Search for: All records

Abstract We classify the extreme points of a polytope of probability distributions in the (2,2,2) CHSH-Bell setting that is induced by a single Tsirelson bound. We do the same for a class of polytopes obtained from a parametrized family of multiple Tsirelson bounds interacting non-trivially. Such constructions can be applied to device-independent random number generation using the method of probability estimation factors (2018 Phys. Rev. A98040304(R)). We demonstrate a meaningful improvement in certified randomness applying the new polytopes characterized here. 

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, for the first time, 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 is at the heart of a public traceable and certifiable quantum randomness beacon that we have launched. Over the first 40 days of operation, we completed the protocol 7434 out of 7454 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 times actual success probability bounded by 2^(−64). The generation of certifiable and traceable randomness represents one of the first public services that operates with an entanglement-derived advantage over comparable classical approaches. 

The probability estimation framework involves direct estimation of the probability of occurrences of outcomes conditioned on measurement settings and side information. It is a powerful tool for certifying randomness in quantum nonlocality experiments. In this paper, we present a self-contained proof of the asymptotic optimality of the method. Our approach refines earlier results to allow a better characterisation of optimal adversarial attacks on the protocol. We apply these results to the (2,2,2) Bell scenario, obtaining an analytic characterisation of the optimal adversarial attacks bound by no-signalling principles, while also demonstrating the asymptotic robustness of the PEF method to deviations from expected experimental behaviour. We also study extensions of the analysis to quantum-limited adversaries in the (2,2,2) Bell scenario and no-signalling adversaries in higher (n,m,k) Bell scenarios.