Scientific Computing is the
collection of tools, techniques, and theories required to solve on a computer
mathematical models of problems in Science and Engineering.
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Computing A majority of these tools, techniques, and theories originally
developed in Mathematics, many of them having their genesis long before the
advent of electronic computers. This set of mathematical theories and
techniques is called Numerical Analysis (or Numerical Mathematics) and
constitutes a major part of scientific computing. The development of the
electronic computer, however, signaled a new era in the approach to the
solution of scientific problems. Many of the numerical methods that had been
developed for the purpose of hand calculation (including the use of desk
calculators for the actual arithmetic) had to be revised and sometimes
abandoned. Considerations that where irrelevant or unimportant for hand
calculation now became of utmost importance for the efficient and correct use
of a large Computer System. Many of these considerations – programming
languages, operating systems, management of large quantities of data,
correctness of programs – were subsumed under the new discipline of Computer
Science, on which scientific computing now depends heavily. But mathematics
itself continues to play a major role in scientific computing: it provides the
language of the mathematical models that are to be solved and information about
the suitability of a model (Does it have a solution? Is the solution unique?)
and it provides the theoretical foundation for the numerical methos and,
increasingly, many of the tools from computer science.
Topics
Cryptography
Research in our group spans topics in cryptography from theory to applications, including significant research efforts in complexity-theoretic approaches to cryptography, development of new cryptographic systems, cryptanalysis, protocol development, applied cryptography, quantum computation, and applications that include electronic commerce, electronic voting, wireless communications, and protocols for sensor webs.Privacy
Among various topics that we consider are privacy in wireless sensor webs (a difficulty balancing problem -- consider the role of privacy in medical monitoring systems, for example), privacy in RFID systems, privacy issues in databases, privacy in web based applications (look below for the discussion of anti-phishing technologies, for example).Social implications of security
Our work is guided by a strong sense of social needs -- for example, we are actively involved in research in bringing advanced computing and communication technologies to those in the developing world. The role of security takes a crucial role here.Sensor web security
Berkeley is a pioneer in development of the sensor web model -- based around wireless "motes" with limited computing power and sensing devices. Because of the limited power requirements, making these motes security presents fascinating technical challenges.Testbeds for security
We are building large-scale testbeds for our ideas including: * DETER -- a virtual Internet for testing prorogation of worms and attacks * OceanStore -- a system for storing data in global scale distributed systems * Wireless City Taipei -- the world largest wireless network experiment -- built in Taipei.Security, programming languages, and software engineering
We are active in exploring the interaction between programming languages and computer security -- an area often called "software security."Human interfaces and security
We are major innovators in the field of Human-centric security; the paper that helped launch that field ("Why Johnny can't encrypt") was written here at UC Berkeley. We continue to be active in this area.Identity and integrity
Preventing "phishing" and attacks is a central focus of our research.Network security
We have an active research group (much of it joint with Berkeley's International Computer Science Institute) working on high-performance network security monitoring and intrusion prevention. Much of the research is grounded in operational deployment at a number of sites.Electronic voting
We are known for our work on the security of electronic voting. Berkeley faculty helped found the ACCURATE center, which studies voting technology and its policy implications; other institutions involved in the ACCURATE project include Johns Hopkins, Rice, SRI, Stanford, and U. Iowa. In 2008, Berkeley helped lead a groundbreaking study commissioned by the California Secretary of State to perform a top-to-bottom evaluation of California's voting systems.Beyond Technical Security
We participate in an interdisciplinary effort to understand the factors that drive threats to security. This work takes the view that, while security is a phenomenon mediated by the technical workings of computers and networks, it is ultimately a conflict driven by economic and social issues that merit a commensurate level of scrutiny. As a result, our goal is to tackle key social and economic elements of security: how the motivations and interactions of attackers, defenders, and users shape the threats we face, how they evolve over time, and how they can best be addressed.
