The ANU Quantum Numbers (AQN) from the Australian National University (ANU) is the most popular and powerful online random number generator in the world. It uses quantum technology to generate true random numbers at high speed and in real time by measuring quantum vacuum fluctuations.
Starting today, AQN will be available on AWS Marketplace, an online software store that helps customers find, buy, and use software that runs on Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com company. .
Dr Syed Assad, one of the ANU researchers behind AQN, said a range of critical applications rely on random numbers.
“Random numbers are needed in computer science, data science, and modeling. Without random numbers, you cannot have reliable models for forecasting and research simulation,” Dr Assad said.
“But they are also used by artists to help remove human bias from their creative work. In computer games and smart contracts, true random numbers are also an indispensable resource. We even had a request from a father to generate random numbers which he then used as inspiration for his daughter’s name!
AQN has operated from a lab on the ANU campus for 10 years and has received over two billion random number requests from 70 countries. To capitalize on the significant growth in demand for random numbers, ANU launched the service on AWS Marketplace to scale AQN and deliver the service faster and more reliably to over 310,000 active AWS customers.
AQN has created numbers to assign participants to randomized clinical trials, simulate processes and events in computer games, generate secure passwords, simulate virus outbreak behaviors, and predict weather.
Professor Ping Koy Lam, leader of the AQN team, said what sets AQN apart is its use of lasers at the quantum level.
“Quantum physics provides a virtually infinite source of truly random numbers. These quantum random numbers are guaranteed by the laws of physics to be unpredictable and unbiased,” Professor Lam said.
“This technology is based on vacuum detection. The vacuum is not a region of space that is completely empty and devoid of energy. In fact, it still contains noise at the quantum level.
“Through AWS Marketplace, ANU offers an incredibly powerful source of random data that is easily accessible to customers around the world.”
ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt said: “It is great to see basic science and research translated directly into new technologies and products that people and businesses around the world can use.
“The Random Number Generator is a pioneer and one of the best examples of how our researchers are passing on their incredible know-how and expertise to the world.
“By hosting this service on AWS, even more people will now have AQN at their fingertips.”
Iain Rouse, AWS General Manager for Global Public Sector in Australia and New Zealand, said, “We are committed to helping customers like ANU solve tough problems by leveraging the cloud with game-changing innovations like ANU Quantum Numbers.
“Unbiased and true random numbers are a fundamental resource in many applications today, and by making AQN available on AWS Marketplace, hundreds of thousands of customers around the world can now leverage AQN’s industry-leading capabilities. without having any knowledge of quantum physics. ”
