While quantum computers have the potential to perform a wide range of practically important tasks beyond the capabilities of classical computers, realizing this potential remains a challenge. One such task is to use an untrusted remote device to generate random bits that can be certified to contain a certain amount of entropy. Certified randomness has many applications but is fundamentally impossible to achieve solely by classical computation. In this work, we demonstrate the generation of certifiably random bits using the 56-qubit Quantinuum H2-1 trapped-ion quantum computer accessed over the internet. Our protocol leverages the classical hardness of recent random circuit sampling demonstrations: a client generates quantum "challenge" circuits using a small randomness seed, sends them to an untrusted quantum server to execute, and verifies the server's results. We analyze the security of our protocol against a restricted class of realistic near-term adversaries. Using classical verification with measured combined sustained performance of floating-point operations per second across multiple supercomputers, we certify bits of entropy under this restricted adversary and additional assumptions. Our results demonstrate a step towards the practical applicability of today's quantum computers.
View on arXiv@article{liu2025_2503.20498,
title={ Certified randomness using a trapped-ion quantum processor },
author={ Minzhao Liu and Ruslan Shaydulin and Pradeep Niroula and Matthew DeCross and Shih-Han Hung and Wen Yu Kon and Enrique Cervero-Martín and Kaushik Chakraborty and Omar Amer and Scott Aaronson and Atithi Acharya and Yuri Alexeev and K. Jordan Berg and Shouvanik Chakrabarti and Florian J. Curchod and Joan M. Dreiling and Neal Erickson and Cameron Foltz and Michael Foss-Feig and David Hayes and Travis S. Humble and Niraj Kumar and Jeffrey Larson and Danylo Lykov and Michael Mills and Steven A. Moses and Brian Neyenhuis and Shaltiel Eloul and Peter Siegfried and James Walker and Charles Lim and Marco Pistoia },
journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.20498},
year={ 2025 }
}