Hierarchical quantum-information splitting

We present a scheme for asymmetric quantum-information splitting, where a sender distributes asymmetrically a quantum secret (quantum state) to distant partners in a network. The asymmetric distribution leads to that the partners have different powers to recover the sender's secret. In other words, their authorities for getting the secret are hierarchized. In the scheme, the partners do not need to make any nonlocal operation. The scheme can also be modified to implement threshold-controlled teleportation. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.