Characterization of Optimal Key Set Protocols

Using a random deal of cards to players and a computationally unlimited eavesdropper, all players wish to share a common one-bit secret key which is information-theoretically secure from the eavesdropper. This can be done by the so-called key set protocol. In this paper we give a necessary and sufficient condition for a key set protocol to be "optimal," that is, to succeed always in sharing a one-bit secret key.