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DOE OSTI · 2573518

Traceable random numbers from a non-local quantum advantage

Kavuri, Gautam A. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000322588872)·Palfree, Jasper [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)]·Reddy, Dileep V. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)]·Zhang, Yanbao [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)]·Bienfang, Joshua C. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Univ. of Maryland, Gaithersburg, MD (United States)]·Mazurek, Michael D. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)]·Alhejji, Mohammad A. [Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)]·Siddiqui, Aliza U. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)]·Cavanagh, Joseph M. [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0009000587698089)·Dalal, Aagam [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)]·Abellán, Carlos [Quside Technologies, Barcelona (Spain)]·Amaya, Waldimar [Quside Technologies, Barcelona (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000269308914)·Mitchell, Morgan W. [Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) (Spain); Univ. Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain). Inst. Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats (ICREA)] (ORCID:0000000189499407)·Stange, Katherine E. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000322940397)·Beale, Paul D. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)]·Brandão, Luís T. A. N. [Strativia, Gaithersburg, MD (United States)]·Booth, Harold [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)]·Peralta, René [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000223187563)·Nam, Sae Woo [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)]·Mirin, Richard P. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)]·Stevens, Martin J. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000319806883)·Knill, Emanuel [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)]·Shalm, Lynden K. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000228567098)
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Abstract

The unpredictability of random numbers is fundamental to both digital security and applications that fairly distribute resources. However, existing random number generators have limitations—the generation processes cannot be fully traced, audited and certified to be unpredictable. The algorithmic steps used in pseudorandom number generators are auditable, but they cannot guarantee that their outputs were a priori unpredictable given knowledge of the initial seed. Device-independent quantum random number generators can ensure that the source of randomness was unknown beforehand, but the steps used to extract the randomness are vulnerable to tampering. Here we demonstrate a fully traceable random number generation protocol based on device-independent techniques. Our protocol extracts randomness from unpredictable non-local quantum correlations, and uses distributed intertwined hash chains to cryptographically trace and verify the extraction process. This protocol forms the basis for a public traceable and certifiable quantum randomness beacon that we have launched. Over the first 40 days of operation, we completed the protocol 7,434 out of 7,454 attempts—a success rate of 99.7%. Each time the protocol succeeded, the beacon emitted a pulse of 512 bits of traceable randomness. The bits are certified to be uniform with error multiplied by actual success probability bounded by 2−64. Further, the generation of certifiable and traceable randomness represents a public service that operates with an entanglement-derived advantage over comparable classical approaches.

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97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING

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BibTeXRIS

Kavuri, Gautam A. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000322588872), Palfree, Jasper [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)], Reddy, Dileep V. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)], Zhang, Yanbao [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)], Bienfang, Joshua C. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Univ. of Maryland, Gaithersburg, MD (United States)], Mazurek, Michael D. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)], Alhejji, Mohammad A. [Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)], Siddiqui, Aliza U. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)], Cavanagh, Joseph M. [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0009000587698089), Dalal, Aagam [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)], Abellán, Carlos [Quside Technologies, Barcelona (Spain)], Amaya, Waldimar [Quside Technologies, Barcelona (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000269308914), Mitchell, Morgan W. [Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) (Spain); Univ. Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain). Inst. Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats (ICREA)] (ORCID:0000000189499407), Stange, Katherine E. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000322940397), Beale, Paul D. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)], Brandão, Luís T. A. N. [Strativia, Gaithersburg, MD (United States)], Booth, Harold [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)], Peralta, René [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000223187563), Nam, Sae Woo [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)], Mirin, Richard P. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)], Stevens, Martin J. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000319806883), Knill, Emanuel [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)], Shalm, Lynden K. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000228567098). 2025-06-11. Traceable random numbers from a non-local quantum advantage. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09054-3

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