Moving from academic ‘planted-key’ proofs to genuine cryptanalytic candidate reduction on 156-qubit hardware.
At 14 bits, the quantum computer didn’t give a single perfect answer. It eliminated roughly 90% of the wrong ones—which is far more valuable.
But at 15 bits, something unexpected happened. Classical decoherence models predict that after 73 T2 lifetimes, quantum information should be pure thermal noise—a survival probability of 10⁻³². Instead, we found a 30.9× enrichment of the correct answer hidden within what looked like random output.
The signal doesn’t dissolve into randomness. It collapses into a sharp algebraic structure we call the Ridge. The quantum computer is still computing correctly—the answer is encoded in correlation patterns that raw measurement counting misses entirely.
11-bit | Academic Threshold
The correct key appears as the #1 ranked output. Classical post-processing is trivial. This is where previous “quantum ECDLP” demonstrations stopped
Status: CLEARED
14-bit | Cryptanalytic Threshold
The correct key falls to rank 535 out of ~16,000 candidates—still within the top 3%. Raw counts no longer show dominance, but the answer is recoverable.
This represents genuine keyspace reduction with cryptanalytic value.
Status: ACHIEVED — Verify on IBM Quantum
15-bit | Ridge Extraction Threshold
The correct key has 0% probability in raw measurement counts. Classical analysis declares failure. But ridge topology analysis reveals 30.9× enrichment at exact hits—the strongest signal of any bit-length tested. The answer is there.
Extraction requires tight-tolerance algorithms that look for correlation structure, not count dominance.
Status: CONFIRMED — Ridge structure validated
Minimalism turns impossible circuits into executable reality.
47% gate reduction for QFT-dominated logic
Heron r2 lattice demands SWAP-based optimization
`do_swaps=False` breaks bit-reversal
Critical gotcha: enables runnable circuits
Correct key ranked #1. Academic threshold cleared.
Status: VERIFIED CANDIDATE REDUCTION
Correct key at rank 535/16,384 (top 3.3%). Publicly verifiable on IBM Quantum.
Status: SIGNAL SHARPNESS CONFIRMED
30.9× enrichment despite 0% raw probability. Ridge extraction threshold reached.
Heron r2 (ibm_fez) 156-qubit heavy-hex lattice → SABRE required
Low-Ancilla Strategy 14 bits squeezed into hardware limits via V2 sub-graph + orphan qubit exclusion
Dataset
Algorithm
Compiler
Regev’s Algorithm Repo
HOT Compiler Repo