Quantum limits to classically spoofing an electromagnetic signal
Spoofing an electromagnetic signal involves measuring its properties and preparing a spoof signal that is a close enough copy to fool a receiver. A classic application of spoofing is in radar where an airborne target attempts to avoid being tracked by a ground-based radar by emitting pulses indicati...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Physical Society
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Physical Review Research |
| Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.023178 |
| _version_ | 1797210728513404928 |
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| author | Jonathan N. Blakely Shawn D. Pethel |
| author_facet | Jonathan N. Blakely Shawn D. Pethel |
| author_sort | Jonathan N. Blakely |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Spoofing an electromagnetic signal involves measuring its properties and preparing a spoof signal that is a close enough copy to fool a receiver. A classic application of spoofing is in radar where an airborne target attempts to avoid being tracked by a ground-based radar by emitting pulses indicating a false range or velocity. In certain scenarios it has been shown that a sensor can exploit quantum mechanics to detect spoofing at the single-photon level. Here we analyze an idealized spoofing scenario where a transmitter-receiver pair, seeking to detect spoofing, utilizes a signal chosen randomly from a set of nonorthogonal, coherent states. We show that a spoofer optimally employing classical information on the state of the transmitted signal (i.e., the best measure-and-prepare strategy allowed by quantum mechanics) inevitably emits imperfect spoofs that can be exploited by the receiver to reveal the presence of the spoofer, or to discriminate between true reflections and spoofs. Importantly, we show that the quantum limitations on classical spoofing remain significant even in the large mean-photon-number regime. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:15:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-75efb71f11994cae835a29b04c6c6860 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2643-1564 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:15:12Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physical Review Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-75efb71f11994cae835a29b04c6c68602024-04-12T17:21:30ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642022-06-014202317810.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.023178Quantum limits to classically spoofing an electromagnetic signalJonathan N. BlakelyShawn D. PethelSpoofing an electromagnetic signal involves measuring its properties and preparing a spoof signal that is a close enough copy to fool a receiver. A classic application of spoofing is in radar where an airborne target attempts to avoid being tracked by a ground-based radar by emitting pulses indicating a false range or velocity. In certain scenarios it has been shown that a sensor can exploit quantum mechanics to detect spoofing at the single-photon level. Here we analyze an idealized spoofing scenario where a transmitter-receiver pair, seeking to detect spoofing, utilizes a signal chosen randomly from a set of nonorthogonal, coherent states. We show that a spoofer optimally employing classical information on the state of the transmitted signal (i.e., the best measure-and-prepare strategy allowed by quantum mechanics) inevitably emits imperfect spoofs that can be exploited by the receiver to reveal the presence of the spoofer, or to discriminate between true reflections and spoofs. Importantly, we show that the quantum limitations on classical spoofing remain significant even in the large mean-photon-number regime.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.023178 |
| spellingShingle | Jonathan N. Blakely Shawn D. Pethel Quantum limits to classically spoofing an electromagnetic signal Physical Review Research |
| title | Quantum limits to classically spoofing an electromagnetic signal |
| title_full | Quantum limits to classically spoofing an electromagnetic signal |
| title_fullStr | Quantum limits to classically spoofing an electromagnetic signal |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantum limits to classically spoofing an electromagnetic signal |
| title_short | Quantum limits to classically spoofing an electromagnetic signal |
| title_sort | quantum limits to classically spoofing an electromagnetic signal |
| url | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.023178 |
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