Quantum tokens

1. A method comprising the steps of:

generating or receiving, at a first space-time point, a plurality of random quantum states, each of the quantum states chosen from a set of non-orthogonal quantum states;

applying a pre-determined measurement, from a plurality of possible pre-determined measurements, to the quantum states in order to obtain a token comprising a sequence of classical measurement outcomes, wherein the sequence of classical measurement outcomes is valid at a single space-time point;

receiving, at a second space-time point in the causal future of the first space-time point, the token comprising a sequence of classical measurement outcomes; and

verifying whether the token corresponds to a statistically plausible result for the pre-determined measurement applied to the plurality of quantum states, before allowing access to a resource.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the quantum states are chosen independently randomly from among the pure states of a plurality of possible bases for the quantum state space.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the pre-determined measurement comprises a projection of each of the plurality of quantum states onto one of the possible pure states of the corresponding quantum state space.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pre-determined measurement is applied at the first space-time point.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the quantum states represent quantum bits, qubits.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein each of the plurality of quantum states comprises a BB84 state for the corresponding two-dimensional qubit space.

7. The method of claim 5 or claim 6 , wherein each of the plurality of qubits is encoded in a photon of electromagnetic energy.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein each qubit is encoded as a polarisation state of the corresponding photon.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein each qubit is represented by the polarisation state of a weak light pulse with low expected photon number.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pre-determined measurement is such that the possible measurement outcomes give a valid token for the second space-time point.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the probability that the result of the pre-determined measurement gives a valid token for a third space-time point separated from the second space-time point is small.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the probability that the result of the pre-determined measurement gives a valid token for the third space-time point is negligible.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising encrypting the token prior to receiving the token.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of quantum states are entangled.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting data identifying the states for which the measurement was successful.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving data identifying the states for which the measurement was successful.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, at a fourth space-time point in the future of the first space-time point and in the past of the second space-time point, a second plurality of quantum states; applying a second pre-determined measurement to the second plurality of quantum states to obtain a second sequence of classical measurement outcomes; appending the second sequence of classical measurement outcomes to the token; and presenting, at the second space-time point, the extended token in return for access to the resource.

18. The method of claim 17 including iterating, at each of a plurality of successive time-like separated space-time points in the future of the first space-time point and in the past of the second space-time point, the steps of receiving a further plurality of quantum states, applying a pre-determined measurement to the plurality of quantum states to obtain a further sequence of classical measurement outcomes, and appending the further sequence of classical measurement outcomes to the token, such that the token presented at the second space-time point comprises each of the plurality of sequences of classical measurement outcomes.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating, at a fourth space-time point in the future of the first space-time point and in the past of the second space-time point, a second plurality of quantum states; wherein verifying whether the token corresponds to a statistically plausible result for a pre-determined measurement comprises verifying whether the token includes a statistically plausible result for a first pre-determined measurement on the first plurality of quantum states and a statistically plausible result for a second pre-determined measurement on the second plurality of quantum states.

20. The method of claim 19 including iterating, at each of a plurality of successive time-like separated space-time points in the future of the first space-time point and in the past of the second space-time point, the step of generating a further plurality of quantum states; wherein receiving the token comprising a sequence of classical measurement outcomes comprises receiving an extended token comprising a plurality of sequences of classical measurement outcomes, and wherein verifying whether the token corresponds to a statistically plausible result for a pre-determined measurement comprises verifying whether the token includes a statistically plausible result for each of a plurality of respective pre-determined measurements on each generated plurality of quantum states.

21. The method of claims 1 , 18 , or 20 , comprising receiving, at the first space-time point, multiple pluralities of random quantum states, each of the quantum states chosen from a respective set of non-orthogonal quantum states; applying a respective pre-determined measurement to the quantum states to obtain an extended token comprising a number of sequences of classical measurement outcomes; and presenting, at the second space-time point, a portion of the extended token in return for access to a resource.

22. The method of claims 1 , 18 , or 20 , comprising generating, at the first space-time point, multiple pluralities of random quantum states, each of the quantum states chosen from a respective set of non-orthogonal quantum states, receiving, at a second space-time point in the causal future of the first space-time point, an extended token comprising a number of sequences of classical measurement outcomes; and verifying whether the token corresponds to a statistically plausible result for respective pre-determined measurements on each of the pluralities of quantum states.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein a unique pre-determined measurement from the plurality of possible pre-determined measurements is assigned to each space-time point.