Device-independent Protocols Research Articles

Device-independent randomness generation with sublinear shared quantum resources

In quantum cryptography, device-independent (DI) protocols can be certified secure without requiring assumptions about the inner workings of the devices used to perform the protocol. In order to display nonlocality, which is an essential feature in DI protocols, the device must consist of at least two separate components sharing entanglement. This raises a fundamental question: how much entanglement is needed to run such DI protocols? We present a two-device protocol for DI random number generation (DIRNG) which produces approximatelynbits of randomness starting fromnpairs of arbitrarily weakly entangled qubits. We also consider a variant of the protocol wheremsinglet states are diluted intonpartially entangled states before performing the first protocol, and show that the numbermof singlet states need only scale sublinearly with the numbernof random bits produced. Operationally, this leads to a DIRNG protocol between distant laboratories that requires only a sublinear amount of quantum communication to prepare the devices.

Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt versus three-party pseudo-telepathy: on the optimal number of samples in device-independent quantum private query

In device-independent (DI) paradigm, the trustful assumptions over the devices are removed and CHSH test is performed to check the functionality of the devices toward certifying the security of the protocol. The existing DI protocols consider infinite number of samples from theoretical point of view, though this is not practically implementable. For finite sample analysis of the existing DI protocols, we may also consider strategies for checking device independence other than the CHSH test. In this direction, here we present a comparative analysis between CHSH and three-party Pseudo-telepathy game for the quantum private query protocol in DI paradigm that appeared in Maitra et al. (Phys Rev A 95:042344, 2017) very recently.

Practical device-independent quantum cryptography via entropy accumulation

Device-independent cryptography goes beyond conventional quantum cryptography by providing security that holds independently of the quality of the underlying physical devices. Device-independent protocols are based on the quantum phenomena of non-locality and the violation of Bell inequalities. This high level of security could so far only be established under conditions which are not achievable experimentally. Here we present a property of entropy, termed “entropy accumulation”, which asserts that the total amount of entropy of a large system is the sum of its parts. We use this property to prove the security of cryptographic protocols, including device-independent quantum key distribution, while achieving essentially optimal parameters. Recent experimental progress, which enabled loophole-free Bell tests, suggests that the achieved parameters are technologically accessible. Our work hence provides the theoretical groundwork for experimental demonstrations of device-independent cryptography.

Amplifying the Randomness of Weak Sources Correlated With Devices

The problem of device-independent randomness amplification against no-signaling adversaries has so far been studied under the assumption that the weak source of randomness is uncorrelated with the (quantum) devices used in the amplification procedure. In this work, we relax this assumption, and reconsider the original protocol of Colbeck and Renner using a Santha-Vazirani (SV) source. To do so, we introduce an SV-like condition for devices, namely that any string of SV source bits remains weakly random conditioned upon any other bit string from the same SV source and the outputs obtained when this further string is input into the devices. Assuming this condition, we show that a quantum device using a~singlet state to violate the chained Bell inequalities leads to full randomness in the asymptotic scenario of a large number of settings, for a restricted set of SV sources (with $0 \leq \varepsilon < (2^{(1/12)} - 1)/(2(2^{(1/12)} + 1)) \approx 0.0144$). We also study a device-independent protocol that allows for correlations between the sequence of boxes used in the protocol and the SV source bits used to choose the particular box from whose output the randomness is obtained. Assuming the SV-like condition for devices, we show that the honest parties can achieve amplification of the weak source, for the parameter range $0 \leq \varepsilon<0.0132$, against a class of attacks given as a mixture of product box sequences, made of extremal no-signaling boxes, with additional symmetry conditions. Composable security proof against this class of attacks is provided.

Bell Inequalities Tailored to Maximally Entangled States.

Bell inequalities have traditionally been used to demonstrate that quantum theory is nonlocal, in the sense that there exist correlations generated from composite quantum states that cannot be explained by means of local hidden variables. With the advent of device-independent quantum information protocols, Bell inequalities have gained an additional role as certificates of relevant quantum properties. In this work, we consider the problem of designing Bell inequalities that are tailored to detect maximally entangled states. We introduce a class of Bell inequalities valid for an arbitrary number of measurements and results, derive analytically their tight classical, nonsignaling, and quantum bounds and prove that the latter is attained by maximally entangled states. Our inequalities can therefore find an application in device-independent protocols requiring maximally entangled states.

