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The semi-device-independent approach provides a framework for prepare-and-measure quantum protocols using devices whose behavior must not be characterized nor trusted, except for a single assumption on the dimension of the Hilbert space characterizing the quantum carriers. Here, we propose instead to constrain the quantum carriers through a bound on the mean value of a well-chosen observable. This modified assumption is physically better motivated than a dimension bound and closer to the description of actual experiments. In particular, we consider quantum optical schemes where the source emits quantum states described in an infinite-dimensional Fock space and model our assumption as an upper bound on the average photon number in the emitted states. We characterize the set of correlations that may be exhibited in the simplest possible scenario compatible with our new framework, based on two energy-constrained state preparations and a two-outcome measurement. Interestingly, we uncover the existence of quantum correlations exceeding the set of classical correlations that can be produced by devices behaving in a purely pre-determined fashion (possibly including shared randomness). This feature suggests immediate applications to certified randomness generation. Along this line, we analyze the achievable correlations in several prepare-and-measure optical schemes with a mean photon number constraint and demonstrate that they allow for the generation of certified randomness. Our simplest optical scheme works by the on-off keying of an attenuated laser source followed by photocounting. It opens the path to more sophisticated energy-constrained semi-device-independent quantum cryptography protocols, such as quantum key distribution.
Our ability to trust that a random number is truly random is essential for fields as diverse as cryptography and fundamental tests of quantum mechanics. Existing solutions both come with drawbacks -- device-independent quantum random number generators (QRNGs) are highly impractical and standard semi-device-independent QRNGs are limited to a specific physical implementation and level of trust. Here we propose a new framework for semi-device-independent randomness certification, using a source of trusted vacuum in the form of a signal shutter. It employs a flexible set of assumptions and levels of trust, allowing it to be applied in a wide range of physical scenarios involving both quantum and classical entropy sources. We experimentally demonstrate our protocol with a photonic setup and generate secure random bits under three different assumptions with varying degrees of security and resulting data rates.
Quantum Bell nonlocality allows for the design of protocols that amplify the randomness of public and arbitrarily biased Santha-Vazirani sources, a classically impossible task. Information-theoretical security in these protocols is certified in a device-independent manner, i.e. solely from the observed nonlocal statistics and without any assumption about the inner-workings of the intervening devices. On the other hand, if one is willing to trust on a complete quantum-mechanical description of a protocols devices, the elementary scheme in which a qubit is alternatively measured in a pair of mutually unbiased bases is, straightforwardly, a protocol for randomness amplification. In this work, we study the unexplored middle ground. We prove that full randomness amplification can be achieved without requiring entanglement or a complete characterization of the intervening quantum states and measurements. Based on the energy-bounded framework introduced in [Van Himbeeck et al., Quantum 1, 33 (2017)], our prepare-and-measure protocol is able to amplify the randomness of any public Santha-Vazirani source, requiring the smallest number of inputs and outcomes possible and being secure against quantum adversaries.
While fully device-independent security in (BB84-like) prepare and measure Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is impossible, it can be guaranteed against individual attacks in a semi device-independent (SDI) scenario, wherein no assumptions are made on the characteristics of the hardware used are made except for an upper bound on the the dimension of the communicated system. Studying security under such minimal assumptions is especially relevant in the context of the recent {it quantum hacking} attacks wherein the eavesdroppers can not only construct the devices used by the communicating parties but are also able to remotely alter their behavior. In this work we study the security of a SDIQKD protocol based on the prepare and measure quantum implementation of a well-known cryptographic primitive, the Random Access Code (RAC). We consider imperfect detectors and establish the critical values of the security parameters (the observed success probability of the RAC and the detection efficiency) required for guaranteeing security against eavesdroppers with and without quantum memory. Furthermore we suggest a minimal characterization of the preparation device in order to lower the requirements for establishing a secure key.
We study the relation between semi and fully device independent protocols. As a tool, we use the correspondence between Bell inequalities and dimension witnesses. We present a method for converting the former into the latter and vice versa. This relation provides us with interesting results for both scenarios. First, we find new random number generation protocols with higher bit rates for both the semi and fully device independent cases. As a byproduct, we obtain whole new classes of Bell inequalities and dimension witnesses. Then, we show how optimization methods used in studies on Bell inequalities can be adopted for dimension witnesses.
When transforming pairs of independent quantum operations according to the fundamental rules of quantum theory, an intriguing phenomenon emerges: some such higher-order operations may act on the input operations in an indefinite causal order. Recently, the formalism of process matrices has been developed to investigate these noncausal properties of higher-order operations. This formalism predicts, in principle, statistics that ensure indefinite causal order even in a device-independent scenario, where the involved operations are not characterised. Nevertheless, all physical implementations of process matrices proposed so far require full characterisation of the involved operations in order to certify such phenomena. Here we consider a semi-device-independent scenario, which does not require all operations to be characterised. We introduce a framework for certifying noncausal properties of process matrices in this intermediate regime and use it to analyse the quantum switch, a well-known higher-order operation, to show that, although it can only lead to causal statistics in a device-independent scenario, it can exhibit noncausal properties in semi-device-independent scenarios. This proves that the quantum switch generates stronger noncausal correlations than it was previously known.