Quantum gambling based on Nash-equilibrium

Abstract

Quantum information: Quantum gambling based on Nash-equilibrium Gambling or betting on an event with an uncertain outcome, is one of the most widely practiced activities in human society. Despite its widespread usage and applications, fair gambling between two spatially separated parties cannot be made without the assistance of a trusted third party. A group of international scientists led by Prof. Pei Zhang from Xi'an Jiaotong University, China, has experimentally demonstrated a novel gambling protocol, which enables fair gambling between two distant parties without the help of a third party. By incorporating the key concepts and methods of game theory, their protocol will “force” the two parties to move their strategies to a Nash-equilibrium point which guarantees the fairness through the physical laws of Quantum Mechanics. Furthermore, the authors show that the protocol can be easily adapted to a biased version, which would find applications in lottery, casino, etc.