Is it possible to remotely verify someone’s location by only sending signals? Secure position verification is classically impossible due to general spoofing attacks, but becomes possible with quantum physics. The unclonability of quantum information and the uncertainty principle give rise to quantum position verification (QPV) protocols that can mitigate spoofing attacks and securely certify an agent’s location. In this talk I will give an overview of quantum position verification and some visions of its cryptographic applications. Furthermore I will describe the surprising connections between QPV and deep questions in quantum information theory, theoretical computer science, and quantum gravity.

Bio: Henry Yuen is the Srivani Family Associate Professor of Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science. He is a theoretical computer scientist whose goal is to understand the fundamental principles of computation and communication in a universe governed by quantum physics (such as ours). These days, he studies questions at the interface of quantum information theory, computational complexity theory, and cryptography.