Quantum Auctions using Adiabatic Evolution: The Corrupt Auctioneer and Circuit Implementations

Understand

We examine a proposed auction using quantum states to represent bids and distributed adiabatic search to find the winner.

• When the auctioneer follows the protocol, the final measurement giving the outcome of the auction also destroys the bid states, thereby preserving privacy of losing bidders.
• We describe how a dishonest auctioneer could alter the protocol to violate this privacy guarantee, and present methods by which bidders can counter such attacks.
• We also suggest possible quantum circuit implementations of the auctions protocol, and quantum circuits to perpetrate and to counter attacks by a dishonest auctioneer.