Megahertz-Rate Semi-Device-Independent Quantum Random Number Generators Based on Unambiguous State Discrimination

An approach to quantum random number generation based on unambiguous quantum state discrimination (USD) is developed. We consider a prepare-and-measure protocol, where two non-orthogonal quantum states can be prepared, and a measurement device aims at unambiguously discriminating between them. Because the states are non-orthogonal, this necessarily leads to a minimal rate of inconclusive events whose occurrence must be genuinely random and which provide the randomness source that we exploit. Our protocol is semi-device-independent in the sense that the output entropy can be lower bounded based on experimental data and few general assumptions about the setup alone. It is also practically relevant, which we demonstrate by realising a simple optical implementation achieving rates of 16.5 Mbits/s. Combining ease of implementation, high rate, and real-time entropy estimation, our protocol represents a promising approach intermediate between fully device-independent protocols and commercial QRNGs.

Rigidity of quantum steering and one-sided device-independent verifiable quantum computation

The relationship between correlations and entanglement has played a major role in understanding quantum theory since the work of Einstein et al (1935 Phys. Rev. 47 777–80). Tsirelson proved that Bell states, shared among two parties, when measured suitably, achieve the maximum non-local correlations allowed by quantum mechanics (Cirel’son 1980 Lett. Math. Phys. 4 93–100). Conversely, Reichardt et al showed that observing the maximal correlation value over a sequence of repeated measurements, implies that the underlying quantum state is close to a tensor product of maximally entangled states and, moreover, that it is measured according to an ideal strategy (Reichardt et al 2013 Nature 496 456–60). However, this strong rigidity result comes at a high price, requiring a large number of entangled pairs to be tested. In this paper, we present a significant improvement in terms of the overhead by instead considering quantum steering where the device of the one side is trusted. We first demonstrate a robust one-sided device-independent version of self-testing, which characterises the shared state and measurement operators of two parties up to a certain bound. We show that this bound is optimal up to constant factors and we generalise the results for the most general attacks. This leads us to a rigidity theorem for maximal steering correlations. As a key application we give a one-sided device-independent protocol for verifiable delegated quantum computation, and compare it to other existing protocols, to highlight the cost of trust assumptions. Finally, we show that under reasonable assumptions, the states shared in order to run a certain type of verification protocol must be unitarily equivalent to perfect Bell states.

Randomness Amplification under Minimal Fundamental Assumptions on the Devices.

Recently, the physically realistic protocol amplifying the randomness of Santha-Vazirani sources producing cryptographically secure random bits was proposed; however, for reasons of practical relevance, the crucial question remained open regarding whether this can be accomplished under the minimal conditions necessary for the task. Namely, is it possible to achieve randomness amplification using only two no-signaling components and in a situation where the violation of a Bell inequality only guarantees that some outcomes of the device for specific inputs exhibit randomness? Here, we solve this question and present a device-independent protocol for randomness amplification of Santha-Vazirani sources using a device consisting of two nonsignaling components. We show that the protocol can amplify any such source that is not fully deterministic into a fully random source while tolerating a constant noise rate and prove the composable security of the protocol against general no-signaling adversaries. Our main innovation is the proof that even the partial randomness certified by the two-party Bell test [a single input-output pair (u^{*}, x^{*}) for which the conditional probability P(x^{*}|u^{*}) is bounded away from 1 for all no-signaling strategies that optimally violate the Bell inequality] can be used for amplification. We introduce the methodology of a partial tomographic procedure on the empirical statistics obtained in the Bell test that ensures that the outputs constitute a linear min-entropy source of randomness. As a technical novelty that may be of independent interest, we prove that the Santha-Vazirani source satisfies an exponential concentration property given by a recently discovered generalized Chernoff bound.

General Method for Constructing Local Hidden Variable Models for Entangled Quantum States

Entanglement allows for the nonlocality of quantum theory, which is the resource behind device-independent quantum information protocols. However, not all entangled quantum states display nonlocality. A central question is to determine the precise relation between entanglement and nonlocality. Here we present the first general test to decide whether a quantum state is local, and show that the test can be implemented by semidefinite programing. This method can be applied to any given state and for the construction of new examples of states with local hidden variable models for both projective and general measurements. As applications, we provide a lower-bound estimate of the fraction of two-qubit local entangled states and present new explicit examples of such states, including those that arise from physical noise models, Bell-diagonal states, and noisy Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger and W states.

No Quantum Realization of Extremal No-Signaling Boxes.

The study of quantum correlations is important for fundamental reasons as well as for quantum communication and information processing tasks. On the one hand, it is of tremendous interest to derive the correlations produced by measurements on separated composite quantum systems from within the set of all correlations obeying the no-signaling principle of relativity, by means of information-theoretic principles. On the other hand, an important ongoing research program concerns the formulation of device-independent cryptographic protocols based on quantum nonlocal correlations for the generation of secure keys, and the amplification and expansion of random bits against general no-signaling adversaries. In both these research programs, a fundamental question arises: Can any measurements on quantum states realize the correlations present in pure extremal no-signaling boxes? Here, we answer this question in full generality showing that no nontrivial (not local realistic) extremal boxes of general no-signaling theories can be realized in quantum theory. We then explore some important consequences of this fact.

