Algorithmic Problems Of Group Theory Their Complexity And Applications To Cryptography

Algorithmic Problems of Group Theory, Their Complexity, and Applications to Cryptography

This volume contains the proceedings of the AMS Special Session on Algorithmic Problems of Group Theory and Their Complexity, held January 9-10, 2013 in San Diego, CA and the AMS Special Session on Algorithmic Problems of Group Theory and Applications to Information Security, held April 6-7, 2013 at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA. Over the past few years the field of group-based cryptography has attracted attention from both group theorists and cryptographers. The new techniques inspired by algorithmic problems in non-commutative group theory and their complexity have offered promising ideas for developing new cryptographic protocols. The papers in this volume cover algorithmic group theory and applications to cryptography.

Algorithmic Problems of Group Theory, Their Complexity, and Applications to Cryptography

Group-based Cryptography

This book is about relations between three different areas of mathematics and theoretical computer science: combinatorial group theory, cryptography, and complexity theory. It is explored how non-commutative (infinite) groups, which are typically studied in combinatorial group theory, can be used in public key cryptography. It is also shown that there is a remarkable feedback from cryptography to combinatorial group theory because some of the problems motivated by cryptography appear to be new to group theory, and they open many interesting research avenues within group theory. Then, complexity theory, notably generic-case complexity of algorithms, is employed for cryptanalysis of various cryptographic protocols based on infinite groups, and the ideas and machinery from the theory of generic-case complexity are used to study asymptotically dominant properties of some infinite groups that have been applied in public key cryptography so far. Its elementary exposition makes the book accessible to graduate as well as undergraduate students in mathematics or computer science.