112 research outputs found
A Uniform Min-Max Theorem with Applications in Cryptography
We present a new, more constructive proof of von Neumann’s Min-Max Theorem for two-player zero-sum game — specifically, an algorithm that builds a near-optimal mixed strategy for the second player from several best-responses of the second player to mixed strategies of the first player. The algorithm extends previous work of Freund and Schapire (Games and Economic Behavior ’99) with the advantage that the algorithm runs in poly(n) time even when a pure strategy for the first player is a distribution chosen from a set of distributions over {0, 1} . This extension enables a number of additional applications in cryptography and complexity theory, often yielding uniform security versions of results that were previously only proved for nonuniform security (due to use of the non-constructive Min-Max Theorem).
We describe several applications, including a more modular and improved uniform version of Impagliazzo’s Hardcore Theorem (FOCS ’95), showing impossibility of constructing succinct non-interactive arguments (SNARGs) via black-box reductions under uniform hardness assumptions (using techniques from Gentry and Wichs (STOC ’11) for the nonuniform setting), and efficiently simulating high entropy distributions within any sufficiently nice convex set (extending a result of Trevisan, Tulsiani and Vadhan (CCC ’09)).Engineering and Applied Science
Spatially resolved spectroscopy of monolayer graphene on SiO2
We have carried out scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements on
exfoliated monolayer graphene on SiO to probe the correlation between its
electronic and structural properties. Maps of the local density of states are
characterized by electron and hole puddles that arise due to long range
intravalley scattering from intrinsic ripples in graphene and random charged
impurities. At low energy, we observe short range intervalley scattering which
we attribute to lattice defects. Our results demonstrate that the electronic
properties of graphene are influenced by intrinsic ripples, defects and the
underlying SiO substrate.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, extended versio
Finding the Median (Obliviously) with Bounded Space
We prove that any oblivious algorithm using space to find the median of a
list of integers from requires time . This bound also applies to the problem of determining whether the median
is odd or even. It is nearly optimal since Chan, following Munro and Raman, has
shown that there is a (randomized) selection algorithm using only
registers, each of which can store an input value or -bit counter,
that makes only passes over the input. The bound also implies
a size lower bound for read-once branching programs computing the low order bit
of the median and implies the analog of for length oblivious branching programs
One-way quantum key distribution: Simple upper bound on the secret key rate
We present a simple method to obtain an upper bound on the achievable secret
key rate in quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols that use only
unidirectional classical communication during the public-discussion phase. This
method is based on a necessary precondition for one-way secret key
distillation; the legitimate users need to prove that there exists no quantum
state having a symmetric extension that is compatible with the available
measurements results. The main advantage of the obtained upper bound is that it
can be formulated as a semidefinite program, which can be efficiently solved.
We illustrate our results by analysing two well-known qubit-based QKD
protocols: the four-state protocol and the six-state protocol. Recent results
by Renner et al., Phys. Rev. A 72, 012332 (2005), also show that the given
precondition is only necessary but not sufficient for unidirectional secret key
distillation.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur
Програмний модуль проектування розміщення аероіонізаційних систем
The recently synthesized ThFeAsN iron-pnictide superconductor exhibits a
of 30 K, the highest of the 1111-type series in absence of chemical
doping. To understand how pressure affects its electronic properties, we
carried out microscopic investigations up to 3 GPa via magnetization, nuclear
magnetic resonance, and muon-spin rotation experiments. The temperature
dependence of the As Knight shift, the spin-lattice relaxation rates,
and the magnetic penetration depth suggest a multi-band -wave gap
symmetry in the dirty limit, while the gap-to- ratio
hints at a strong-coupling scenario. Pressure
modulates the geometrical parameters, thus reducing , as well as ,
the temperature where magnetic-relaxation rates are maximized, both at the same
rate of approximately -1.1 K/GPa. This decrease of with pressure is
consistent with band-structure calculations, which relate it to the deformation
of the Fe 3 orbitals.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Efficient One-Way Secret-Key Agreement and Private Channel Coding via Polarization
We introduce explicit schemes based on the polarization phenomenon for the
tasks of one-way secret key agreement from common randomness and private
channel coding. For the former task, we show how to use common randomness and
insecure one-way communication to obtain a strongly secure key such that the
key construction has a complexity essentially linear in the blocklength and the
rate at which the key is produced is optimal, i.e., equal to the one-way
secret-key rate. For the latter task, we present a private channel coding
scheme that achieves the secrecy capacity using the condition of strong secrecy
and whose encoding and decoding complexity are again essentially linear in the
blocklength.Comment: 18.1 pages, 2 figures, 2 table
From Laconic Zero-Knowledge to Public-Key Cryptography
Since its inception, public-key encryption (PKE) has been one of the main cornerstones of cryptography. A central goal in cryptographic research is to understand the foundations of public-key encryption and in particular, base its existence on a natural and generic complexity-theoretic assumption. An intriguing candidate for such an assumption is the existence of a cryptographically hard language in the intersection of NP and SZK.
