide a security proof in this practical setting for semi-device-independent quantum money with classical verification, involving an honest bank, a dishonest client and a potentially untrusted terminal. Our analysis uses semidefinite programming in the coherent state framework and aims at simultaneously optimizing over the noise and losses introduced by a dishonest party. We discuss secure regimes of operation in both fixed and randomized phase settings, taking into account experimental imperfections. Finally, we study the evolution of protocol security in the presence of a decohering optical quantum memory and identify secure credit card lifetimes for a specific configuration.