A trustless decentralized protocol for distributed consensus of public quantum random numbers

Abstract: Quantum random number (QRNG) beacons distinguish themselves from classical counterparts by providing intrinsic unpredictability originating from the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics. Most demonstrations have focused on certifiable randomness generators to guarantee the public that their genuineness is independent from imperfect implementations. These efforts however do not benefit applications where multiple distrusted users need a common set of random numbers, as they must rely on the honesty of beacon owners. In this paper, we formally introduce a design and proof-of-principle experiment of the first consensus protocol producing QRNs in a decentralized environment (dQRNG). Such protocol allows N number of participants contribute in the generation process and publicly verify numbers they collect. Security of the protocol is guaranteed given(N-1) dishonest participants. Our method is thus suited for distribute systems that requires a bias-resistant, highly secure, and public-verifiable random beacon.