Testing Randomness Using Artificial Neural Network

The vital characteristic of randomness is unpredictability. Thus any regularity will compromise the application of random numbers. Quantum random number generators (QRNGs) can provide intrinsic unpredictable randomness based on the nature of quantum physics, while pseudo-random number generator can not due to the origination of deterministic algorithms or physical processes. However, commonly used traditional test suits are rigorously to test the statistical properties, and the unpredictability of random numbers is still difficult to test. To verify which sources of random numbers are truly unpredictable, in this paper, we propose a new randomness testing method with the artificial neural network (ANN). Random number sequences generated by four different kinds of sources are tested, which are the natural number λ, the linear congruence generator (LCG) pseudo-random algorithm, the Mersenne Twister (MT) pseudorandom algorithm and the QRNG based on vacuum noise, respectively. The testing results indicate that the random sequences from natural number λ and LCG fail to pass our randomness test, while the other two kinds of sequences pass the test successfully due to the relatively simple structure of our ANN. As the complexity of the ANN and the amount of computing power involved increasing, this test method has potential to predict the MT random numbers, and it is also expected that the quantum random numbers can not pass the test with unpredictability no matter how complex the ANN is.