Communications of the ACM
Scientists Develop Fastest-Ever Quantum Random Number Generator
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An international research team has developed a fast and affordable quantum random number generator. The device, created by scientists from NUST MISIS, Russian Quantum Center, University of Oxford, Goldsmiths, University of London, and Freie Universität Berlin, produces randomness at a rate of 8.05 gigabits per second, faster than previously reported secure quantum random number generators.
The work, described in "Certified Quantum Random Numbers from Untrusted Light" published in Physics Review X, is a promising starting point for the development of commercial random number generators for cryptography and complex systems modeling.
Since randomness is a fundamental property of quantum processes, quantum events can be harnessed to generate truly random numbers. In their experiments, the researchers used the inherently unpredictable behavior of photons to generate randomness. They created an optical generator with a built-in certification protocol to ensure the random nature of the number generation process.
"Quantum events allow the generation of numbers whose randomness is asserted based upon the underlying physical processes. Quantum-based random number generators can have very broad applications," says Alex Fedorov, head of the Russian Quantum Center research group and the Quantum Communications Theory Lab Head at NUST MISIS.
From National University of Science and Technology MISiS
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