Stefano Pironio

Random numbers certified by Bell’s theorem

Randomness is a fundamental feature of nature and a valuable resource for applications ranging from cryptography and gambling to numerical simulation of physical and biological systems. Random numbers, however, are difficult to characterize mathematically, and their generation must rely on an unpredictable physical process. Inaccuracies in the theoretical modelling of such processes or failures of the devices, possibly due to adversarial attacks, limit the reliability of random number generators in ways that are difficult to control and detect. Here, inspired by earlier work on non-locality-based and device-independent quantum information processing, we show that the non-local correlations of entangled quantum particles can be used to certify the presence of genuine randomness. It is thereby possible to design a cryptographically secure random number generator that does not require any assumption about the internal working of the device. Such a strong form of randomness generation is impossible classically and possible in quantum systems only if certified by a Bell inequality violation. We carry out a proof-of-concept demonstration of this proposal in a system of two entangled atoms separated by approximately one metre. The observed Bell inequality violation, featuring near perfect detection efficiency, guarantees that 42 new random numbers are generated with 99 per cent confidence. Our results lay the groundwork for future device-independent quantum information experiments and for addressing fundamental issues raised by the intrinsic randomness of quantum theory.

A convergent hierarchy of semidefinite programs characterizing the set of quantum correlations

We are interested in the problem of characterizing the correlations that arise when performing local measurements on separate quantum systems. In a previous work (Navascues et al 2007 Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 010401), we introduced an infinite hierarchy of conditions necessarily satisfied by any set of quantum correlations. Each of these conditions could be tested using semidefinite programming. We present here new results concerning this hierarchy. We prove in particular that it is complete, in the sense that any set of correlations satisfying every condition in the hierarchy has a quantum representation in terms of commuting measurements. Although our tests are conceived to rule out non- quantum correlations, and can in principle certify that a set of correlations is quantum only in the asymptotic limit where all tests are satisfied, we show that in some cases it is possible to conclude that a given set of correlations is quantum after performing only a finite number of tests. We provide a criterion to detect when such a situation arises, and we explain how to reconstruct the quantum states and measurement operators reproducing the given correlations. Finally, we present several applications of our approach. We use it in particular to bound the quantum violation of various Bell inequalities.

Device-independent quantum key distribution secure against collective attacks

Device-independent quantum key distribution (DIQKD) represents a relaxation of the security assumptions made in usual quantum key distribution (QKD). As in usual QKD, the security of DIQKD follows from the laws of quantum physics, but contrary to usual QKD, it does not rely on any assumptions about the internal working of the quantum devices used in the protocol. In this paper, we present in detail the security proof for a DIQKD protocol introduced in Acin et al (2008 Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 230501). This proof exploits the full structure of quantum theory (as opposed to other proofs that exploit only the no-signaling principle), but only holds against collective attacks, where the eavesdropper is assumed to act on the quantum systems of the honest parties independently and identically in each round of the protocol (although she can act coherently on her systems at any time). The security of any DIQKD protocol necessarily relies on the violation of a Bell inequality. We discuss the issue of loopholes in Bell experiments in this context.

Bounding the set of quantum correlations

We introduce a hierarchy of conditions necessarily satisfied by any distribution P_{alphabeta} representing the probabilities for two separate observers to obtain outcomes alpha and beta when making local measurements on a shared quantum state. Each condition in this hierarchy is formulated as a semidefinite program. Among other applications, our approach can be used to obtain upper bounds on the quantum violation of an arbitrary Bell inequality. It yields, for instance, tight bounds for the violations of the Collins et al. inequalities.

Secure device-independent quantum key distribution with causally independent measurement devices

Device-independent quantum key distribution (QKD) aims to provide key distribution schemes, the security of which is based on the laws of quantum physics, but which does not require any assumptions about the internal working of the devices used in the protocol. This strong form of security is possible only when using correlations that violate a Bell inequality. Here, we provide a general security proof for a large class of protocols in a model in which the raw key is generated by independent measurements. This independence condition may be justifiable in several implementations and is necessarily satisfied when the raw key is generated by N separate pairs of devices. Our work shows that device-independent QKD is possible with key rates comparable to those of standard schemes.

Closing the Detection Loophole in Bell Experiments Using Qudits

We show that the detection efficiencies required for closing the detection loophole in Bell tests can be significantly lowered using quantum systems of dimension larger than two. We introduce a series of asymmetric Bell tests for which an efficiency arbitrarily close to 1/N can be tolerated using N-dimensional systems, and a symmetric Bell test for which the efficiency can be lowered down to 61.8% using four-dimensional systems. Experimental perspectives for our schemes look promising considering recent progress in atom-photon entanglement and in photon hyperentanglement.

Testing the Dimension of Hilbert Spaces

Nicolas Brunner, Stefano Pironio, Antonio Acin, 3 Nicolas Gisin, André Allan Méthot, and Valerio Scarani Group of Applied Physics, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain ICREA-Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, Singapore (Dated: May 9, 2008)

Convergent Relaxations of Polynomial Optimization Problems with Noncommuting Variables

We consider optimization problems with polynomial inequality constraints in noncommuting variables. These noncommuting variables are viewed as bounded operators on a Hilbert space whose dimension is not fixed and the associated polynomial inequalities as semidefinite positivity constraints. Such problems arise naturally in quantum theory and quantum information science. To solve them, we introduce a hierarchy of semidefinite programming relaxations which generates a monotone sequence of lower bounds that converges to the optimal solution. We also introduce a criterion to detect whether the global optimum is reached at a given relaxation step and show how to extract a global optimizer from the solution of the corresponding semidefinite programming problem.

Security of practical private randomness generation

Measurements on entangled quantum systems necessarily yield outcomes that are intrinsically unpredictable if they violate a Bell inequality. This property can be used to generate certified randomness in a device-independent way, i.e., without making detailed assumptions about the internal working of the quantum devices used to generate the random numbers. Furthermore these numbers are also private; i.e., they appear random not only to the user but also to any adversary that might possess a perfect description of the devices. Since this process requires a small initial random seed to sample the behavior of the quantum devices and to extract uniform randomness from the raw outputs of the devices, one usually speaks of device-independent randomness expansion. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we point out that in most real, practical situations, where the concept of device independence is used as a protection against unintentional flaws or failures of the quantum apparatuses, it is sufficient to show that the generated string is random with respect to an adversary that holds only classical side information; i.e., proving randomness against quantum side information is not necessary. Furthermore, the initial random seed does not need to be private with respect to the adversary, provided that it is generated in a way that is independent from the measured systems. The devices, however, will generate cryptographically secure randomness that cannot be predicted by the adversary, and thus one can, given access to free public randomness, talk about private randomness generation. The theoretical tools to quantify the generated randomness according to these criteria were already introduced in S. Pironio, but the final results were improperly formulated. The second aim of this paper is to correct this inaccurate formulation and therefore lay out a precise theoretical framework for practical device-independent randomness generation.

Quantum non-locality based on finite-speed causal influences leads to superluminal signalling

Non-local quantum correlations between distant particles cannot be explained by signals propagating slower than the speed of light. It is now shown that they cannot be explained by hidden influences propagating faster than the speed of light either, because that would permit faster-than-light communication.