Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: A time-lock puzzle allows a sender to hide a message in a puzzle such that recovering the message requires substantially more sequential computation than the time required to generate the puzzle, even when parallel computation is allowed. Applications of time-lock puzzles include timed-release encryption, sealed-bid auctions, electronic voting, fair contract signing, coin flipping, and Byzantine consensus. However, time-lock puzzles are known to be impossible in the classical random oracle model. To overcome the classical barrier, in this work we consider quantum time-lock puzzles, in which the puzzle itself is a quantum state. Our construction in the quantum random oracle model achieves generation in one oracle round, solving in at most $T$ oracle rounds, and security against polynomial-width quantum adversaries of depth $o(T)$ for every polynomially bounded delay $T=T(λ)$, resolving an open problem posed by Mahmoody, Moran, and Vadhan (2011).
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Ananth, Prabhanjan, Lin, Yao-Ting
Institutions: University of California, Santa Barbara, Columbia University
Language: English
Subfield: Computer Networks and Communications
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: National Science Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W7215047980