In this work we prove that public-key encryption can be based on the foregoing assumption, as long as the (honest) prover in the zero-knowledge protocol is efficient and laconic. That is, messages that the prover sends should be efficiently computable (given the NP witness) and short (i.e., of sufficiently sub-logarithmic length). Actually, our result is stronger and only requires the protocol to be zero-knowledge for an honest-verifier and sound against computationally bounded cheating provers.
Languages in NP with such laconic zero-knowledge protocols are known from a variety of computational assumptions (e.g., Quadratic Residuocity, Decisional Diffie-Hellman, Learning with Errors, etc.). Thus, our main result can also be viewed as giving a unifying framework for constructing PKE which, in particular, captures many of the assumptions that were already known to yield PKE.
We also show several extensions of our result. First, that a certain weakening of our assumption on laconic zero-knowledge is actually equivalent to PKE, thereby giving a complexity-theoretic characterization of PKE. Second, a mild strengthening of our assumption also yields a (2-message) oblivious transfer protocol
Optimal networks for Quantum Metrology: semidefinite programs and product rules
We investigate the optimal estimation of a quantum process that can possibly
consist of multiple time steps. The estimation is implemented by a quantum
network that interacts with the process by sending an input and processing the
output at each time step. We formulate the search of the optimal network as a
semidefinite program and use duality theory to give an alternative expression
for the maximum payoff achieved by estimation. Combining this formulation with
a technique devised by Mittal and Szegedy we prove a general product rule for
the joint estimation of independent processes, stating that the optimal joint
estimation can achieved by estimating each process independently, whenever the
figure of merit is of a product form. We illustrate the result in several
examples and exhibit counterexamples showing that the optimal joint network may
not be the product of the optimal individual networks if the processes are not
independent or if the figure of merit is not of the product form. In
particular, we show that entanglement can reduce by a factor K the variance in
the estimation of the sum of K independent phase shifts.Comment: 19 pages, no figures, published versio
The Hilbertian Tensor Norm and Entangled Two-Prover Games
We study tensor norms over Banach spaces and their relations to quantum
information theory, in particular their connection with two-prover games. We
consider a version of the Hilbertian tensor norm and its dual
that allow us to consider games with arbitrary output alphabet
sizes. We establish direct-product theorems and prove a generalized
Grothendieck inequality for these tensor norms. Furthermore, we investigate the
connection between the Hilbertian tensor norm and the set of quantum
probability distributions, and show two applications to quantum information
theory: firstly, we give an alternative proof of the perfect parallel
repetition theorem for entangled XOR games; and secondly, we prove a new upper
bound on the ratio between the entangled and the classical value of two-prover
games.Comment: 33 pages, some of the results have been obtained independently in
arXiv:1007.3043v2, v2: an error in Theorem 4 has been corrected; Section 6
rewritten, v3: completely rewritten in order to improve readability; title
changed; references added; published versio
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