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A quantum random number generator implementation with polarized photons

Santiago Aguirre, Juan Diego Arango-Montoya, David Jaramillo-Duque, Juan Felipe Méndez, Nicolás Morales-Durán, Mateo Restrepo

Published Jan 1, 2017• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

In this letter, we present an implementation of a random number generator based on photon polarization superposition. We prepare photons in a superposition state of vertical and horizontal polarizations, let them pass through a polarizing beamsplitter and set two detectors at each path to get a 50–50 chance of finding the photon at each detector. We present the results of the NIST test suite for random number generators for our binary sequence of approximately 1.4 × 107 bits and analyze the different p-values obtained to statistically assess its randomness. In doing so, we use von Neumann’s algorithm for bias removal and briefly explain how the statistical tests work.

DOI
10.1051/emsci/2017002

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In this letter, we present an implementation of a random number generator based on photon polarization superposition. We prepare photons in a superposition state of vertical and horizontal polarizations, let them pass through a polarizing beamsplitter and set two detectors at each path to get a 50–50 chance of finding the photon at each detector. We present the results of the NIST test suite for random number generators for our binary sequence of approximately 1.4 × 107 bits and analyze the different p-values obtained to statistically assess its randomness. In doing so, we use von Neumann’s algorithm for bias removal and briefly explain how the statistical tests work.
A binary sequence was constructed from 1.7×107 polarization measurements of single photons from a spontaneous parametric downconversion source, under pumping conditions similar to those used in optical quantum cryptography. To search for correlations in the polarization measurement outcomes, we subjected the sequence to a suite of tests developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for the assessment of algorithmic random-number generators. The bias of the sequence was low enough to allow all fifteen tests to be applied directly to the polarization outcomes without using any numerical unbiasing procedures. No statistically significant deviations from randomness were observed, other than those related to this small uncorrected bias.
We experimentally study a quantum random number generator based on the random excitation of the linearly polarized modes of a gain-switched vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). Our device is characterized by having polarization switching under continuous wave operation. By measuring the linear polarization mode that is excited in each pulse we collect a sufficient number of bits to evaluate if a standard statistical test suite is passed. We consider linear and Von Neumann post-processing methods in order to reduce the bias with different levels of bits rejection. The post-processed bit strings pass all tests in the standard test suite for random number generators provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). We finally compare the results obtained with different post-processing functions, including several [ n , k , d ] linear BCH codes. We show that large values of n and k are the best choice to obtain simultaneously improved throughput and randomness.
We describe the generation of sequences of random bits from the parity of photon counts produced by polarization measurements on a polarization-entangled state. The resulting sequences are bias free, pass the applicable tests in the NIST battery of statistical randomness tests, and are shown to be Borel normal, without the need for experimental calibration stages or postprocessing of the output. Because the photon counts are produced in the course of a measurement of the violation of the Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt inequality, we are able to concurrently verify the nonclassical nature of the photon statistics and estimate a lower bound on the min-entropy of the bit-generating source. The rate of bit production in our experiment is around 13 bits/s.
We present a set of random number generator based on a quantum mechanical source,which is the process of splitting a beam of photons on a polarizing beam splitter.The randonmess of the polarizing photon is detected by the synchronous singlephoton coincidence detection technique.The random bit data are transferred to a personal computer via a digital I/O interface.The random numbers are tested by the Pseudorandom Number Sequence Test Program(ENT) which is the most popular random number test program in the world.The result is perfect.
Abstract Quantum random number generators give the opportunity to, in theory, obtain completely unpredictable numbers only perturbed by the noise in the measurement. The obtained data can be digitalized and processed so that it gives as a result a uniform sequence of binary random numbers without any relation with the classical noise in the system. In this work we analyze the performance of optical QRNGs with three different arrangements: a homodyne detector measuring vacuum fluctuations, a homodyne detector measuring amplified spontaneous emission from an EDFA and a spontaneous emission phase noise-based generator. The raw data from the experiments is processed using a Toeplitz extractor, giving as a result sequences of binary numbers capable of passing the NIST Statistical Test Suite.
We report an adjustable unbalanced quantum random-number generator based on the polarization of photons, which can produce nondeterministic true random unbalanced numbers.The underlying physical process is inherently quantum mechanical.To prove the quality of the output sequence of the proposed generator, we test the obtained bias-free sequence through the 3-standard-deviation criteria and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology test suite.Another type of nondeterministic unbalanced random-number generator is also studied in this work, to evaluate the quality of the output biased random numbers.