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Homomorphic encryption experiments on IBM’s cloud quantum computing platform

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Abstract

Quantum computing has undergone rapid development in recent years. Owing to limitations on scalability, personal quantum computers still seem slightly unrealistic in the near future. The first practical quantum computer for ordinary users is likely to be on the cloud. However, the adoption of cloud computing is possible only if security is ensured. Homomorphic encryption is a cryptographic protocol that allows computation to be performed on encrypted data without decrypting them, so it is well suited to cloud computing. Here, we first applied homomorphic encryption on IBM’s cloud quantum computer platform. In our experiments, we successfully implemented a quantum algorithm for linear equations while protecting our privacy. This demonstration opens a feasible path to the next stage of development of cloud quantum information technology.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the use of IBM’s Quantum Experience for this work. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of IBM or the IBM Quantum Experience team. This project was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2013CB338002), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11504430 and 61502526).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zhengzhou Information Science and Technology Institute, Zhengzhou, 450000, China

    He-Liang Huang, Tan Li, Feng-Guang Li, Yu-Tao Du, Xiang-Qun Fu, Shuo Zhang, Xiang Wang & Wan-Su Bao

  2. CAS Centre for Excellence and Synergetic Innovation Centre in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    He-Liang Huang, You-Wei Zhao, Tan Li, Feng-Guang Li, Yu-Tao Du, Xiang-Qun Fu, Shuo Zhang, Xiang Wang & Wan-Su Bao

  3. Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    You-Wei Zhao

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  1. He-Liang Huang
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Correspondence to Wan-Su Bao.

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arXiv: 1612.02886.

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Huang, HL., Zhao, YW., Li, T. et al. Homomorphic encryption experiments on IBM’s cloud quantum computing platform. Front. Phys. 12, 120305 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11467-016-0643-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11467-016-0643-9

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