Classical correlations can enhance the continuous-variable quantum key distribution

We address the effect of classical correlations, introduced to a quantum resource used for the continuous-variable quantum key distribution. The set-up is based on an entangled source with two trusted parties performing homodyne measurements on their modes, thus corresponding to the preparation of squeezed states, while one of the modes is traveling to the remote party through lossy and noisy channel. The security of the scheme is considered against individual and collective eavesdropping attacks. It is shown that the classical correlations added to the entangled source increase the performance of the scheme both quantatively in terms of the secure key rate and qualitatively in terms of the security region with respect to the tolerable excess noise for both types of attacks and the improvement is essentially significant for sources possessing low degree of nonclassicality.