Defeating the Ben-Zvi, Blackburn, and Tsaban Attack on the Algebraic Eraser

The Algebraic Eraser Diffie-Hellman (AEDH) protocol was introduced in 2005 and published in 2006 by Anshel-Anshel-Goldfeld-Lemieux as a protocol suitable for use on platforms with constrained computational resources, such as FPGAs, ASICs, and wireless sensors. It is a group-theoretic cryptographic protocol that allows two users to construct a shared secret via a Diffie-Hellman-type scheme over an insecure channel. Building on the refuted 2012 permutation-based attack of Kalka-Teichner-Tsaban, in 2015 Ben-Zvi-Blackburn-Tsaban (BBT) presented a heuristic attack that attempts to recover the AEDH shared secret. In their paper BBT reference the AEDH protocol as presented to ISO for certification (ISO 29167-20) by SecureRF. The ISO draft contains two profiles using the Algebraic Eraser. One profile is unaffected by this attack; the second profile is subject to their attack provided the attack runs in real time. This is not the case in most practical deployments. The BBT attack is simply a targeted attack that does not attempt to break the method, system parameters, or recover any private keys. Rather, its limited focus is to recover the shared secret in a single transaction. In addition, the BBT attack is based on several conjectures that are assumed to hold when parameters are chosen according to standard distributions, which can be mitigated, if not avoided. This paper shows how to choose special distributions so that these conjectures do not hold making the BBT attack ineffective for braid groups with sufficiently many strands. Further, the BBT attack assumes that certain data is available to an attacker, but there are realistic deployment scenarios where this is not the case, making the attack fail completely. In summary, the BBT attack is flawed (with respect to the SecureRF ISO draft) and, at a minimum, over-reaches as to its applicability

Casimir Force for Arbitrary Objects Using the Argument Principle and Boundary Element Methods

Recent progress in the simulation of Casimir forces between various objects has allowed traditional computational electromagnetic solvers to be used to find Casimir forces in arbitrary three-dimensional objects. The underlying theory to these approaches requires knowledge and manipulation of quantum field theory and statistical physics. We present a calculation of the Casimir force using the method of moments via the argument principle. This simplified derivation allows greater freedom in the moment matrix where the argument principle can be used to calculate Casimir forces for arbitrary geometries and materials with the use of various computational electromagnetic techniques.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Sacred Swing: The Sacralization of Jazz in the American Bahá'í Community

Much modern jazz performance is imbued with religious significance or “sacred intentionality”, as revealed in the Bahá’í conceptions of jazz as a vehicle for worship and spiritual transcendence. Although earlier generations of believers objected to jazz because of its presumed moral and aesthetic poverty, jazz has become a staple in Bahá’í public culture and proclamation activities, partially due to the influence of prominent jazz musicians who became Bahá’ís, such as Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Flora Purim, and Tierney Sutton. Oral history and textual research are used to explore the dialectic between jazz and Bahá’í spiritual teachings and practices, the impact of the Faith’s theological and social doctrines on the creation of jazz music by its adherents, and conversely the effects of jazz on worship activities and religious identity in the American Bahá’í community. Musicians detect synergy between improvisation and spiritual searching, group interaction and selfless consultation, and jazz’s multicultural roots and Bahá’í emphasis on unity-in-diversity. The ambiguous aesthetic stature of jazz challenged individual believers and Bahá’í institutions to reconsider and expand their notions of what types of music are suitable for reverent worship, thus contributing to the maturation of this spiritual community’s inclusive ethos

Non-locality in quantum field theory due to general relativity

We show that general relativity coupled to a quantum field theory generically leads to non-local effects in the matter sector. These non-local effects can be described by non-local higher dimensional operators which remarkably have an approximate shift symmetry. When applied to inflationary models, our results imply that small non-Gaussianities are a generic feature of models based on general relativity coupled to matter fields. However, these effects are too small to be observable in the cosmic microwave background

A Review of the Open Educational Resources (OER) Movement: Achievements, Challenges, and New Opportunities

Examines the state of the foundation's efforts to improve educational opportunities worldwide through universal access to and use of high-quality academic content

Weaning at Anglo-Saxon raunds: Implications for changing breastfeeding practice in britain over two millennia.

This study investigated stable-isotope ratio evidence of weaning for the late Anglo-Saxon population of Raunds Furnells, Northamptonshire, UK. δ(15) N and δ(13) C values in rib collagen were obtained for individuals of different ages to assess the weaning age of infants within the population. A peak in δ(15) N values at about 2-year-old, followed by a decline in δ(15) N values until age three, indicates a change in diet at that age. This change in nitrogen isotope ratios corresponds with the mortality profile from the site, as well as with archaeological and documentary evidence on attitudes towards juveniles in the Anglo-Saxon period. The pattern of δ(13) C values was less clear. Comparison of the predicted age of weaning to published data from sites dating from the Iron Age to the 19th century in Britain reveals a pattern of changing weaning practices over time, with increasingly earlier commencement and shorter periods of complementary feeding in more recent periods. Such a change has implications for the interpretation of socioeconomic changes during this period of British history, since earlier weaning is associated with decreased birth spacing, and could thus have contributed to population growth. Am J Phys Anthropol 151:604-612, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Stability of Extemporaneously Prepared Sodium Benzoate Oral Suspension

The stability of extemporaneously prepared sodium benzoate oral suspension in cherry syrup and Ora-Sweet was studied. Oral solutions of 250-mg/mL sodium benzoate were prepared in either cherry syrup or Ora-Sweet. To a beaker, 50 grams of Sodium Benzoate Powder USP was dissolved and filtered, the solution was divided equally into two parts, and each aliquot was added into two separate calibrated 100-mL amber vials. In the first vial, cherry syrup was added to make a final volume of 100 mL. In the second vial, Ora-Sweet was added to give a final volume of 100 mL. This process was repeated to prepare three solutions of each kind and all were stored at room temperature. A 250-µL sample was withdrawn immediately after preparation and again at 7, 14, 28, 60, and 90 days for each sample. At each time point, further dilution was made to an expected concentration of 0.25 mg/mL with sample diluent, and the samples were assayed in triplicate by stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatography. Stability was defined as the retention of at least 90% of the initial concentration. At least 92% of the initial concentration of sodium benzoate in cherry syrup and at least 96% of the sodium benzoate in Ora-Sweet remained throughout the 90-day study period. There were no detectable changes in color and no visible microbial growth in any sample. Extemporaneously compounded suspensions of sodium benzoate in cherry syrup or Ora-Sweet were stable for at least 90 days when stored in a 4-oz amber plastic bottle at room temperature in reduced lighting

Symmetry Scheme for Amino Acid Codons

Group theoretical concepts are invoked in a specific model to explain how only twenty amino acids occur in nature out of a possible sixty four. The methods we use enable us to justify the occurrence of the recently discovered twenty first amino acid selenocysteine, and also enables us to predict the possible existence of two more, as yet undiscovered amino acids.Comment: 18 pages which include 4 figures & 3 table