Paper 2022/1583

Asynchronous Multi-Party Quantum Computation

Abstract

Multi-party quantum computation (MPQC) allows a set of parties to securely compute a quantum circuit over private quantum data. Current MPQC protocols rely on the fact that the network is synchronous, i.e., messages sent are guaranteed to be delivered within a known fixed delay upper bound, and unfortunately completely break down even when only a single message arrives late. Motivated by real-world networks, the seminal work of Ben-Or, Canetti and Goldreich (STOC'93) initiated the study of multi-party computation for classical circuits over asynchronous networks, where the network delay can be arbitrary. In this work, we begin the study of asynchronous multi-party quantum computation (AMPQC) protocols, where the circuit to compute is quantum. Our results completely characterize the optimal achievable corruption threshold: we present an $n$-party AMPQC protocol secure up to $t<n/4$ corruptions, and an impossibility result when $t\geq n/4$ parties are corrupted. Remarkably, this characterization differs from the analogous classical setting, where the optimal corruption threshold is $t<n/3$.