Verifier-initiated Quantum Message-Authentication Via Quantum Zero-Knowledge Proofs Enables On-Demand Security Without Computational Hardness

Secure communication relies on robust authentication, but current methods often place the burden of initiating checks on the sender, creating inefficiencies, particularly in large networks. Wusheng Wang from Nagoya University and Masahito Hayashi from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, alongside their colleagues, now present a fundamentally different approach where the verifier actively requests authentication only when necessary. They achieve this by adapting the principles of quantum zero-knowledge proofs, ensuring privacy while verifying identity, and develop a general framework to convert existing proofs into a verifier-driven signature protocol. The resulting system, built using the principles of quantum measurement, offers strong security guarantees against forgery and eavesdropping without relying on complex computational assumptions, representing a significant step towards scalable and secure communication infrastructures for future technologies and decentralised systems. Quantum Communication and Cryptography Foundations This collection of research papers focuses on Quantum Information Science, with a strong emphasis on Quantum Cryptography, Quantum Communication, Quantum Memory, and Quantum Computing. Key themes include secure key distribution, interactive proof systems, and verifying computations without revealing underlying data. Several studies explore Sigma protocols, crucial for building secure cryptographic protocols, and zero-knowledge proofs, both classical and quantum, which are vital for verifying computations without revealing the underlying data. Entanglement distribution, essential for many quantum communication schemes, also receives significant attention, alongside methods for ensuring data privacy through certified deletion. Research in quantum computing and hardware covers a wide range of qubit technologies, including superconducting qubits, photonic qubits, atomic qubits, and mechanical qubits. Studies investigate multi-mode cavities, dynamical decoupling, and high-fidelity measurements to improve qubit performance. Furthermore, scientists are exploring qubits with higher dimensionality, known as qudits, and developing quantum algorithms alongside error correction techniques to build robust quantum computers. Quantum memory research focuses on storing and retrieving quantum information using photonic, atomic, mechanical, and superconducting systems. Supporting these advancements are mathematical and computational tools, such as optimization techniques like Second-Order Cone Programming and Linear/Nonlinear Programming.

Group Representation Theory provides a mathematical framework used in quantum mechanics and quantum information theory. These studies collectively point towards key connections and potential research directions, including the development of quantum repeaters for long-distance communication, fault-tolerant quantum computing, and the creation of a quantum internet. Hybrid quantum systems, combining different qubit technologies, and classical verification of quantum computations are also emerging areas of interest. This comprehensive overview highlights the challenges and opportunities in building a future quantum-enabled world, representing a rapidly evolving field of research. Verifier-Driven Quantum Digital Signatures Demonstrated Scientists have developed a novel verifier-initiated quantum digital signature (VIQDS) protocol, addressing inefficiencies in existing signer-initiated designs. This pioneering method allows the verifier to request authentication only when needed, improving scalability for networks and blockchain applications. Researchers adapted the established concept of zero-knowledge proofs from classical cryptography to quantum settings, ensuring that verification processes reveal no information about secret keys.

The team engineered a general framework capable of converting any suitable quantum proof into a verifier-driven signature protocol, and then implemented a concrete instantiation based on quantum measurements. This implementation achieves strong security guarantees, resisting forgery and protecting against curious verifiers without relying on computational hardness assumptions, leveraging the unique properties of qubits.

This research overcomes a critical gap in existing work, providing a fully specified VIQDS protocol for scalable, secure authentication in future quantum infrastructures and decentralized systems. Verifier-Driven Quantum Digital Signatures Demonstrated Scientists have achieved a breakthrough in quantum digital signatures by developing the first verifier-initiated quantum digital signature (VIQDS) protocol, addressing a critical gap in existing quantum authentication methods. This work delivers a system where verification can be requested on demand, significantly improving efficiency for networks and decentralized systems.

The team refined the quantum zero-knowledge proof (QZKP) framework to explicitly model adversarial behaviors, accounting for both dishonest provers and subtle, curious verifiers attempting to extract secret information. Researchers developed a general concatenation method that exponentially enhances the soundness of QZKPs, bolstering security against malicious actors. A key achievement is a general compiler that systematically transforms any suitable QZKP into a VIQDS protocol, guaranteeing completeness and preserving security.

The team then presented a concrete QZKP protocol leveraging the interplay between measurement-induced disturbance and observable eigenstructure, demonstrating theoretical soundness and experimental feasibility with current qubit technologies. Experiments reveal that this protocol does not require exotic hardware, representing a significant step towards efficient, post-quantum authentication for future quantum infrastructures. Verifier-Driven Signatures with Formal Security This work presents a new method for on-demand authentication, addressing limitations in current systems that require the signer to initiate communication. Researchers developed a framework to convert zero-knowledge proofs into a verifier-driven signature protocol, implementing this with measurements and achieving strong security guarantees without relying on computational assumptions. The resulting protocol enables verification of authenticity only when requested, improving efficiency for networks and decentralized systems and representing the first general verifier-initiated signature scheme with formal security.

The team demonstrated that the security of this new protocol directly follows from the underlying zero-knowledge proof, establishing completeness and unforgeability against classical and quantum adversaries. While the current implementation assumes noise-free quantum systems, the researchers acknowledge this as a limitation and plan to investigate error-tolerant variants using techniques like quantum error correction to maintain security in realistic conditions.

This research provides a foundation for scalable, secure authentication in future infrastructures, paving the way for robust zero-knowledge proofs in the quantum era. 👉 More information 🗞 Verifier-initiated quantum message-authentication via quantum zero-knowledge proofs 🧠 ArXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.05420 Tags: