ObjectiveTo ensure communication security, it is necessary to verify the identities of the communicators. With the improvement of computing power, the classical identity authentication schemes based on the algorithmic complexity may be breached easily. The semi-quantum cryptographic communication realizes the quantum secure communication under the condition of reducing the communication equipment. Semi-quantum protocols serve as a bridge between quantum users and"classical" users with limited quantum capabilities, providing support for application scenarios that cannot afford the excessively high cost of quantum resources. Semi-Quantum Identity Authentication (SQIA) scheme is important part of Semi-quantum protocols. SQIA scheme based on Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-like states with quantum coding is proposed for the identity information security and efficiency. The GHZ-like state is composed of single quantum state and entangled quantum state. The single quantum state is measured by the authentication user. The entangled quantum state is encoded to realize the identity authentication process with the aid of quantum coding.MethodsThis paper explores a quantum identity authentication scheme based on GHZ-like states with quantum coding in the field of semi-quantum communication. By reducing the quantum communication equipment for authenticating the user, the process of authenticating the user's identity information is completed. In order to realize the semi-quantum authentication process, the GHZ-like state is used as the authentication information of the system. Then the thesis constructs a semi-quantum authentication scheme and authentication process. Under the authentication process planning, the authentication user first uses a semi-quantum operation to measure the single quantum information of a GHZ-like state, and according to the measurement results of the single quantum particles, the information is fed back to the trusted center by using the operation process of half quantum CTRL or SIFT operation, and the trusted center measures the feedback quantum entangled particles, complete the process of authenticating the user's legal identity.Results and DiscussionsOur results show that the authentication process of authenticated user and trusted center is realized in the shared encoded quantum entangled particles. The authenticator uses a semi-quantum authentication process to reduce the number of quantum communication devices. More efficient and secure communication network environment to complete the user identity authentication. The detailed safety analysis is indicated that the scheme is proven to be completely robust against an eavesdropping such as Trojan horse, impersonation attack and intercept-resend attacks. The scheme is simple, efficient and secure.ConclusionsThis paper presents a semi-quantum identity authentication scheme based on GHZ-like state with assisted of quantum coding, in which GHZ-like state is used as authentication information, authentication user adopt semi-quantum operation and realize the authentication process by comparing the classical information processing. The number of quantum devices required is reduced by the fact that the programmer does not require full quantum capabilities for all participants. The other semi-quantum authentication scheme can be extended to two-party authentication and multi-party authentication process, and can also be used to verify multi-user authentication of unmanned aerial vehicle without quantum capability, the application of the scheme can be further promoted.