DOE OSTI · 2589338
Certified randomness using a trapped-ion quantum processor
Abstract
Although quantum computers can perform a wide range of practically important tasks beyond the abilities of classical computers, realizing this potential remains a challenge. An example is to use an untrusted remote device to generate random bits that can be certified to contain a certain amount of entropy. Certified randomness has many applications but is impossible to achieve solely by classical computation. Here we demonstrate the generation of certifiably random bits using the 56-qubit Quantinuum H2-1 trapped-ion quantum computer accessed over the Internet. Our protocol leverages the classical hardness of recent random circuit sampling demonstrations: a client generates quantum ‘challenge’ circuits using a small randomness seed, sends them to an untrusted quantum server to execute and verifies the results of the server. We analyse the security of our protocol against a restricted class of realistic near-term adversaries. Using classical verification with measured combined sustained performance of 1.1 × 10 18 floating-point operations per second across multiple supercomputers, we certify 71,313 bits of entropy under this restricted adversary and additional assumptions. Our results demonstrate a step towards the practical applicability of present-day quantum computers.
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Liu, Minzhao [JPMorganChase, New York, NY (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000161848214), Shaydulin, Ruslan [JPMorganChase, New York, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000286572848), Niroula, Pradeep [JPMorganChase, New York, NY (United States)], DeCross, Matthew [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000294598140), Hung, Shih-Han [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); National Taiwan Univ., Taipei (Taiwan)], Kon, Wen Yu [JPMorganChase, New York, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000181746004), Cervero-Martín, Enrique [JPMorganChase, New York, NY (United States)], Chakraborty, Kaushik [JPMorganChase, New York, NY (United States)], Amer, Omar [JPMorganChase, New York, NY (United States)], Aaronson, Scott [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)], Acharya, Atithi [JPMorganChase, New York, NY (United States)], Alexeev, Yuri [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)], Berg, K. Jordan [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Chakrabarti, Shouvanik [JPMorganChase, New York, NY (United States)], Curchod, Florian J. [Quantinuum (United Kingdom)], Dreiling, Joan M. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:000000019226203X), Erickson, Neal [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0009000435126954), Foltz, Cameron [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000189332172), Foss-Feig, Michael [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Hayes, David [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Humble, Travis S. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Quantum Science Center (QSC)] (ORCID:0000000294490498), Kumar, Niraj [JPMorganChase, New York, NY (United States)], Larson, Jeffrey [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000199242082), Lykov, Danylo [JPMorganChase, New York, NY (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)], Mills, Michael [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000325604129), Moses, Steven A. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Neyenhuis, Brian [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Eloul, Shaltiel [JPMorganChase, New York, NY (United States)], Siegfried, Peter [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000201452899), Walker, James [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0009000984811057), Lim, Charles [JPMorganChase, New York, NY (United States)], Pistoia, Marco [JPMorganChase, New York, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000190021128). 2025-03-26. Certified randomness using a trapped-ion quantum processor. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08737-1
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