54 research outputs found
Controlling passively-quenched single photon detectors by bright light
Single photon detectors based on passively-quenched avalanche photodiodes can
be temporarily blinded by relatively bright light, of intensity less than a
nanowatt. I describe a bright-light regime suitable for attacking a quantum key
distribution system containing such detectors. In this regime, all single
photon detectors in the receiver Bob are uniformly blinded by continuous
illumination coming from the eavesdropper Eve. When Eve needs a certain
detector in Bob to produce a click, she modifies polarization (or other
parameter used to encode quantum states) of the light she sends to Bob such
that the target detector stops receiving light while the other detector(s)
continue to be illuminated. The target detector regains single photon
sensitivity and, when Eve modifies the polarization again, produces a single
click. Thus, Eve has full control of Bob and can do a successful
intercept-resend attack. To check the feasibility of the attack, 3 different
models of passively-quenched detectors have been tested. In the experiment, I
have simulated the intensity diagrams the detectors would receive in a real
quantum key distribution system under attack. Control parameters and side
effects are considered. It appears that the attack could be practically
possible.Comment: Experimental results from a third detector model added. Minor
corrections and edits made. 11 pages, 10 figure
Very Cold Gas and Dark Matter
We have recently proposed a new candidate for baryonic dark matter: very cold
molecular gas, in near-isothermal equilibrium with the cosmic background
radiation at 2.73 K. The cold gas, of quasi-primordial abundances, is condensed
in a fractal structure, resembling the hierarchical structure of the detected
interstellar medium.
We present some perspectives of detecting this very cold gas, either directly
or indirectly. The H molecule has an "ultrafine" structure, due to the
interaction between the rotation-induced magnetic moment and the nuclear spins.
But the lines fall in the km domain, and are very weak. The best opportunity
might be the UV absorption of H in front of quasars. The unexpected cold
dust component, revealed by the COBE/FIRAS submillimetric results, could also
be due to this very cold H gas, through collision-induced radiation, or
solid H grains or snowflakes. The -ray distribution, much more
radially extended than the supernovae at the origin of cosmic rays
acceleration, also points towards and extended gas distribution.Comment: 16 pages, Latex pages, crckapb macro, 3 postscript figures, uuencoded
compressed tar file. To be published in the proceeedings of the
"Dust-Morphology" conference, Johannesburg, 22-26 January, 1996, D. Block
(ed.), (Kluwer Dordrecht
Large Scale Structure of the Universe
Galaxies are not uniformly distributed in space. On large scales the Universe
displays coherent structure, with galaxies residing in groups and clusters on
scales of ~1-3 Mpc/h, which lie at the intersections of long filaments of
galaxies that are >10 Mpc/h in length. Vast regions of relatively empty space,
known as voids, contain very few galaxies and span the volume in between these
structures. This observed large scale structure depends both on cosmological
parameters and on the formation and evolution of galaxies. Using the two-point
correlation function, one can trace the dependence of large scale structure on
galaxy properties such as luminosity, color, stellar mass, and track its
evolution with redshift. Comparison of the observed galaxy clustering
signatures with dark matter simulations allows one to model and understand the
clustering of galaxies and their formation and evolution within their parent
dark matter halos. Clustering measurements can determine the parent dark matter
halo mass of a given galaxy population, connect observed galaxy populations at
different epochs, and constrain cosmological parameters and galaxy evolution
models. This chapter describes the methods used to measure the two-point
correlation function in both redshift and real space, presents the current
results of how the clustering amplitude depends on various galaxy properties,
and discusses quantitative measurements of the structures of voids and
filaments. The interpretation of these results with current theoretical models
is also presented.Comment: Invited contribution to be published in Vol. 8 of book "Planets,
Stars, and Stellar Systems", Springer, series editor T. D. Oswalt, volume
editor W. C. Keel, v2 includes additional references, updated to match
published versio
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