Optimized Planar Penning Traps for Quantum Information Studies

A one-electron qubit would offer a new option for quantum information science, including the possibility of extremely long coherence times. One-quantum cyclotron transitions and spin flips have been observed for a single electron in a cylindrical Penning trap. However, an electron suspended in a planar Penning trap is a more promising building block for the array of coupled qubits needed for quantum information studies. The optimized design configurations identified here promise to make it possible to realize the elusive goal of one trapped electron in a planar Penning trap for the first time - a substantial step toward a one-electron qubit

Unification: An international aerospace information opportunity

Science and technology projects are becoming more and more international and interdisciplinary. Other parts of the world, notably Europe, are increasingly powerful players in the aerospace industry. This change has led to the development of various aerospace information initiatives in other countries. With scarce resources in all areas of government and industry, the NASA STI Program is reviewing its current acquisition and exchange practices and policies to factor in the changing requirements and new opportunities within the international community. Current NASA goals and activities are reviewed with a new view toward developing a scenario for establishing an international aerospace database, maintaining compatibility among national aerospace information systems, eliminating duplication of effort, and sharing resources through international cooperation wherever possible

Developing a Community of Practice for Applied Uses of Future PACE Data to Address Marine Food Security Challenges

External interaction:The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission will include a hyperspectral imaging radiometer to advance ecosystem monitoring beyond heritage retrievals of the concentration of surface chlorophyll and other traditional ocean color variables, offering potential for novel science and applications. PACE is the first NASA ocean color mission to occur under the agency's new and evolving effort to directly engage practical end users prior to satellite launch to increase adoption of this freely available data toward societal challenges. Here we describe early efforts to engage a community of practice around marine food-related resource management, business decisions, and policy analysis. Obviously one satellite cannot meet diverse end user needs at all scales and locations, but understanding downstream needs helps in the assessment of information gaps and planning how to optimize the unique strengths of PACE data in combination with the strengths of other satellite retrievals, in situ measurements, and models. Higher spectral resolution data from PACE can be fused with information from satellites with higher spatial or temporal resolution, plus other information, to enable identification and tracking of new marine biological indicators to guide sustainable management. Accounting for the needs of applied researchers as well as non-traditional users of satellite data early in the PACE mission process will ultimately serve to broaden the base of informed users and facilitate faster adoption of the most advanced science and technology toward the challenge of mitigating food insecurity

Game Theory Meets Network Security: A Tutorial at ACM CCS

The increasingly pervasive connectivity of today's information systems brings up new challenges to security. Traditional security has accomplished a long way toward protecting well-defined goals such as confidentiality, integrity, availability, and authenticity. However, with the growing sophistication of the attacks and the complexity of the system, the protection using traditional methods could be cost-prohibitive. A new perspective and a new theoretical foundation are needed to understand security from a strategic and decision-making perspective. Game theory provides a natural framework to capture the adversarial and defensive interactions between an attacker and a defender. It provides a quantitative assessment of security, prediction of security outcomes, and a mechanism design tool that can enable security-by-design and reverse the attacker's advantage. This tutorial provides an overview of diverse methodologies from game theory that includes games of incomplete information, dynamic games, mechanism design theory to offer a modern theoretic underpinning of a science of cybersecurity. The tutorial will also discuss open problems and research challenges that the CCS community can address and contribute with an objective to build a multidisciplinary bridge between cybersecurity, economics, game and decision theory

Unification: An international aerospace information issue

Science and technology projects are becoming more and more international and interdisciplinary. Other parts of the world, notably Europe, are increasingly powerful players in the aerospace business. This change has led to the development of various aerospace information initiatives in other countries. With scarce resources in all areas of government and industry, the NASA STI Program is reviewing its current acquisition and exchange practices and policies to factor in the changing requirements and new opportunities within the international community. Current NASA goals and activities are reviewed with a view toward developing a scenario for establishing an international aerospace data base, maintaining compatibility among national aerospace information systems, eliminating duplication of effort, and sharing resources through international cooperation wherever possible

Cavity QED with Single Atoms and Photons

Recent experimental advances in the field of cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) have opened new possibilities for control of atom-photon interactions. A laser with "one and the same atom" demonstrates the theory of laser operation pressed to its conceptual limit. The generation of single photons on demand and the realization of cavity QED with well defined atomic numbers N = 0, 1, 2,... both represent important steps toward realizing diverse protocols in quantum information science. Coherent manipulation of the atomic state via Raman transitions provides a new tool in cavity QED for in situ monitoring and control of the atom-cavity system. All of these achievements share a common point of departure: the regime of strong coupling. It is thus interesting to consider briefly the history of the strong coupling criterion in cavity QED and to trace out the path that research has taken in the pursuit of this goal

Modernization and new technologies: Coping with the information explosion

Information has become a valuable and strategic resource in all societies and economies. Scientific and technical information is especially important in developing and maintaining a strong national science and technology base. The expanding use of information technology, the growth of interdisciplinary research, and an increase in international collaboration are changing characteristics of information. This modernization effort applies new technology to current processes to provide near-term benefits to the user. At the same time, we are developing a long-term modernization strategy designed to transition the program to a multimedia, global 'library without walls'. Notwithstanding this modernization program, it is recogized that no one information center can hope to collect all the relevant data. We see information and information systems changing and becoming more international in scope. We are finding that many nations are expending resources on national systems which duplicate each other. At the same time that this duplication exists, many useful sources of aerospace information are not being collected to cover expanded sources of information. This paper reviews the NASA modernization program and raises for consideration new possibilities for unification of the various aerospace database efforts toward a cooperative international aerospace database initiative, one that can optimize the cost/benefit equation for all participants

Jumping onto the Bandwagon: New Librarians Navigating the Science/Technology Librarianship

Abstract The terminology of engineering is daunting to the novice librarian without any science background. Library information school (LIS) students without training in scientific disciplines express concerns about pursuing a career in engineering librarianship. Why don’t they get onto the science/technology (sci/tech) bandwagon? What information and inspiration are necessary to sail toward the science and engineering horizons of our profession? A successful transition from graduate student to practicing engineering librarian requires a complex combination of knowledge and skills. The support and assistance of colleagues is critical and the establishment of support groups for various research needs can provide a mechanism for discussing common concerns. The author will discuss strategies to encourage science, engineering, and library students to pursue careers in science/engineering libraries and highlight ideas on recruitment and retention of new science and technology librarians