Realization of quantum digital signatures without the requirement of quantum memory

Digital signatures are widely used to provide security for electronic communications, for example in financial transactions and electronic mail. Currently used classical digital signature schemes, however, only offer security relying on unproven computational assumptions. In contrast, quantum digital signatures offer information-theoretic security based on laws of quantum mechanics~\cite{QDS, ErikaOrig, OurNatComm}. Here, security against forging relies on the impossibility of perfectly distinguishing between non-orthogonal quantum states. A serious drawback of previous quantum digital signature schemes is that they require long-term quantum memory, making them unfeasible in practice. We present the first realization of a scheme~\cite{OurArXiv} that does not need quantum memory and which also uses only standard linear optical components and photodetectors. In our realization, the recipients measure the distributed quantum signature states using a new type of quantum measurement, quantum state elimination~\cite{stevebook, OppenUSE}. This significantly advances quantum digital signatures as a quantum technology with potential for real applications.