Defense Industry Daily has a bulletin describing some recent government projects in quantum computing largely as applied to cryptography. “A DARPA Quantum Network became fully operational on Oct 23/03 in BBN’s laboratories, running the world’s first Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) network using 24×7 quantum cryptography to provide unprecedented levels of security for standard Internet traffic flows. DARPA’s “Quantum Information Science & Technology” (QuIST) program lists as a completed effort; it won a DARPA award in 2008 for scientific breakthroughs. DARPA’s “High Productivity Computing Systems” effort includes some quantum related efforts, and appears to be ongoing.”
Quantum computing can provide two potential advantages to an information warrior. First, it may make it possible to crack cyphers which are currently unbreakable. “If large-scale quantum computers can be built, they will be able to solve certain problems much faster than any of our current classical computers (for example Shor’s algorithm). … Although quantum computers may be faster than classical computers, those described above can’t solve any problems that classical computers can’t solve.” The other advantage is that it a quantum-encrypted message cannot be read without altering it. Therefore any eavesdropper would give himself away.
But signals can still be compromised in other ways, as this article describes.
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23 Comments
1. Jamie Irons:The other advantage is that it a quantum-encrypted message cannot be read without altering it…
That Heisenberg may have been, as Jackie Mason would say, a “Nazi bastid” (sic), but he definitely was a genius.
Jamie Irons
May 17, 2009 - 6:36 pm 2. Jamie Irons:That explains why entangled photons present an attractive future option. When two photons become entangled, if one is vertically polarized, the other is always polarized horizontally. The polarization of a single photon cannot be known until it is measured, and the measurement will automatically determine the polarization of the other photon, even if it is several hundred meters away. Albert Einstein dubbed this “spooky action at a distance.” A QKD system using entangled photons would have a critical advantage: the key comes into existence simultaneously at both sender and receiver nodes, eliminating the possibility of interception…
This is one of the best examples of how even geniuses can be dead wrong.
We all need to be humble.
Jamie Irons
May 17, 2009 - 6:42 pm 3. Lifeofthemind:There are to parts to the information security problem. One part is guarding the information from unauthorized disclosure. The second part is having information worth protecting. The second problem does not depend on technical systems but on human systems. If the people are not reliable and the culture does not promote the right mix of risk taking, inquiry, discretion and loyalty then no technical edge will work. The relentless politicization of the intelligence process by agents of the Democratic Party, particularly Pinch Sulzberger’s NY Times and some but not all of the employees at the CIA in conjunction with Valerie Plame and her execrable husband have cost us in ways that are hard to measure. How do you quantify negatives? The cost is in talent discouraged, studies not conducted, investments not made and former allies who no longer give the same level of support.
May 17, 2009 - 7:14 pm 4. pendejo grande:Sounds incredibly interesting. I there a translation of this written in non-geek?
May 17, 2009 - 7:18 pm 5. Storm-Rider:Don’t worry, just as Clinton gave our ICBM and miniaturized nuclear weapon technologies to Communist China, Obama will see to it that our Marxist and Islamist enemies receive this latest advance in computer technology. We can’t let the totalitarian enemies of American life and liberty fall behind now can we? That would stand in the way of Marxist equality. All nations must be forced into Marxist equality (especially economic and military), because after all is said and done Marxism equates good and evil.
May 17, 2009 - 7:40 pm 6. Josh:For abstruse metaphysical reasons, I think all talk of quantum computing is garbage.
May 17, 2009 - 9:31 pm 7. Scythianeedle:Jamie Irons,
I’ve wrestled with the concept you mention in your post #2, and what I have to conclude is that if true, this prediction of linked behavior of remote members of a pair of particles implies that they are connected via a relationship defined in dimensions beyond those accessible to our limited human senses.
I’ve seen discussions of string theory that mention that the theoretical calculations require eleven dimensions for everything to resolve.
“Flatland” stretched my brain when I was twelve, and I can deal with particle-wave duality, but I can’t wrap my head around this yet. It definitely reminds me though that anyone who claims to understand science is a big fat liar!
