685 research outputs found
Public Key Cryptography based on Semigroup Actions
A generalization of the original Diffie-Hellman key exchange in
found a new depth when Miller and Koblitz suggested that such a protocol could
be used with the group over an elliptic curve. In this paper, we propose a
further vast generalization where abelian semigroups act on finite sets. We
define a Diffie-Hellman key exchange in this setting and we illustrate how to
build interesting semigroup actions using finite (simple) semirings. The
practicality of the proposed extensions rely on the orbit sizes of the
semigroup actions and at this point it is an open question how to compute the
sizes of these orbits in general and also if there exists a square root attack
in general. In Section 2 a concrete practical semigroup action built from
simple semirings is presented. It will require further research to analyse this
system.Comment: 20 pages. To appear in Advances in Mathematics of Communication
Updated results on prototype chalcogenide fibers for 10-um wavefront spatial filtering
The detection of terrestrial planets by Darwin/TPF missions will require
extremely high quality wavefronts. Single-mode fibers have proven to be
powerful beam cleaning components in the near-infrared, but are currently not
available in the mid-infrared where they would be critically needed for
Darwin/TPF. In this paper, we present updated measurements on the prototype
chalcogenide fibers we are developing for the purpose of mid-infrared spatial
filtering. We demonstrate the guiding property of our 3rd generation component
and we characterize its filtering performances on a 4 mm length: the far-field
radiation pattern matches a Gaussian profile at the level of 3% rms and 13%
pk-pk.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the conference
"Toward Other Earths, Darwin/TPF and the search for extrasolar terrestrial
planets", held in Heidelberg, Germany, 22-25 April 2003, ESA SP-53
Properties of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond: group theoretic approach
We present a procedure that makes use of group theory to analyze and predict
the main properties of the negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in
diamond. We focus on the relatively low temperatures limit where both the
spin-spin and spin-orbit effects are important to consider. We demonstrate that
group theory may be used to clarify several aspects of the NV structure, such
as ordering of the singlets in the () electronic configuration, the
spin-spin and the spin-orbit interactions in the () electronic
configuration. We also discuss how the optical selection rules and the response
of the center to electric field can be used for spin-photon entanglement
schemes. Our general formalism is applicable to a broad class of local defects
in solids. The present results have important implications for applications in
quantum information science and nanomagnetometry.Comment: 30 pages, 6 figure
Monitoring Ion Channel Function In Real Time Through Quantum Decoherence
In drug discovery research there is a clear and urgent need for non-invasive
detection of cell membrane ion channel operation with wide-field capability.
Existing techniques are generally invasive, require specialized nano
structures, or are only applicable to certain ion channel species. We show that
quantum nanotechnology has enormous potential to provide a novel solution to
this problem. The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre in nano-diamond is currently of
great interest as a novel single atom quantum probe for nanoscale processes.
However, until now, beyond the use of diamond nanocrystals as fluorescence
markers, nothing was known about the quantum behaviour of a NV probe in the
complex room temperature extra-cellular environment. For the first time we
explore in detail the quantum dynamics of a NV probe in proximity to the ion
channel, lipid bilayer and surrounding aqueous environment. Our theoretical
results indicate that real-time detection of ion channel operation at
millisecond resolution is possible by directly monitoring the quantum
decoherence of the NV probe. With the potential to scan and scale-up to an
array-based system this conclusion may have wide ranging implications for
nanoscale biology and drug discovery.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Mu-Metal Enhancement of Effects in Electromagnetic Fields Over Single Emitters Near Topological Insulators
We focus on the transmission and reflection coefficients of light in systems
involving of topological insulators (TI). Due to the electro-magnetic coupling
in TIs, new mixing coefficients emerge leading to new components of the
electromagnetic fields of propagating waves. We have discovered a simple
heterostructure that provides a 100-fold enhancement of the mixing coefficients
for TI materials. Such effect increases with the TI's wave impedance. We also
predict a transverse deviation of the Poynting vector due to these mixed
coefficients contributing to the radiative electromagnetic field of an electric
dipole. Given an optimal configuration of the dipole-TI system, this deviation
could amount to of the Poynting vector due to emission near not
topological materials, making this effect detectable
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