Quantum random number generation is a key ingredient for quantum cryptography and fundamental quantum optics and could advance Monte-Carlo simulations and machine learning. An established generation scheme is based on single photons impinging on a beam splitter. Here, we experimentally demonstrate quantum random number generation solely based on the spontaneous emission process in combination with the symmetric emission profile of a dipole aligned orthogonal to the laboratory frame. The demonstration builds on defect centers in hexagonal boron nitride and benefits from the ability to manipulate and align the emission directionality. We prove the randomness in the correlated photon detection events making use of the NIST randomness test suite and show that the randomness remains for two independently emitting defect centers. The scheme can be extended to random number generation by coherent single photons with potential applications in solid-state based quantum communication at room temperature.
Quantum nonlocality offers a secure way to produce random numbers: their unpredictability is intrinsic and can be certified just by observing the statistic of the measurement outcomes, without assumptions on how they are produced. To do this, entangled pairs are generated and measured to violate a Bell inequality with the outcome statistics. However, after a projective quantum measurement, entanglement is entirely destroyed and cannot be used again. This fact poses an upper bound to the number of random numbers that can be produced from each quantum state when projective measurements are emplo…
The amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise has been extensively studied and employed to build quantum random number generators (QRNGs). While the previous relative works mainly focus on the realization and verification of the QRNG system, the comprehensive physical model and randomness quantification for the general detection of the ASE noise are still incomplete, which is essential for the quantitative security analysis. In this paper, a systematical physical model for the emission, detection and acquisition of the ASE noise with added electronic noise is developed and verified, based on …
We reverse-engineer, test and analyse hardware and firmware of the commercial quantum-optical random number generator Quantis from ID Quantique. We show that > 99% of its output data originates in physically random processes: random timing of photon absorption in a semiconductor material, and random growth of avalanche owing to impact ionisation. Under a strong assumption that these processes correspond to a measurement of an initially pure state of the components, our analysis implies the unpredictability of the generated randomness. We have also found minor non-random contributions from impe…
The distributed absorption of photons in photodiodes induces an excess noise in continuous-wave photodetection above the transit-time roll-off frequency. We show that it can be treated as a frequency-dependent excess optical loss in homodyne detection. This places a limit on the bandwidth of high-accuracy homodyne detection, even if an ideal photodetector circuit is available. We experimentally verify the excess loss in two ways; a comparison of signal gain and shot-noise gain of one-port homodyne detection, and a balanced homodyne detection of squeezed light at 500 MHz sideband. These results…
Traceable random numbers from a nonlocal quantum advantage
University of Colorado, Boulder（科罗拉多大学博尔德分校）；National Institute of Standards and Technology（美国国家标准与技术研究院）；Oak Ridge National Laboratory（橡树岭国家实验室）；Joint Quantum Institute（联合量子研究所）；University of Maryland（马里兰大学）；Center for Quantum Information and Control, University of New Mexico（新墨西哥大学量子信息与控制中心）；University of California, Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校）；Quside Technologies（Quside 科技公司）
From dice to modern complex circuits, there have been many attempts to build increasingly better devices to generate random numbers. Today, randomness is fundamental to security and cryptographic systems, as well as safeguarding privacy. A key challenge with random number generators is that it is hard to ensure that their outputs are unpredictable. For a random number generator based on a physical process, such as a noisy classical system or an elementary quantum measurement, a detailed model describing the underlying physics is required to assert unpredictability. Such a model must make a num…
Lottery is a game in which multiple players take chances in the hope of getting some rewards in cash or kind. In addition, from the time of the early civilizations, lottery has also been considered as an apposite method to allocate scarce resources. Technically, any scheme for lottery needs to be fair and secure, but none of the classical schemes for lottery are unconditionally secure and fair. As fairness demands complete unpredictability of the outcome of the lottery, it essentially requires perfect randomness. Quantum mechanics not only guarantees the generation of perfect randomness, it ca…
Quantum random number (QRNG) beacons distinguish themselves from classical counterparts by providing intrinsic unpredictability originating from the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics. Most demonstrations have focused on certifiable randomness generators to guarantee the public that their genuineness is independent from imperfect implementations. These efforts however do not benefit applications where multiple distrusted users need a common set of random numbers, as they must rely on the honesty of beacon owners. In this paper, we formally introduce a design and proof-of-principle experimen…