Device-independent two-party cryptography secure against sequential attacks

The goal of two-party cryptography is to enable two parties, Alice and Bob, to solve common tasks without the need for mutual trust. Examples of such tasks are private access to a database, and secure identification. Quantum communication enables security for all of these problems in the noisy-storage model by sending more signals than the adversary can store in a certain time frame. Here, we initiate the study of device-independent (DI) protocols for two-party cryptography in the noisy-storage model. Specifically, we present a relatively easy to implement protocol for a cryptographic building block known as weak string erasure and prove its security even if the devices used in the protocol are prepared by the dishonest party. DI two-party cryptography is made challenging by the fact that Alice and Bob do not trust each other, which requires new techniques to establish security. We fully analyse the case of memoryless devices (for which sequential attacks are optimal) and the case of sequential attacks for arbitrary devices. The key ingredient of the proof, which might be of independent interest, is an explicit (and tight) relation between the violation of the Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt inequality observed by Alice and Bob and uncertainty generated by Alice against Bob who is forced to measure his system before finding out Alice’s setting (guessing with postmeasurement information). In particular, we show that security is possible for arbitrarily small violation.

Device-independent bit commitment based on the CHSH inequality

Bit commitment and coin flipping occupy a unique place in the device-independent landscape, as the only device-independent protocols thus far suggested for these tasks are reliant on tripartite GHZ correlations. Indeed, we know of no other bipartite tasks, which admit a device-independent formulation, but which are not known to be implementable using only bipartite nonlocality. Another interesting feature of these protocols is that the pseudo-telepathic nature of GHZ correlations—in contrast to the generally statistical character of nonlocal correlations, such as those arising in the violation of the CHSH inequality—is essential to their formulation and analysis. In this work, we present a device-independent bit commitment protocol based on CHSH testing, which achieves the same security as the optimal GHZ-based protocol, albeit at the price of fixing the time at which Alice reveals her commitment. The protocol is analyzed in the most general settings, where the devices are used repeatedly and may have long-term quantum memory. We also recast the protocol in a post-quantum setting where both honest and dishonest parties are restricted only by the impossibility of signaling, and find that overall the supra-quantum structure allows for greater security.

Experimental Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-Type Six-Photon Quantum Nonlocality.

Quantum nonlocality gives us deeper insight into quantum physics. In addition, quantum nonlocality has been further recognized as an essential resource for device-independent quantum information processing in recent years. Most experiments of nonlocality are performed using a photonic system. However, until now, photonic experiments of nonlocality have involved at most four photons. Here, for the first time, we experimentally demonstrate the six-photon quantum nonlocality in an all-versus-nothing manner based on a high-fidelity (88.4%) six-photon Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state. Our experiment pushes multiphoton nonlocality studies forward to the six-photon region and might provide a larger photonic system for device-independent quantum information protocols.

Device-independent quantum key distribution with generalized two-mode Schrödinger cat states

We show how weak nonlinearities can be used in a device-independent quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol using generalized two-mode Schr\odinger cat states. The QKD protocol is therefore shown to be secure against collective attacks and for some coherent attacks. We derive analytical formulas for the optimal values of the Bell parameter, the quantum bit error rate, and the device-independent secret key rate in the noiseless lossy bosonic channel. Additionally, we give the filters and measurements which achieve these optimal values. We find that, over any distance in this channel, the quantum bit error rate is identically zero, in principle, and the states in the protocol are always able to violate a Bell inequality. The protocol is found to be superior in some regimes to a device-independent QKD protocol based on polarization entangled states in a depolarizing channel. Finally, we propose an implementation for the optimal filters and measurements.

Measurement-device–independent randomness from local entangled states

Nonlocal correlations are useful for device-independent (DI) randomness certification (Pironio S. et al., Nature (London), 464 (2010) 1021). The advantage of this DI protocol over the conventional quantum protocol is that randomness can be certified even when experimental apparatuses are not trusted. Quantum entanglement is the necessary physical source for the nonlocal correlation required for such DI task. However, nonlocality and entanglement are distinct concepts. There exist entangled states which produce no nonlocal correlation and hence are not useful for the DI randomness certification task. Here we introduce the measurement-device–independent randomness certification task where one has trusted quantum state preparation devices but the mesurement devices are completely unspecified. Interestingly we show that there exist entangled states, with local description, that are a useful resource in such task but are useless in the corresponding DI scenario.

