Advances in SCA and RF-DNA Fingerprinting Through Enhanced Linear Regression Attacks and Application of Random Forest Classifiers

Radio Frequency (RF) emissions from electronic devices expose security vulnerabilities that can be used by an attacker to extract otherwise unobtainable information. Two realms of study were investigated here, including the exploitation of 1) unintentional RF emissions in the field of Side Channel Analysis (SCA), and 2) intentional RF emissions from physical devices in the field of RF-Distinct Native Attribute (RF-DNA) fingerprinting. Statistical analysis on the linear model fit to measured SCA data in Linear Regression Attacks (LRA) improved performance, achieving 98% success rate for AES key-byte identification from unintentional emissions. However, the presence of non-Gaussian noise required the use of a non-parametric classifier to further improve key guessing attacks. RndF based profiling attacks were successful in very high dimensional data sets, correctly guessing all 16 bytes of the AES key with a 50,000 variable dataset. With variable reduction, Random Forest still outperformed Template Attack for this data set, requiring fewer traces and achieving higher success rates with lower misclassification rate. Finally, the use of a RndF classifier is examined for intentional RF emissions from ZigBee devices to enhance security using RF-DNA fingerprinting. RndF outperformed parametric MDA/ML and non-parametric GRLVQI classifiers, providing up to GS =18.0 dB improvement (reduction in required SNR). Network penetration, measured using rogue ZigBee devices, show that the RndF method improved rogue rejection in noisier environments - gains of up to GS =18.0 dB are realized over previous methods

Transplanckian Censorship and Global Cosmic Strings

Large field excursions are required in a number of axion models of inflation. These models also possess global cosmic strings, around which the axion follows a path mirroring the inflationary trajectory. Cosmic strings are thus an interesting theoretical laboratory for the study of transplanckian field excursions. We describe connections between various effective field theory models of axion monodromy and study the classical spacetimes around their supercritical cosmic strings. For small decay constants $f<M_p$ and large winding numbers $n>M_p/f$, the EFT is under control and the string cores undergo topological inflation, which may be either of exponential or power-law type. We show that the exterior spacetime is nonsingular and equivalent to a decompactifying cigar geometry, with the radion rolling in a potential generated by axion flux. Signals are able to circumnavigate infinite straight strings in finite but exponentially long time, $t\sim e^{\Delta a/M_p}$. For finite loops of supercritical string in asymptotically flat space, we argue that if topological inflation occurs, then topological censorship implies transplanckian censorship, or that external observers are forbidden from threading the loop and observing the full excursion of the axion.Comment: v2: refs added, fig 6 extended. published in JHEP. 28 pages, 7 figure

Stepping into electroweak symmetry breaking: Phase transitions and Higgs phenomenology

We study the dynamics of electroweak symmetry breaking in an extension of the Standard Model where the Higgs sector is augmented by the addition of a real (Y=0) isospin triplet. We show that this scenario exhibits a novel, two-step electroweak phase transition, wherein the first step provides the strongly first-order transition as required for electroweak baryogenesis, followed by a second step to the Standard Model Higgs phase that also admits a cold dark matter candidate. We analyze the constraints on this scenario from recent results obtained at the Large Hadron Collider for the Higgs diphoton decay channel. We argue that this two-step scenario can be generalized to extensions of the Standard Model with additional higher-dimensional scalar multiplets that may yield realistic baryogenesis dynamics

Triplet scalars and dark matter at the LHC

We investigate the predictions of a simple extension of the standard model where the Higgs sector is composed of one SU(2)L doublet and one real triplet. We discuss the general features of the model, including its vacuum structure, theoretical and phenomenological constraints, and expectations for Higgs collider studies. The model predicts the existence of a pair of light charged scalars and, for vanishing triplet vacuum expectation value, contains a cold dark matter candidate. When the latter possibility occurs, the charged scalars are long-lived, leading to a prediction of distinctive single charged track with missing transverse energy or double charged track events at the large hadron collider. The model predicts a significant excess of two-photon events compared to SM expectations due to the presence of a light charged scalar

Reduced hadronic uncertainty in the determination of VudV_{ud}

We analyze the universal radiative correction $\Delta_R^V$ to neutron and superallowed nuclear $\beta$ decay by expressing the hadronic $\gamma W$-box contribution in terms of a dispersion relation, which we identify as an integral over the first Nachtmann moment of the $\gamma W$ interference structure function $F_3^{(0)}$. By connecting the needed input to existing data on neutrino and antineutrino scattering, we obtain an updated value of $\Delta_R^V = 0.02467(22)$, wherein the hadronic uncertainty is reduced. Assuming other Standard Model theoretical calculations and experimental measurements remain unchanged, we obtain an updated value of $|V_{ud}| = 0.97366(15)$, raising tension with the first row CKM unitarity constraint. We comment on ways current and future experiments can provide input to our dispersive analysis.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, references updated; version submitted to PR

Color breaking in the early universe

We explore the possibility that SU(3)_C was not an exact symmetry at all times in the early Universe, using minimal extensions of the standard model that contain a color triplet scalar field and perhaps other fields. We show that, for a range of temperatures, there can exist a phase in which the free energy is minimized when the color triplet scalar has a nonvanishing vacuum expectation value, spontaneously breaking color. At very high temperatures and at lower temperatures, color symmetry is restored. The breaking of color in this phase is accompanied by the spontaneous breaking of B - L if the color triplet scalar Yukawa couples to quarks and/or leptons. We discuss the requirements on the minimal extensions needed for consistency of this scenario with present collider bounds on new colored scalar particles

Hadronic Light-by-Light and the Pion Polarizability

We compute the charged pion loop contribution to the light-by-light scattering amplitude for off-shell photons in chiral perturbation theory through next-to-leading order (NLO). We show that NLO contributions are relatively more important due to a fortuitous numerical suppression of the leading-order (LO) terms. Consequently, one expects theoretical predictions for the hadronic light-by-light (HLBL) contribution to the muon anomalous magnetic moment, $a_\mu^{HLBL}$, to be sensitive to the choice of model for the higher momentum-dependence of the LBL amplitude. We show that models employed thus far for the charged pion loop contribution to $a_\mu^{HLBL}$ are not consistent with low-momentum behavior implied by quantum chromodynamics, having omitted potentially significant contributions from the pion polarizability.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Temperature monitoring and control system using NI ELVIS and LabVIEW

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