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Page 1: PPPL and Princeton demonstrate novel technique that … … ·  · 2016-10-25PPPL and Princeton demonstrate novel technique that may have applicability to future nuclear disarmament

PPPLandPrincetondemonstratenoveltechniquethatmayhaveapplicabilitytofuturenucleardisarmamenttalksByJohnGreenwaldSeptember20,2016

GraduatestudentSébastienPhilippewholedthezero-knowledgeprotocolexperiment.(PhotobyElleStarkman/OfficeofCommunications)AsystemthatcancomparephysicalobjectswhilepotentiallyprotectingsensitiveinformationabouttheobjectsthemselveshasbeendemonstratedexperimentallyattheU.S.DepartmentofEnergy’s(DOE)PrincetonPlasmaPhysicsLaboratory(PPPL).Thiswork,byresearchersatPrincetonUniversityandPPPL,marksaninitialconfirmationoftheapplicationofapowerfulcryptographictechniqueinthephysicalworld.

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“Thisisthefirstexperimentaldemonstrationofaphysicalzero-knowledgeproof,”saidSébastienPhilippe,agraduatestudentintheDepartmentofMechanicalandAerospaceEngineeringatPrincetonUniversityandleadauthorofthepaper.“Wehavetranslatedamajormethodofmoderncryptographydevisedoriginallyforcomputationaltasksintouseforaphysicalsystem.”Cryptographyisthescienceofdisguisinginformation.Thisresearch,supportedbyfundingfromtheDOE’sNationalNuclearSecurityAdministrationthroughtheConsortiumforVerificationTechnology,marksapromisingfirstexperimentalsteptowardatechniquethatcouldproveusefulinfuturedisarmamentagreements,pendingtheresultsoffurtherdevelopment,testingandevaluation.Whileimportantquestionsremain,thetechnique,firstproposedinapaperpublishedin2014inNature(linkisexternal)magazine,mighthavepotentialapplicationtoverifythatnuclearwarheadspresentedfordisarmamentwereinfacttruewarheads.SupportforthisworkcamealsofromtheJohnD.andCatherineT.MacArthurFoundationandtheCarnegieFoundationofNewYork.Theresearch,outlinedinapaperinNatureCommunicationsonSeptember20,2016,wasconductedonasetof2-inchsteelandaluminumcubesarrangedindifferentcombinations.Researchersfirstorganizedthecubesintoadesignated“true”patternandthenintoanumberof“false”ones.Next,theybeamedhigh-energyneutronsintoeacharrangementandrecordedhowmanypassedthroughtobubbleneutrondetectorsproducedbyYaleUniversity,ontheotherside.Whenaneutroninteractswithasuperheateddropletinthedetector,itcreatesastablemacroscopicbubble.Toavoidrevealinginformationaboutthecompositionandconfigurationofthecubes,bubblescreatedinthismannerwereaddedtothosealreadypreloadedintothedetectors.Thepreloadwasdesignedsothatifavalidobjectwerepresented,thesumofthepreloadandthesignaldetectedwiththeobjectpresentwouldequalthecountproducedbyfiringneutronsdirectlyintothedetectors–withnoobjectinfrontofthem.Theexperimentfoundthatthecountforthe“true”patternequaledthesumofthepreloadandtheobjectwhenneutronswerebeamedwithnothinginfrontofthem,whilethecountforthesignificantlydifferent“false”arrangementsclearlydidnot.“Thiswasanextremelyimportantexperimentaldemonstration,”saidRobertGoldston,afusionscientistandcoauthorofthepaperwhoisformerdirectorofPPPLandaPrincetonprofessorofastrophysicalsciences.“Wehadatheoreticalideaandhavenowprovidedaprovenpracticalexample.”JoininghimascoauthorsareAlexGlaser,associateprofessorinPrinceton’sWoodrowWilsonSchoolofPublicandInternationalAffairsandtheDepartmentofMechanicalandAerospaceEngineering;andFrancescod’Errico,seniorresearchscientistattheYaleSchoolofMedicineandprofessorattheUniversityofPisa,Italy.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NCOMMS12890
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Whenfurtherdevelopedforapossiblearmscontrolapplication,thetechniquewouldaddbubblesfromirradiationofaputativewarheadtothosealreadypreloadedintodetectorsbythewarhead’sowner.Ifthetotalforthenewandpreloadedbubblesequaledthecountproducedbybeamingneutronsintothedetectorswithnothinginfrontofthem,theputativeweaponwouldbeverifiedtobeatrueone.Butifthetotalcountforthepreloadpluswarheadirradiationdidnotmatchtheno-objectcount,theinspectedweaponwouldbeexposedasaspoof.Priortothetest,theinspectorwouldrandomlyselectwhichpreloadeddetectorstousewithwhichputativewarhead,andwhichpreloadtousewithawarheadthatwas,forexample,selectedfromtheowner’sactiveinventory.Inasensitivemeasurement,suchasoneinvolvingarealnuclearwarhead,thepropositionisthatnoclassifieddatawouldbeexposedorsharedintheprocess,andnoelectroniccomponentsthatmightbevulnerabletotamperingorsnoopingwouldbeused.Evenstatisticalnoise—orrandomvariationinneutronmeasurement—wouldconveynodata.Indeed,“Forthezero-knowledgepropertytobeconserved,neitherthesignalnorthenoisemaycarryinformation,”theauthorswrite.Anecessaryfuturestepistoassessthispropositionfully,andtodevelopandreviewaconceptofoperationsindetailtodetermineactualviabilityandinformationsensitivity.Importantquestionsyettoberesolvedincludethedetailsofobtainingandconfirmingatargetwarheadduringthezero-knowledgemeasurement;specificsofestablishingandmaintainingthepre-loadeddetectorsinawaythatensuresinspectingpartyconfidencewithoutrevealinganydataconsideredsensitivebytheinspectedparty;andfeasibilityquestionsassociatedwithsafelydeployingactiveinterrogationmeasurementtechniquesonactualnuclearwarheadsinsensitivephysicalenvironments,inawaythatprovidesconfidencetoboththeinspectedandinspectingparties.Glaser,GoldstonandBoazBarak,aprofessorofcomputerscienceatHarvardUniversityandformerPrincetonassociateprofessor,firstlaunchedtheconceptforazero-knowledgeprotocolforwarheadverificationinthe2014paperinNaturemagazine.ThatpaperledForeignPolicymagazinetonametheauthorsamongits“100LeadingGlobalThinkersof2014,”andpromptedotherresearchcenterstoembarkonsimilarprojects.“Wearehappytoseethisimportantfieldofresearchgainnewmomentumandcreatenewopportunitiesforcollaborationbetweennationallaboratoriesanduniversities,”Glasersaid.SeedmoneyfortheoriginalworkcametoPrincetonfromTheSimonsFoundationofVancouver,Canada,throughanonprofitcalledGlobalZero,andfromtheU.S.DepartmentofStateVerificationAssetsFund.Clickheretoseevideo

