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arXiv:2512.08900

Deterministic randomness extraction for semi-device-independent quantum random number generation

Pablo Tikas Pueyo, Tomás Fernández Martos, Gabriel Senno

quant-phSubmitted Dec 9, 2025• Announced Dec 10, 2025• 0 citations
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 extend their construction to the prepare-and-measure scenario. Specifically, we prove that the considered functions are also extractors for memoryless devices in a semi-device-independent setting under an overlap assumption on the prepared quantum states. We then 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
8+7 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 extend their construction to the prepare-and-measure scenario. Specifically, we prove that the considered functions are also extractors for memoryless devices in a semi-device-independent setting under an overlap assumption on the prepared quantum states. We then 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.
How to generate provably true randomness with minimal assumptions? This question is important not only for the efficiency and the security of information processing, but also for understanding how extremely unpredictable events are possible in Nature. All current solutions require special structures in the initial source of randomness, or a certain independence relation among two or more sources. Both types of assumptions are impossible to test and difficult to guarantee in practice. Here we show how this fundamental limit can be circumvented by extractors that base security on the validity of physical laws and extract randomness from untrusted quantum devices. In conjunction with the recent work of Miller and Shi (arXiv:1402:0489), our physical randomness extractor uses just a single and general weak source, produces an arbitrarily long and near-uniform output, with a close-to-optimal error, secure against all-powerful quantum adversaries, and tolerating a constant level of implementation imprecision. The source necessarily needs to be unpredictable to the devices, but otherwise can even be known to the adversary. Our central technical contribution, the Equivalence Lemma, provides a general principle for proving composition security of untrusted-device protocols. It implies that unbounded randomness expansion can be achieved simply by cross-feeding any two expansion protocols. In particular, such an unbounded expansion can be made robust, which is known for the first time. Another significant implication is, it enables the secure randomness generation and key distribution using public randomness, such as that broadcast by NIST's Randomness Beacon. Our protocol also provides a method for refuting local hidden variable theories under a weak assumption on the available randomness for choosing the measurement settings.
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Randomness is an invaluable resource in today's life with a broad use reaching from numerical simulations through randomized algorithms to cryptography. However, on the classical level no true randomness is available and even the use of simple quantum devices in a prepare-measure setting suffers from lack of stability and controllability. This gave rise to a group of quantum protocols that provide randomness certified by classical statistical tests -- Device Independent Quantum Random Number Generators. In this paper we review the most relevant results in this field, which allow the production of almost perfect randomness with help of quantum devices, supplemented with an arbitrary weak source of additional randomness. This is in fact the best one could hope for to achieve, as with no starting randomness (corresponding to no free will in a different concept) even a quantum world would have a fully deterministic description.
Abstract Our ability to trust that a random number is truly random is essential for fields as diverse as cryptography and fundamental tests of quantum mechanics. Existing solutions both come with drawbacks—device-independent quantum random number generators (QRNGs) are highly impractical and standard semi-device-independent QRNGs are limited to a specific physical implementation and level of trust. Here we propose a framework for semi-device-independent randomness certification, using a source of trusted vacuum in the form of a signal shutter. It employs a flexible set of assumptions and levels of trust, allowing it to be applied in a wide range of physical scenarios involving both quantum and classical entropy sources. We experimentally demonstrate our protocol with a photonic setup and generate secure random bits under three different assumptions with varying degrees of security and resulting data rates.