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Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE

Quantum random number generator

Jan Soubusta, Ondřej Haderka, Martin Hendrych

Published Mar 7, 2001• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Since reflection or transmission of a quantum particle on a beamsplitter is inherently random quantum process, a device built on this principle does not suffer from drawbacks of neither pseudo-random computer generators or classical noise sources. Nevertheless, a number of physical conditions necessary for high quality random numbers generation must be satisfied. Luckily, in quantum optics realization they can be well controlled. We present an easy random number generator based on the division of weak light pulses on a beamsplitter. The randomness of the generated bit stream is supported by passing the data through series of 15 statistical test. The device generates at a rate of 109.7 kbit/s.

DOI
10.1117/12.417868

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Since reflection or transmission of a quantum particle on a beamsplitter is inherently random quantum process, a device built on this principle does not suffer from drawbacks of neither pseudo-random computer generators or classical noise sources. Nevertheless, a number of physical conditions necessary for high quality random numbers generation must be satisfied. Luckily, in quantum optics realization they can be well controlled. We present an easy random number generator based on the division of weak light pulses on a beamsplitter. The randomness of the generated bit stream is supported by passing the data through series of 15 statistical test. The device generates at a rate of 109.7 kbit/s.
We present the realization of a physical quantum random number generator based on the process of splitting a beam of photons on a beam splitter, a quantum mechanical source of true randomness. By utilizing either a beam splitter or a polarizing beam splitter, single photon detectors and high speed electronics the presented devices are capable of generating a binary random signal with an autocorrelation time of 11.8 ns and a continuous stream of random numbers at a rate of 1 Mbit/s. The randomness of the generated signals and numbers is shown by running a series of tests upon data samples. The devices described in this paper are built into compact housings and are simple to operate.
We present the realization of a physical quantum random number generator based on the process of splitting a beam of photons on a beam splitter, a quantum mechanical source of true randomness. By utilizing either a beam splitter or a polarizing beam splitter, single photon detectors and high speed electronics the presented devices are capable of generating a binary random signal with an autocorrelation time of 11.8 ns and a continuous stream of random numbers at a rate of 1 Mbit/s. The randomness of the generated signals and numbers is shown by running a series of tests upon data samples. The devices described in this paper are built into compact housings and are Random numbers are a vital ingredient in many applications ranging, to name some examples, from computational methods such as Monte Carlo simulations and programming1, over to the large field of cryptography for generating of crypto code or masking messages, as far as to commercial applications like lottery games and slot machines2–5. Recently
We present our experimental realization of a quantum random number generator (RNG) based on the quantum random process of division of light pulse on a fiber coupler. Our prototype consists of fiber optics elements: a pigtailcd laser diode, two mechanical attenuators, a fiber coupler, and two single photon detectors. The RNG contains all necessary electronics for the generation of light pulses, synchronized reading of detectors' states, processing of these results, and transfer of data to a host computer. The connection to the computer is done via a 25-pin parallel port, that makes our device easy to use with any personal computer (PC). The RNG can be operated in four different modes, that arc selected by the PC. The zeroth mode is just for the device control, the first mode serves for appropriate setting of generation efficiency, the second mode is designed for raw data sequence generation at a rate of 114 kByte/s, and the last mode provides balanced data sequence at a rate of 28 kByte/s utilizing von Ncumann's extraction procedure. This procedure is used to gain a properly balanced ratio between '0's and '1's. The balanced data sequence generated by the RNG in the third mode passes all kinds of tests we arc using [for example 15 tests proposed by G. Marsaglia, WWW: http://stat.fsu.edu/ geo/diehard.html 1. The raw data sequence can be used for purposes that do not need properly balanced data, because raw data passes tests that arc not inspecting the sequence balance.
A physical random number generator based on the intrinsic randomness of quantum mechanics is described. The random events are realized by the choice of single photons between the two outputs of a beamsplitter. We present a simple device, which minimizes the impact of the photon counters ’ noise, dead-time and after pulses. Random numbers are employed today as well for numerical simulations as for cryptography. Unfortunately computers are not able to generate true random numbers, as they are deterministic systems. Numerical pseudo-random generators rely on complexity [1]. Although such pseudo-random numbers can generally be employed for numerical computation, such as Monte-Carlo simulations, their use in cryptography, for example to generate keys, is more critical. The only way to get true random numbers, hence true security for crypto-systems, is to build a generator based on a random physical phenomenon [2,3,4]. As quantum theory is intrinsically random, a quantum process is an ideal base for a physical random number generator. The randomness of a sequence of numbers can be extensively tested, though not proven. It is thus of interest to thoroughly understand the behavior of the random process, so as to gain
We demonstrated a high-efficiency quantum random number generator which takes inherent advantage of the photon number distribution randomness of a coherent light source. This scheme was realized by comparing the photon flux of consecutive pulses with a photon number resolving detector. The random bit generation rate could reach 2.42.42.4 MHz with a system clock of 6.06.06.0 MHz, corresponding to a random bit generation efficiency as high as 4040%40. The random number files passed all the stringent statistical tests.