English

Experimental relativistic zero-knowledge proofs with unconditional security

Quantum Physics 2025-01-31 v1 Computational Complexity Cryptography and Security

Abstract

Zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) are widely applied in digital economies, such as cryptocurrencies and smart contracts, for establishing trust and ensuring privacy between untrusted parties. However, almost all ZKPs rely on unproven computational assumptions or are vulnerable to quantum adversaries. We propose and experimentally implement an unconditionally secure ZKP for the graph three-coloring problem by combining subset relativistic bit commitments with quantum nonlocality game. Our protocol achieves a linear relationship between interactive rounds and the number of edges, reducing round complexity and storage requirements by thirteen orders of magnitude, thereby significantly enhancing practical feasibility. Our work illustrates the powerful potential of integrating special relativity with quantum theory in trustless cryptography, paving the way for robust applications against quantum attacks in distrustful internet environments.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2501.18176,
  title  = {Experimental relativistic zero-knowledge proofs with unconditional security},
  author = {Chen-Xun Weng and Ming-Yang Li and Nai-Rui Xu and Yanglin Hu and Ian George and Jiawei Wu and Shengjun Wu and Hua-Lei Yin and Zeng-Bing Chen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.18176},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

24 pages, 8 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-28T21:25:09.078Z