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).
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Publication details
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- Open access
- Green open access
Cite this article
APA 7
Ananth, P., & Lin, Y. T. (2026). Quantum Time-Lock Puzzles in the Quantum Random Oracle Model. https://omanscience.com/en/articles/quantum-time-lock-puzzles-in-the-quantum-random-oracle-model
MLA 9
Ananth, Prabhanjan, and Yao-Ting Lin. "Quantum Time-Lock Puzzles in the Quantum Random Oracle Model." https://omanscience.com/en/articles/quantum-time-lock-puzzles-in-the-quantum-random-oracle-model.
Chicago (author–date)
Ananth, Prabhanjan, and Yao-Ting Lin. 2026. "Quantum Time-Lock Puzzles in the Quantum Random Oracle Model." https://omanscience.com/en/articles/quantum-time-lock-puzzles-in-the-quantum-random-oracle-model.
Harvard
Ananth, P. and Lin, Y. T. (2026) 'Quantum Time-Lock Puzzles in the Quantum Random Oracle Model', Available at: https://omanscience.com/en/articles/quantum-time-lock-puzzles-in-the-quantum-random-oracle-model.
Vancouver
Ananth P, Lin YT. Quantum Time-Lock Puzzles in the Quantum Random Oracle Model. https://omanscience.com/en/articles/quantum-time-lock-puzzles-in-the-quantum-random-oracle-model
IEEE
P. Ananth, and Y. T. Lin, "Quantum Time-Lock Puzzles in the Quantum Random Oracle Model," https://omanscience.com/en/articles/quantum-time-lock-puzzles-in-the-quantum-random-oracle-model.