Certified randomness using a trapped-ion quantum processor

Minzhao Liu, Ruslan Shaydulin (), Pradeep Niroula, Matthew DeCross, Shih-Han Hung, Wen Yu Kon, Enrique Cervero-Martín, Kaushik Chakraborty, Omar Amer, Scott Aaronson, Atithi Acharya, Yuri Alexeev, K. Jordan Berg, Shouvanik Chakrabarti, Florian J. Curchod, Joan M. Dreiling, Neal Erickson, Cameron Foltz, Michael Foss-Feig, David Hayes, Travis S. Humble, Niraj Kumar, Jeffrey Larson, Danylo Lykov, Michael Mills, Steven A. Moses, Brian Neyenhuis, Shaltiel Eloul, Peter Siegfried, James Walker, Charles Lim () and Marco Pistoia ()
Additional contact information
Minzhao Liu: JPMorganChase
Ruslan Shaydulin: JPMorganChase
Pradeep Niroula: JPMorganChase
Matthew DeCross: Quantinuum
Shih-Han Hung: The University of Texas at Austin
Wen Yu Kon: JPMorganChase
Enrique Cervero-Martín: JPMorganChase
Kaushik Chakraborty: JPMorganChase
Omar Amer: JPMorganChase
Scott Aaronson: The University of Texas at Austin
Atithi Acharya: JPMorganChase
Yuri Alexeev: Argonne National Laboratory
K. Jordan Berg: Quantinuum
Shouvanik Chakrabarti: JPMorganChase
Florian J. Curchod: Terrington House
Joan M. Dreiling: Quantinuum
Neal Erickson: Quantinuum
Cameron Foltz: Quantinuum
Michael Foss-Feig: Quantinuum
David Hayes: Quantinuum
Travis S. Humble: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Niraj Kumar: JPMorganChase
Jeffrey Larson: Argonne National Laboratory
Danylo Lykov: JPMorganChase
Michael Mills: Quantinuum
Steven A. Moses: Quantinuum
Brian Neyenhuis: Quantinuum
Shaltiel Eloul: JPMorganChase
Peter Siegfried: Quantinuum
James Walker: Quantinuum
Charles Lim: JPMorganChase
Marco Pistoia: JPMorganChase

Nature, 2025, vol. 640, issue 8058, 343-348

Abstract: Abstract Although quantum computers can perform a wide range of practically important tasks beyond the abilities of classical computers1,2, 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 entropy3. 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 demonstrations4,5: 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 × 1018 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.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08737-1 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:640:y:2025:i:8058:d:10.1038_s41586-025-08737-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08737-1

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().