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arXiv:2512.08900

Deterministic randomness extraction for quantum random number generation with partial trust

Pablo Tikas Pueyo, Tomás Fernández Martos, Gabriel Senno

quant-phSubmitted Dec 9, 2025• Announced Dec 10, 2025• 0 citations• Revised Feb 26, 2026 (v2)
v1 · Dec 9, 2025v2 · Feb 26, 2026
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Abstract

It is a well-known fact in classical information theory that no deterministic procedure can extract close-to-ideal randomness from an arbitrary entropy source. On the other hand, if additional knowledge about the source is available -- e.g., that it is a sequence of independent Bernoulli trials -- then deterministic extractors do exist. For quantum entropy sources, where in addition to classical random variables we consider quantum side information, the use of extra knowledge about their structure was pioneered in a recent publication [C. Foreman and L. Masanes, Quantum 9, 1654 (2025)]. In that work, the authors provide deterministic extractors for device-independent randomness generation with memoryless devices achieving a sufficiently high CHSH score. In this work, we port their construction to the prepare-and-measure scenario. Specifically, we prove that the considered functions are also extractors for memoryless devices in settings with partial trust, either in the state preparation or in the measurement, as well as in a semi-device-independent setting under an overlap assumption on the prepared quantum states. Within this last setting, we simulate the resulting randomness generation protocol on a novel and experimentally relevant family of behaviors, observing positive key rates already for $7\times 10^3$ rounds.

Comments
11+10 pages, 4 figures. Comments welcome!

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It is a well-known fact in classical information theory that no deterministic procedure can extract close-to-ideal randomness from an arbitrary entropy source. On the other hand, if additional knowledge about the source is available -- e.g., that it is a sequence of independent Bernoulli trials -- then deterministic extractors do exist. For quantum entropy sources, where in addition to classical random variables we consider quantum side information, the use of extra knowledge about their structure was pioneered in a recent publication [C. Foreman and L. Masanes, Quantum 9, 1654 (2025)]. In that work, the authors provide deterministic extractors for device-independent randomness generation with memoryless devices achieving a sufficiently high CHSH score. In this work, we port their construction to the prepare-and-measure scenario. Specifically, we prove that the considered functions are also extractors for memoryless devices in settings with partial trust, either in the state preparation or in the measurement, as well as in a semi-device-independent setting under an overlap assumption on the prepared quantum states. Within this last setting, we simulate the resulting randomness generation protocol on a novel and experimentally relevant family of behaviors, observing positive key rates already for 7×1037\times 10^37×103 rounds.
Device-independent (DI) quantum cryptography aims at providing secure cryptography with minimal trust in, or characterisation of, the underlying quantum devices. A key step in DI protocols is randomness extraction (or privacy amplification), which typically requires a seed of additional bits with sufficient entropy and statistical independence from any bits generated during the protocol. In this work, we propose a method for extraction in DI protocols that does not require a seed and is secure against computationally unbounded quantum adversaries. The core idea is to use the Bell violation of the raw data, rather than its min-entropy, as the extractor promise. We present a complete security proof in a model where the experiment uses memoryless measurement devices acting on an arbitrary joint (across all rounds) state. Our results mark a first step in this alternative, seedless, approach to extraction in DI protocols.
Although quantum random number generators rely on the inherent indeterminism of quantum mechanics, ensuring that the numbers produced are secure remains a significant challenge. We introduce two semi-device-independent randomness expansion protocols in a prepare-and-measure setting, where the source and measurement devices are treated as uncharacterised and we assume trust only in testing device, which could be implemented using a photodiode. One protocol achieves expansion by recycling the input randomness, while the other uses a biased input distribution to achieve expansion in settings where recycling is not possible. The protocols are proven secure against quantum side information. Our results show that high randomness rates are achievable under experimentally realistic conditions, with expansion obtained in as few as 10510^5105 to 10610^6106 rounds with the recycling protocol.
This paper investigates semi-device-independent quantum randomness generation with a trusted binary pure-state source and an untrusted binary detector whose side information is classical. We derive a closed-form Shannon-rate expression for this setting, depending only on the trusted Gram overlap of the two source states and the observed symmetric error probability. The key point is that the full binary-qubit POVM optimisation must include the two deterministic extreme points omitted by the projective-only treatment; including them gives a substantially lower, and correct, certified rate. The closed form is an unconditional upper bound on the certified asymptotic i.i.d.\ Shannon rate, and becomes tight on a numerically verified dual-feasibility region containing all operating points used in the paper. Outside this region the same expression remains an upper bound. We then apply the result to squeezed-coherent BPSK sources, showing how squeezing changes the trade-off between state distinguishability and certified randomness in the lossless and lossy regimes. Finally, we clarify the adversary model if the adversary is allowed to hold a detector-purification register that tags the outcome.
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