https://youtu.be/GptHIy-mwOI
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PPPL,onPrincetonUniversity'sForrestalCampusinPlainsboro,N.J.,isdevotedtocreatingnewknowledgeaboutthephysicsofplasmas—ultra-hot,chargedgases—andtodevelopingpracticalsolutionsforthecreationoffusionenergy.ResultsofPPPLresearchhaverangedfromaportablenuclearmaterialsdetectorforanti-terroristusetouniversallyemployedcomputercodesforanalyzingandpredictingtheoutcomeoffusionexperiments.TheLaboratoryismanagedbyPrincetonUniversityfortheU.S.DepartmentofEnergy’sOfficeofScience,whichisthelargestsinglesupporterofbasicresearchinthephysicalsciencesintheUnitedStates,andisworkingtoaddresssomeofthemostpressingchallengesofourtime.Formoreinformation,pleasevisitscience.energy.gov.EstablishedbyCongressin2000,NNSAisasemi-autonomousagencywithintheU.S.DepartmentofEnergyresponsibleforenhancingnationalsecuritythroughthemilitaryapplicationofnuclearscience.NNSAmaintainsandenhancesthesafety,security,andeffectivenessoftheU.S.nuclearweaponsstockpilewithoutnuclearexplosivetesting;workstoreduceglobaldangerfromweaponsofmassdestruction;providestheU.S.Navywithsafeandeffectivenuclearpropulsion;andrespondstonuclearandradiologicalemergenciesintheU.S.andabroad.Visitnnsa.energy.govformoreinformation.Gallery:

Gallery1SetupoftheexperimentinaPPPLlaboratory(credit:ElleStarkman)

http://science.energy.gov/
http://www.nnsa.energy.gov/
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Gallery2RobertGoldston(credit:ElleStarkman)

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Gallery3AlexGlaser(photocourtesyofPrincetonUniversity)

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Gallery4Francescod’Errico(photocourtesyofYaleUniversity)


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