May 18, 2009 - 12:19 am 8. ledger:This ties in with an piece ACE has about China “uncrackable” servers.
‘China prepares for cyberwar’
XINHUA announces the Chinese have developed a new secure operating system called KYLIN.
The Washington times wrote this doomsday piece about the dire cyber-security threat from KYLIN that will harden their defenses and make them impenetrable to our existing suite of soft target attacks designed around Windows, Linux and Mac targets…
See: China prepares for cyberwar deploys Unicorn Power
May 18, 2009 - 12:39 am 9. twobyfour:ledger/8
I thought they would use Hello, Kitty, not that dreadful unicorn. Now am shakin.
May 18, 2009 - 1:37 am 10. twobyfour:Scythianeedle/7
this prediction of linked behavior of remote members of a pair of particles implies that they are connected via a relationship defined in dimensions beyond those accessible to our limited human senses.
You need 5 D to resolve non-local interaction. The only problem here is to locate the right entangled particle if you have a stream of them. They start behaving statistically, rather than discretely. A bummer. You’d need to devise a 5 D machine that would provide the correct correlation and then simply render the results.
Peace of cake.
There is, though, such a machine. It has a bottleneck, though, it is not fine-tuned and tends to disregard the rendered result as inconsequential noise. A part of it is right between your ears. The other part, comparable to a focusing part of an antenna, is about 60 cm (23″) behind you, giving you about 500ms advantage in stimulus/input pre-processing. Not always, though, there are ways how to stretch the distance, but they are usually undesirable. Don’t pry, trust me.
I’ve seen discussions of string theory that mention that the theoretical calculations require eleven dimensions for everything to resolve.
It’s not particular for the string theory, covers everything. I am usually a bit cautious to accept math as an accurate model of reality (sometimes it is not the case and can lead to a menagerie of fairy-tale characters), but 11 D has an internal logical consistency. The funny part is that if you logically follow upward, at 11 D you must conclude that a theoretical critter occupying that realm (the framework is resistant to fitting more than one there) must be omniscient and omnipotent.
May 18, 2009 - 2:21 am 11. RWE:Jamie Irons #1:
Heisenberg was no doubt a genius but there was a controversy for many years as to whether he screwed up the German WWII nuclear bomb project deliberately or by an error.
In calculating the mass of fissionable material required to build a bomb, Heisenberg failed to recognize that the nuclear reactions that occurred would in turn initiate others. As a result, he concluded that the required mass would be far too large to feasibly collect the required material and far too large to enable the bomb to be a practical weapon.
There was speculation for years whether he made this basic error in order to stop the German bomb effort, but a few years ago a book came out that indicated it was an honest mistake on his part. After the German surrender, Heisenberg and other German physicists were gathered together by the Allies and allowed to converse with one another while being recorded without their knowledge. At the start of one of these sessions they were told that an atomic bomb had been dropped on Japan. The speculations the Germans made subsequently indicated that they were all but clueless about the real design of nuclear weapons.
May 18, 2009 - 5:49 am 12. twobyfour:RWE/11
An interesting bit of info.
Maybe, cuz…
On 7 April 1933, the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service was enacted; this law, and its subsequent related ordnances, politicized the education system in Germany. This had immediate deleterious effects on the physics capabilities of Germany. Furthermore, combined with the deutsche Physik movement, the deleterious effects were intensified and prolonged. The consequences to physics in Germany and its subfield of nuclear physics were multifaceted.
An immediate consequence upon passage of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service was that it produced both quantitative and qualitative losses to the physics community. Numerically, it has been estimated that a total of 1,145 university teachers, in all fields, were driven from their posts, which represented about 14% of the higher learning institutional staff members in 1932-1933.[37] Out of 26 German nuclear physicists cited in the literature before 1933, 50% emigrated.[38] Qualitatively, 10 physicists and four chemists who had won or would win the Nobel Prize emigrated from Germany shortly after Hitler came to power, most of them in 1933.[39] These 14 scientists were: Hans Bethe, Felix Bloch, Max Born, Albert Einstein, James Franck, Peter Debye, Dennis Gabor, Fritz Haber, Gerhard Herzberg, Victor Hess, George de Hevesy, Erwin Schrödinger, Otto Stern, and Eugene Wigner.
