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Photonics Research

Mutually testing source-device-independent quantum random number generator

Jialin Cheng, Jiliang Qin, Shaocong Liang, Jiatong Li, Zhihui Yan, Xiaojun Jia, Kunchi Peng

Published Jan 4, 2022• 22 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum random numbers have an incomparable advantage over pseudo-random numbers since randomness originates from intrinsic property of quantum mechanics. The generation rate and the security of quantum random numbers are two significant indicators of a quantum random number generator (QRNG) for practical applications. Here we propose a mutually testing source-device-independent QRNG by simultaneously measuring a pair of conjugate quadratures from two separate parts of an untrusted continuous-variable quantum state. The amounts of randomness of the quadratures can be mutually estimated by each other via entropic uncertainty principle. Instead of randomly toggling between the conjugate quadratures of one state for collecting different types of data, two quadratures can generate check data and raw bits simultaneously and continuously in this mutually testing manner, which enhances the equivalent generation rate of private random bits to around 6 Gbit/s with a 7.5 mW laser beam. Moreover, the overall security is also improved by adjusting the conditional min-entropy in real time according to the continually monitored fluctuations of the local oscillator and the randomly measured electronic noise of homodyne detectors.

DOI
10.1364/prj.444853

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Quantum random numbers have an incomparable advantage over pseudo-random numbers since randomness originates from intrinsic property of quantum mechanics. The generation rate and the security of quantum random numbers are two significant indicators of a quantum random number generator (QRNG) for practical applications. Here we propose a mutually testing source-device-independent QRNG by simultaneously measuring a pair of conjugate quadratures from two separate parts of an untrusted continuous-variable quantum state. The amounts of randomness of the quadratures can be mutually estimated by each other via entropic uncertainty principle. Instead of randomly toggling between the conjugate quadratures of one state for collecting different types of data, two quadratures can generate check data and raw bits simultaneously and continuously in this mutually testing manner, which enhances the equivalent generation rate of private random bits to around 6 Gbit/s with a 7.5 mW laser beam. Moreover, the overall security is also improved by adjusting the conditional min-entropy in real time according to the continually monitored fluctuations of the local oscillator and the randomly measured electronic noise of homodyne detectors.
Abstract As a fundamental phenomenon in nature, randomness has a wide range of applications in the fields of science and engineering. Among different types of random number generators (RNG), quantum random number generator (QRNG) is a kind of promising RNG as it can provide provable true random numbers based on the inherent randomness of fundamental quantum processes. Nevertheless, the randomness from a QRNG can be diminished (or even destroyed) if the devices (especially the entropy source devices) are not perfect or ill-characterized. To eliminate the practical security loopholes from the source, source-independent QRNGs, which allow the source to have arbitrary and unknown dimensions, have been introduced and become one of the most important semi-device-independent (DI) QRNGs. Herein a method that enables ultra-fast unpredictable quantum random number generation from quadrature fluctuations of quantum optical field without any assumptions on the input states is proposed. Particularly, to estimate a lower bound on the extractable randomness that is independent from side information held by an eavesdropper, a new security analysis framework is established based on the extremality of Gaussian states, which can be easily extended to design and analyze new semi-DI continuous variable QRNG protocols. Moreover, the practical imperfections of the QRNG including the effects of excess noise, finite sampling range, finite resolution and asymmetric conjugate quadratures are taken into account and quantitatively analyzed. Finally, the proposed method is experimentally demonstrated to obtain high secure random number generation rates of 15.07 Gbits s −1 in off-line configuration and can potentially achieve 6 Gbits s −1 by real-time post-processing.
Continuous-variable quantum random number generators (CV-QRNGs) have promising application prospects thanks to their advantages such as high detection bandwidth, robustness of system, and integratability. In major CV-QRNGs, the generation of random numbers is based on homodyne detection and discretization of the quadrature fluctuations of the EM fields. Any defectiveness in physical realization may leak information correlated with the generated numbers and the maximal amount of randomness that can be extracted in presence of such side-information is evaluated by the so-called quantum conditional min-entropy. The parallel CV-QRNG overcomes the rate bottleneck of the previous serial type scheme. As a type of device-trusted QRNG, its security needs to be better guaranteed based on self-testing or monitoring that can be rigorously enforced. In this work, four sideband modes of vacuum state within 1.6 GHz detection bandwidth were extracted parallelly as the entropy source, and 16-bit analog-to-digital conversion in each channel was realized. Without making any ideal assumptions, the transfer function of the homodyne and quantization system was measured based on beat method to calibrate the evaluation of the min-entropy. Based on the rigorous entropy evaluation with a hash security parameter of εhash = 2−110, a real-time generation rate of 7.25 Gbps was finally achieved.
Secure random numbers are a fundamental element of many applications in science, statistics, cryptography and more in general in security protocols. We present a method that enables the generation of high-speed unpredictable random numbers from the quadratures of an electromagnetic field without any assumption on the input state. The method allows us to eliminate the numbers that can be predicted due to the presence of classical and quantum side information. In particular, we introduce a procedure to estimate a bound on the conditional min-entropy based on the entropic uncertainty principle for position and momentum observables of infinite dimensional quantum systems. By the above method, we experimentally demonstrated the generation of secure true random bits at a rate greater than 1.7 Gbit/s.
Quantum random number generators (QRNGs) can provide genuine randomness by exploiting the intrinsic probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics, which play important roles in many applications. However, the true randomness acquisition could be subjected to attacks from untrusted devices involved or their deviations from the theoretical modeling in real-life implementation. We propose and experimentally demonstrate a source-device-independent QRNG, which enables one to access true random bits with an untrusted source device. The random bits are generated by measuring the arrival time of either photon of the time–energy entangled photon pairs produced from spontaneous parametric downconversion, where the entanglement is testified through the observation of nonlocal dispersion cancellation. In experiment, we extract a generation rate of 4 Mbps by a modified entropic uncertainty relation, which can be improved to gigabits per second by using advanced single-photon detectors. Our approach provides a promising candidate for QRNGs with no characterization or error-prone source devices in practice.
Quantum random number generators (QRNGs) output genuine random numbers based upon the uncertainty principle. A QRNG contains two parts in general—a randomness source and a readout detector. How to remove detector imperfections has been one of the most important questions in practical randomness generation. We propose a simple solution, measurement-device-independent QRNG, which not only removes all detector side channels but is robust against losses. In contrast to previous fully device-independent QRNGs, our scheme does not require high detector efficiency or nonlocality tests. Simulations show that our protocol can be implemented efficiently with a practical coherent state laser and other standard optical components. The security analysis of our QRNG consists mainly of two parts: measurement tomography and randomness quantification, where several new techniques are developed to characterize the randomness associated with a positive-operator valued measure.
Quantum random number generators (QRNGs) use the inherent unpredictability of quantum mechanics to generate true randomness, as opposed to classical random number generators. However, ensuring the authenticity of this randomness still requires robust verification. Self-testing QRNGs address this need by enabling the validation of the randomness produced based on the observed data from the experiment while requiring few assumptions. In this work, we present a practical, self-testing QRNG designed to operate with an untrusted measurement device and a partially characterized source, allowing the user to check the adequate functioning of the setup in real time. Our experiment yields a rate of certified random bits of 450 kbps.