An Effective Pauli-Channel Model for Passive-User Loop-Back QKD

Abstract

This work develops an effective channel model for distributed passive-user Loop-Back quantum key distribution. In the intended key-establishment setting, the two passive users \(B_1\) and \(B_2\) are the legitimate lightweight parties that establish a shared secret key by using Alice as an active quantum preparation-and-measurement infrastructure. A single active station prepares and measures BB84 states, while two remote users apply only local polarization rotations. We show that the passive-user pair can be externally encapsulated as an effective Loop-Back node whose observable action is a balanced mixture of conjugate-basis dephasings, equivalently represented as an anisotropic Pauli channel with identity, \(X\), and \(Z\) components and no \(Y\) component. This structure differs from isotropic depolarization and recovers the ideal conclusive-event probability \(P_{\mathrm{conc}}=1/4\). The model also clarifies why non-orthogonal intermediate states are necessary for passive-user security. This channel-level description characterizes Alice's observable statistics and provides a compact basis for subsequent analysis of passive-user Loop-Back QKD under realistic optical and adversarial conditions.