Verifiable blind observable estimation

Verifiable blind observable estimation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Verifiable blind observable estimation Bo Yang, Elham Kashefi, Harold Ollivier This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8691968/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 6 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Cryptographic verification is essential for establishing trust in quantum-computing-as-a-service. However, a fundamental gap exists in the current verification landscape: existing efficient protocols are largely restricted to decision problems where correctness is boosted by classical majority voting. This excludes observable estimation, the statistical task underpinning nearly all near-term quantum advantage applications. For such tasks, current verification techniques face a prohibitive trade-off: either weak security guarantees or massive space overhead that exceeds the capacity of near-term hardware. To resolve this, we introduce the Secure Delegated Observable Estimation (SDOE) ideal resource, the first formal cryptographic framework for trustworthy expectation-value estimation within Abstract Cryptography. We then present the Verifiable Blind Observable Estimation (VBOE) protocol, which efficiently constructs this resource. VBOE circumvents the limitations inherent in prior methodologies by enabling the sequential collection of samples with negligible security error, requiring zero extra qubit overhead. By directly averaging computation rounds in classical post-processing, our protocol provides the only known path to rigorous, composable verification for the most common class of near-term quantum-classical hybrid algorithms. This work bridges foundational cryptographic theory with practical quantum tasks, enabling the certification of quantum utility on current and near-future devices. Physical sciences/Engineering Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing Physical sciences/Physics Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 08 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 02 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 28 Jan, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 28 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 25 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8691968","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":600483661,"identity":"cb5a9120-a884-498d-8356-e045e0ad38a7","order_by":0,"name":"Bo Yang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAzUlEQVRIie3QvQrCMBSG4a8E2qU/jl3UW0gRdBF6KxGhnZxcVQpCXHT3UhwTCnXR3Ul6A4KjDoKROgo9o0NeSLLk4ZAANtsflgJubM5eyODUGBNIUjRk4DIwjoxAuPrcBCbSjOuQSLIpnPp5WObSCypAXNtJ6ivo3ek4kyzMaog5YcpeQAWyMsQfcech2gm/COiXrHKX+cMYgkjKQC4EnSRbXZRdqRLzlikXFJJ6a6VvctWPorOu7xQCOIXZSrN888cU8G3VEJvNZrP96g0D3TZVY3t1CwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Sorbonne University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Bo","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":600483666,"identity":"69f26c07-705d-4c06-a145-a1453061f242","order_by":1,"name":"Elham Kashefi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Sorbonne University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Elham","middleName":"","lastName":"Kashefi","suffix":""},{"id":600483670,"identity":"3f3d8666-a56f-4e92-b72f-05fa5740f500","order_by":2,"name":"Harold Ollivier","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"École Normale Supérieure - PSL","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Harold","middleName":"","lastName":"Ollivier","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-25 11:09:12","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8691968/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8691968/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104402284,"identity":"8e3df4d0-a03c-486c-803c-99c69e9c0c78","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-11 12:14:54","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1602318,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"arXiv2510.08548v220260128.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8691968/v1_covered_638b6a6e-85fb-4841-8a9b-621ef603ee97.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Verifiable blind observable estimation","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"npj-quantum-information","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"npjqi","sideBox":"Learn more about [npj Quantum Information](http://www.nature.com/npjqi/)","snPcode":"41534","submissionUrl":"https://mts-npjqi.nature.com/","title":"npj Quantum Information","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"NPJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8691968/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8691968/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Cryptographic verification is essential for establishing trust in quantum-computing-as-a-service. 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VBOE circumvents the limitations inherent in prior methodologies by enabling the sequential collection of samples with negligible security error, requiring zero extra qubit overhead. By directly averaging computation rounds in classical post-processing, our protocol provides the only known path to rigorous, composable verification for the most common class of near-term quantum-classical hybrid algorithms. 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