Quantum Filter: From Dirty Bits to Crystal-Clear Randomness ⚡ экспресс
Scientists have for the first time implemented certified randomness amplification in a network using a 98-qubit trapped-ion quantum processor, Quantinuum Helios. Quantum gates were applied in real time, state coherence lasted about 0.9 seconds, and measurement bases were revealed mere milliseconds before measurement, leaving only 30 ms for forgery and constraining any attacker to within a 4500 km radius. On random circuits of 64 qubits with 276 two-qubit gates, the accuracy reached 0.586, turning a weak random stream into near-perfect randomness. It’s like a quantum dance, too fast to mimic.
Modern encryption is unthinkable without truly random numbers. But a standard source can be unreliable or even deliberately corrupted. The solution came from experimenters who built a 98-ion quantum processor—it works like a high-speed filter, turning a 'dirty' signal into one that's crystal-clear and unpredictable. Underpinning this are the discoveries of John Stewart Bell, Alain Aspect, and Anton Zeilinger about quantum entanglement—an instantaneous connection between particles across any distance. Ions inside the processor become entangled and then are measured in a random order, which becomes known only milliseconds before measurement. Due to the speed of light, any interference from more than 4,500 km away couldn't reach the processor within the allotted 30 milliseconds. Even a supercomputer right next to the source would be powerless to slip in a fake. This way, a weak, predictable stream gains high entropy—a measure of unpredictability. The experiment carried out such purification remotely for the first time, confirming that we can only trust randomness when it rests on the foundation of the Standard Model and its quantum laws.
🎯 Previously, amplifying randomness required the source and detector to be in the same lab. This experiment did it remotely for the first time, paving the way for global quantum cryptography.