Vacuum brings true randomness (Image: PhotonStock/iStock)
IT’S something from nothing. A random number generator that harnesses the quantum fluctuations in empty space could soon sit inside your computer.
A device that creates truly random numbers is vital for a number of applications, including cryptography. Christian Gabriel’s team at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen, Germany, has built a prototype that draws on a vacuum’s random quantum fluctuations. These impart random noise to laser beams in the device, which converts it into numbers (Nature Photonics, DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2010.197).
The generator costs about €1000, but mass production…
