The VQCC
at Qcrypt 2026.
Researchers from the Vigo Quantum Communication Center (VQCC) recently took part in QCrypt 2026, held from 24 to 28 August in Ottawa, Canada, one of the leading international conferences in quantum cryptography and quantum information.
The VQCC was represented at the conference by Margarida Pereira, Guillermo Currás-Lorenzo, Davide Rusca, Ainhoa Agulleiro and Alessandro Marcomini. Their participation provided an excellent opportunity to engage with the international quantum cryptography community, exchange ideas with researchers from around the world and follow the latest advances in the field.
Among the scientific contributions presented during the conference, VQCC researcher Alessandro Marcomini delivered a talk entitled “Reference-beam attacks against OIL-based Twin-Field QKD”. The presentation addressed security aspects of Twin-Field Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), contributing to the ongoing discussion on the robustness and security of emerging quantum communication protocols.
Guillermo Currás-Lorenzo and Ainhoa Agulleiro also gave two talks entitled, respectively, “Rigorous phase-error-estimation security framework for QKD with correlated sources”, this work introduces a general framework to extend existing QKD security proofs to realistic sources emitting correlated pulses, an unavoidable effect in practical devices, thus bringing security guarantees closer to real-world implementations. The other talk they offered was “Simplified quantum key distribution implementation secure against state preparation flaws”.
Additionally, VQCC researcher Margarida Pereira presented a poster entitled “Optimal key rates for quantum key distribution with partial source characterization”. This work, carried out in collaboration with the University of Valladolid, investigates how to obtain optimal asymptotic secret-key rates in quantum key distribution protocols when considering imperfections in the source characterization, addressing an important challenge for the practical implementation of secure quantum communication systems.
The VQCC has a long-standing connection with QCrypt and has participated regularly in the conference over the years. This connection reached a particularly significant milestone in 2024, when the VQCC hosted and organised QCrypt in Vigo, bringing leading researchers in quantum cryptography and quantum communication from around the world to Galicia.
QCrypt provides an important forum for researchers working on both the theoretical and experimental aspects of quantum cryptography, offering opportunities to present new results, discuss current challenges and foster international collaborations.
The continued participation of VQCC researchers in QCrypt reflects the Center’s commitment to advancing research in quantum communication and quantum cryptography, as well as to strengthening its international collaborations and visibility within the rapidly developing quantum technology community.
The VQCC is proud to continue contributing to this international scientific community and looks forward to future editions of QCrypt.
