From: scerir (scerir@libero.it)
Date: Thu Sep 19 2002 - 00:41:14 MDT
FAST, CHEAP RANDOM NUMBERS.
The keys needed to encrypt credit card transactions and other
crucial information floating in cyberspace often rely on an infusion
of random numbers. Generating true random numbers is actually
harder than it seems since the generation process generally follows
some deterministic algorithm, permitting the possible reappearance of
unwanted predictability. James Gleeson, a physicist at Kent State
University (330-672-9592, gleeson@physics.kent.edu) has come up with a
cheap, fast solution. He shoots laser light into a sample of liquid
crystals. But because the sample is subject to a turbulent flow, causing
haphazard fluctuations in the orientation of the liquid crystals, the
digitized transmitted light coming from the sample represents a stream of
random numbers. Gleeson believes that because his device depends on
standard liquid-crystal-display technology, his compact device can be used
for many processes requiring random-number generation. (Applied Physics
Letters, 9 September 2002.)
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