Light, matter, and quantum randomness generation: A relativistic quantum information perspective

Abstract

We study how quantum randomness generation based on unbiased measurements on a hydrogen-like atom can get compromised by virtue of the unavoidable coupling of the atom with the electromagnetic field. Concretely, we show that an adversary with access to the quantum EM field, but not the atom, can perform an attack on the randomness of a set of unbiased quantum measurements. We analyze the light-atom interaction in 3+1 dimensions with no single-mode or rotating-wave approximations. In our study, we also take into account the non-pointlike nature of the atom and the exchanges of angular momentum between atom and field and compare with previous results obtained under scalar approximations. We show that preparing the atom in the ground state in the presence of no field excitations is, in general, not the safest state to generate randomness in atomic systems (such as trapped ions or optical lattices).

22 pages (11 pages main text + 11 pages of appendices and bibliography). 6 Figures. RevTeX 4.1. V2: Updated to match published version

References in corpus (4)

• Beyond the Jaynes-Cummings model: circuit QED in the ultrastrong coupling regime
• Private Randomness Expansion With Untrusted Devices
• Wavepacket detection with the Unruh-DeWitt model
• Degenerate detectors are unable to harvest spacelike entanglement

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Quantum delocalization, gauge and quantum optics: The light-matter interaction in relativistic quantum information
• Relativistic Quantum Optics: On the relativistic invariance of the light-matter interaction models
• Massive quantum systems as interfaces of quantum mechanics and gravity
• A physically-motivated quantisation of the electromagnetic field on curved spacetimes
• Casimir forces and quantum friction of finite-size atoms in relativistic trajectories