Cryptography is the study of techniques for secure communication that allow only the sender and receiver of a message to access its content. This knowledge allows us to use the internet confidently, whether for a Zoom video call or a bank transfer on our mobile phone. This is possible thanks to various security protocols that keep the system safe. Quantum cryptography is a field of quantum information science that uses the properties of quantum mechanics to develop secure communication techniques. It is one of the most well-known and well-developed areas of quantum information today. One of the greatest challenges in cryptography is a weakness that has plagued researchers in the field for years: bit compromise.

The aim of this project, which will be carried out in collaboration with Prof. Paulo Nussenzveig, Prof. Charles Tresser, and students from the Quantum Foundations Group at the University of São Paulo, is to understand how quantum cryptography can help in the development of new bit commitment protocols. If successful, this will be a major contribution to the field, not only for practical applications but also for understanding the limits of quantum cryptography and quantum information science, changing our perspective of what can and cannot be done with quantum systems.