Why quantum state verification cannot be both efficient and secure: a categorical approach
Abstract
The advantage of quantum protocols lies in the inherent properties of the shared quantum states. These states are sometimes provided by sources that are not trusted, and therefore need to be verified. Finding secure and efficient quantum state verification protocols remains a big challenge, and recent works illustrate trade-offs between efficiency and security for different groups of states in restricted settings. However, whether a universal trade-off exists for all quantum states and all verification strategies remains unknown. In this work, we instantiate the categorical composable cryptography framework to show a fundamental limit for quantum state verification for all cut-and-choose approaches used to verify arbitrary quantum states. Our findings show that the prevailing cut-and-choose techniques cannot lead to quantum state verification protocols that are both efficient and secure.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2411.04767,
title = {Why quantum state verification cannot be both efficient and secure: a categorical approach},
author = {Fabian Wiesner and Ziad Chaoui and Diana Kessler and Anna Pappa and Martti Karvonen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2411.04767},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
Presented at the 8th International Conference on Applied Category Theory (ACT2025) and the 22nd International Conference on Quantum Physics and Logic (QPL 2025). Superseded by arXiv:2512.11358