Physicists have found a way to verify the authenticity of nuclear warheads without revealing their design and content.
Physicists have found a way to verify the authenticity of nuclear warheads “blindly”, i.e. without revealing their design and content. The results of their research scientists published in the journal Nature Communications.
According to the researchers, future agreements on arms control may require checking necessary to confirm proper accounting of warheads. However, safety rules require that such methods were not provided information about the design of weapons of mass destruction. To solve this problem, the researchers turned to the report of the proof with zero disclosure.
In cryptography, this Protocol allows a relying party to verify the authenticity of any assertion, without any additional information from the other party.
In their experiment, the physicists placed a test object (warhead) between the neutron source and the emulsion detector of charged particles. “Fingerprint” of the object zapechatlena in the bubbles of the emulsion, the distribution of which is analyzed by special detectors.
The result, if it is positive, is a simple signal that does not provide useful information to the verifier. Instead, it confirms that the test object is similar to the reference sample.
