Kochen-Specker theorem as a precondition for secure quantum key distribution

Abstract

We show that (1) the violation of the Ekert 91 inequality is a sufficient condition for certification of the Kochen-Specker (KS) theorem, and (2) the violation of the Bennett-Brassard-Mermin 92 (BBM) inequality is, also, a sufficient condition for certification of the KS theorem. Therefore the success in each QKD protocol reveals the nonclassical feature of quantum theory, in the sense that the KS realism is violated. Further, it turned out that the Ekert inequality and the BBM inequality are depictured by distillable entanglement witness inequalities. Here, we connect the success in these two key distribution processes into the no-hidden-variables theorem and into witness on distillable entanglement. We also discuss the explicit difference between the KS realism and Bell's local realism in the Hilbert space formalism of quantum theory.