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arXiv:1812.07786 · Physical Review Letters

Experimental Low-Latency Device-Independent Quantum Randomness

Yanbao Zhang, Lynden K. Shalm, Joshua C. Bienfang, Martin J. Stevens, Michael D. Mazurek, Sae Woo Nam, Carlos Abellán, Waldimar Amaya, Morgan W. Mitchell, Honghao Fu, Carl A. Miller, Alan Mink, Emanuel H. Knill

Published Jan 7, 2020• 63 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Applications of randomness such as private key generation and public randomness beacons require small blocks of certified random bits on demand. Device-independent quantum random number generators can produce such random bits, but existing quantum-proof protocols and loophole-free implementations suffer from high latency, requiring many hours to produce any random bits. We demonstrate device-independent quantum randomness generation from a loophole-free Bell test with a more efficient quantum-proof protocol, obtaining multiple blocks of 512 random bits with an average experiment time of less than 5 min per block and with a certified error bounded by 2^{-64}≈5.42×10^{-20}.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.124.010505

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Quantum mechanics provides the means of generating genuine randomness that is impossible with deterministic classical processes. Remarkably, the unpredictability of randomness can be certified in a manner that is independent of implementation devices. Here, we present an experimental study of device-independent quantum random number generation based on a detection-loophole-free Bell test with entangled photons. In the randomness analysis, without the independent identical distribution assumption, we consider the worst case scenario that the adversary launches the most powerful attacks against the quantum adversary. After considering statistical fluctuations and applying an 80 Gb×45.6 Mb Toeplitz matrix hashing, we achieve a final random bit rate of 114 bits/s, with a failure probability less than 10^{-5}. This marks a critical step towards realistic applications in cryptography and fundamental physics tests.
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