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Abstract:We develop, to our knowledge, the first receiver-centric blockwise sequential-detection framework for covert communication over thermal-loss bosonic channels. In this architecture, each block serves as a binary super-symbol, and the key design problem is to determine the minimum detection-segment length that enables Bob to detect an active block before the block ends while remaining covert to Willie. For any fixed physically realizable general-dyne receiver, Bob's post-change information growth is linear in the small-signal regime, whereas Willie's detectability obeys a quadratic quantum relative entropy law. Exploiting this asymmetry, we show that under a per-block covertness budget the asymptotically optimal signaling strategy is uniform across the detection segment, and we derive an explicit minimum-length condition under which a single-pass cumulative sum (CUSUM) detector crosses threshold within the same block with exponentially high probability. The resulting design law yields a covert blockwise binary codebook over a finite transmission horizon and establishes a concrete link between bosonic covert communication, sequential detection, and blockwise signaling design. More broadly, these results provide design guidance for covert quantum communication systems with physically realizable receivers, and help bridge information-theoretic covertness guarantees with implementable receiver-aware optical communication design.

Submission history

From: Qipeng Qian [view email]
[v1] Wed, 17 Jun 2026 04:03:59 UTC (1,337 KB)