May 18, 2009 - 6:52 am 13. LarryBoyColorado:I have an acquaintance that is deeply involved in physics, and is absolutely giddy over a new work from Dr. Lewis Little: The Theory of Elemental Waves (available at Amazon and elsewhere).
Why was he giddy? Because this new theory brings back the concepts of identity and causality to physics, specifically in the quantum domain. Apparently it logically explains how a great many apparent paradoxes, such as spooky-action-at-a-distance, double-slit tests, etc., can be understood to follow causality by correcting a couple of small (erroneous) concepts.
Dr. Little’s new theory is being, in some circles, compared in stature to that of Copernicus.
Anyone interested in physics, and especially at debunking the mystical/magical tones it has assumed since Heisenberg, may find it a very interesting read.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve not yet read it, but do plan to do so in the near future.
May 18, 2009 - 8:25 am 14. Mad Fiddler:High School was the last time that I was any good at math, but I have a cat whose lineage traces back to a tabby owned by Erwin Schrödinger.
>;-D
May 18, 2009 - 8:38 am 15. Mad Fiddler:When I leave the room, the cat disappears.
May 18, 2009 - 8:39 am 16. RWE:Mad Fiddler:
As to the answer to the old question “Is the cat dead or alive?”
It depends:
1. Does the cat vote?
2. Is the cat Democrat?
3. Is the cat in Chicago?
Twobyfour:
I recall one of my college physics professors describing how in that era in Germany an official observer was required for physics experiments. They tested the theory of relativity by having two men throw a ball back and forth on a moving train while such an official observer, clad in a black trenchcoat – watched, and concluded that he could see no change so the theory was worthless.
May 18, 2009 - 9:02 am 17. WSL:A story is told about Heisenberg speeding down the autobahn. He was stopped by a policeman who immediately asked, “Do you know how fast you were going?” “No,” replied Werner, “but I know exactly where I am.”
May 18, 2009 - 9:12 am 18. joe buzz:I truly hope that the labs mentioned in the lead article are extremely careful about who they hire. Nothing like advertising who is working on what….
May 18, 2009 - 10:10 am 19. twobyfour:RWE/16
2. Is the cat Democrat?
Cats don’t have pants, but you can tell if the fur is on fire.
May 18, 2009 - 11:27 am 20. twobyfour:RWE/16
BTW, German scientists had to sign a statement presented by Nazional Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeit Partei that the agree with the Hörbiger’s theory Welteislehre (World Ice {and Fire}). For many it was a sure sign that insanity is fully present and it’s the high time to leave.
To some degree (not many degrees left, actually), it reminds of the current insanity of AGW.
May 18, 2009 - 11:38 am 21. buckets:I’m certainly not a physicist, but I’d never heard of Dr. Little or his theory. A quick browse of the Internets reveals little interest in Dr. Little’s work, unfortunately. Some critics I stumbled across claimed to have debunked Little because he couldn’t account for gravitational lensing or spooky action at a distance. Whatever the case, Little deserves more attention.
In Michael Crichton’s “Timeline,” his characters argue that the double slit experiment, a/k/a single photon interference, is explainable as interference with particles from different universes.
Absolutely fascinating stuff.
May 18, 2009 - 11:49 am 22. twobyfour:Buckets/21
He’s a Little unknown.
I got his paper, so will skim through it when time permits.
May 18, 2009 - 1:51 pm 23. twobyfour:Mad Fiddler/14
I have two cats (actually three but the third one is acquired earlier, name Georgia). One of the two is Schroe and the other is Dinger. I collapsed their wave function several years ago and both are with status: alive.
May 18, 2009 - 8:18 pmSorry, comments for this entry are closed at this time.