MATH 456 (Cryptology)
| DESCRIPTION |
Cryptology is the study of the design and analysis of various
encryption schemes, and related topics. The plan is to study the
basics of the subject and then touch on several recent developments. |
| PREREQUISITES |
Two 400-level MATH courses or two 400-level CMSC courses
or permission of the department. Note: MATH 456 is cross-listed
with CMSC 456. Credit will be granted for only one of the
following: MATH 456 or CMSC 456.
|
| TOPICS |
Construction and analysis of simple cryptosystems
(affine, Vigenere, linear feedback shift registers)
Public key cryptography (RSA, finding large primes,
factoring techniques)
Secret sharing schemes (design a system that can be
activated by any 5 people in a group, but never by 4)
Signature schemes (how to sign an electronic message)
Key distribution
Identification schemes (identify yourself in a way that eavesdroppers
cannot later pretend to be you)
Zero-knowledge techniques (prove that you have some information without
revealing the information)
Information theory
Miscellany (Quantum methods, Elliptic curves, Private information
retrieval, Connections to Complexity theory, flipping coins and playing
poker over the telephone; yes, you can do it and still prevent
cheating)
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| TEXT |
Text(s)
typically used in this course. |
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