Semi-device-independent randomness expansion with partially free random sources

By proposing device-independent protocols, S. Pironio et al. [Nature 464, 1021-1024 (2010)] and R. Colbeck et al. [Nature Physics 8, 450-453 (2012)] proved that new randomness can be generated by using perfectly free random sources or partially free ones as seed. Subsequently, Li et al. [Phys. Rev. A 84, 034301 (2011)] studied this topic in the framework of semi-device-independent and proved that new randomness can be obtained from perfectly free random sources. Here we discuss whether and how partially free random sources bring us new randomness in semi-device-independent scenario. We propose a semi-device-independent randomness expansion protocol with partially free random sources, and obtain the condition that the partially free random sources should satisfy to generate new randomness. In the process of analysis, we acquire a new 2-dimensional quantum witness. Furthermore, we get the analytic relationship between the generated randomness and the 2-dimensional quantum witness violation.

Robustness and device independence of verifiable blind quantum computing

Recent advances in theoretical and experimental quantum computing bring us closer to scalable quantum computing devices. This makes the need for protocols that verify the correct functionality of quantum operations timely and has led to the field of quantum verification. In this paper we address key challenges to make quantum verification protocols applicable to experimental implementations. We prove the robustness of the single server verifiable universal blind quantum computing protocol of Fitzsimons and Kashefi (2012 arXiv:1203.5217) in the most general scenario. This includes the case where the purification of the deviated input state is in the hands of an adversarial server. The proved robustness property allows the composition of this protocol with a device-independent state tomography protocol that we give, which is based on the rigidity of CHSH games as proposed by Reichardt et al (2013 Nature 496 456–60). The resulting composite protocol has lower round complexity for the verification of entangled quantum servers with a classical verifier and, as we show, can be made fault tolerant.

De Finetti reductions for correlations

When analysing quantum information processing protocols, one has to deal with large entangled systems, each consisting of many subsystems. To make this analysis feasible, it is often necessary to identify some additional structures. de Finetti theorems provide such a structure for the case where certain symmetries hold. More precisely, they relate states that are invariant under permutations of subsystems to states in which the subsystems are independent of each other. This relation plays an important role in various areas, e.g., in quantum cryptography or state tomography, where permutation invariant systems are ubiquitous. The known de Finetti theorems usually refer to the internal quantum state of a system and depend on its dimension. Here, we prove a different de Finetti theorem where systems are modelled in terms of their statistics under measurements. This is necessary for a large class of applications widely considered today, such as device independent protocols, where the underlying systems and the dimensions are unknown and the entire analysis is based on the observed correlations.

Maximally Nonlocal Theories Cannot Be Maximally Random

Correlations that violate a Bell inequality are said to be nonlocal; i.e., they do not admit a local and deterministic explanation. Great effort has been devoted to study how the amount of nonlocality (as measured by a Bell inequality violation) serves to quantify the amount of randomness present in observed correlations. In this work we reverse this research program and ask what do the randomness certification capabilities of a theory tell us about the nonlocality of that theory. We find that, contrary to initial intuition, maximal randomness certification cannot occur in maximally nonlocal theories. We go on and show that quantum theory, in contrast, permits certification of maximal randomness in all dichotomic scenarios. We hence pose the question of whether quantum theory is optimal for randomness; i.e., is it the most nonlocal theory that allows maximal randomness certification? We answer this question in the negative by identifying a larger-than-quantum set of correlations capable of this feat. Not only are these results relevant to understanding quantum mechanics' fundamental features, but also put fundamental restrictions on device-independent protocols based on the no-signaling principle.

Asymmetric quantum network based on multipartite Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen steering

In this work, we propose an asymmetric multi-user access optical network with hierarchical structure in terms of steering ability. The N-partite system is generated by mixing two squeezed lights and N−2 vacuum modes at N−1 beam splitters. The asymmetry of this system can be constructed by choosing proper reflectivities of beam splitters and introducing asymmetric loss to channels of the network, such that the steering ability is distributed asymmetrically among users. By proper construction, one superior in the network possesses higher steering ability than any one of the remaining N−1 subordinates. We show how to accomplish the directional quantum steering between them, i.e., the superior can apparently steer any subordinate’s state, but it cannot always happen in the opposite direction. In addition, we quantify the thresholds of loss tolerance that will prevent the extraction of information of the superior by M(1≤M≤N−1) subordinates’ local measurements. An important feature of such a network is that the superior can send a secret message to certain subordinates without trustworthy assumptions about them and their apparatus. Our findings have applications in one-sided device-independent quantum communication protocol with multi-users.