Since quantum computers are known to break the vast majority of currently used cryptographic protocols, a variety of new protocols are being developed that are conjectured, but not proved, to be safe against quantum attacks. Among the most promising is lattice-based cryptography, where security relies upon problems like the shortest vector problem. We analyze the potential of adiabatic quantum computation for attacks on lattice-based cryptography, and give numerical evidence that even outside the adiabatic regime such methods can facilitate the solution of the shortest vector and similar problems.

• Received 25 October 2019
• Accepted 7 February 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.013361

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society