April 14, 2003

In This Issue:
	NIST Research Improves Prospects for Reliable Quantum Computers
	Bailey Appointed Director of NIST Boulder Labs
	NIST Offers Quick Guide to DRM Organizations, Standards
	CLEAN Device May Tell a Lot about Supernovas
	New Chair Appointed to NIST’s MEP Advisory Board
	Secretary Evans Appoints Three to Baldrige Award Judges’ Panel

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Physics

NIST Research Improves Prospects for Reliable Quantum Computers

Prospects for a powerful new type of computer improved recently when National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) scientists developed a technique that greatly increases their control of “quantum bits,” or qubits, which someday may store and process data by harnessing the laws of quantum mechanics.

Using ions (charged atoms) as qubits, the NIST team demonstrated a way of precisely controlling a “logic gate” (or computational operation) between two qubits 97 percent of the time, compared to just 80 percent with previous techniques. With further improvements in reliability of the gate operation, universal computation on a large scale should be possible.

Qubits represent information as 1s and 0s, like digital bits in today’s computers. The NIST scientists use lasers to manipulate beryllium ions trapped in a vacuum so that they “spin” up or down to represent 1 or 0. The quirks of quantum mechanics allow ions to exist in blends of the two spin states, and also to become “entangled,” so that the properties of two ions are intertwined. Qubits are, therefore, able to represent multiple values simultaneously and to link these values in logical ways, such that a quantum computer could perform tasks like factoring very large numbers that are impossible with today’s technology.

The recent NIST experiments, reported in the March 27, 2003, issue of Nature, focused on precisely manipulating qubits to control entanglement and the computation process. The logic gate is activated by conditions that include the frequencies of two laser beams and the ions’ spin states. Depending on whether the first qubit is a 0 or 1, the gate may flip the spin of the second qubit.

Logic gates that control entanglement are essential elements of quantum computers, which also would contain other components, such as memory regions, already demonstrated by the NIST team.

For more information, contact Dietrich Leibfried, (303) 497-7880, dil@boulder.nist.gov.

Media Contact:
Fred McGehan, Boulder, (303) 497-7000

 

Administration

Bailey Appointed Director of NIST Boulder Labs

Zelda Chapman Bailey, a career government employee who has held increasingly responsible positions with the U.S. Geological Survey (USBS) and the National Park Service, has been appointed director of the Boulder Laboratories of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Bailey will begin her new duties on May 5, 2003.

Bailey formerly was the interim director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute in the National Park Service. She began her career in 1977 as a hydrogeologist with U.S. Geological Survey in Indiana and later worked in Tennessee. Bailey then served as assistant district chief for operations for the USGS in the Caribbean District, and moved to Colorado as associate district chief for hydrologic studies. She also completed extended assignments as acting district chief for Colorado and Wyoming.

As director of the Boulder Labs, Bailey is the senior site manager and oversees the facilities and technical infrastructure for NIST Boulder's 400 scientists, engineers, technicians and support staff. She also leads the public outreach associated with NIST Boulder’s technical program and is responsible for interactions with the community and the other Commerce agencies on-site.

Media Contact:
Fred McGehan, Boulder, (303) 497-7000

 

 

Digital Rights

NIST Offers Quick Guide to DRM Organizations, Standards

The Internet has dramatically changed the way digital content, such as digitalized music, films and books are produced and sold. Some consumers prefer to buy such things over the Internet because it often is less expensive, more convenient and saves a trip to a store.

Yet Internet offerings have been limited because copyright holders, artists and publishers are reluctant to sell their goods without being able to protect their copyrighted works from illegal copying. Some experts believe digital rights management (DRM) technologies may speed up e-
commerce by providing the needed protection. Therefore, computer scientists and engineers are moving ahead with a variety of approaches to electronic intellectual property management.

To facilitate the development, implementation and use of DRM technologies, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has published a quick-reference list of organizations and standards relevant to the field. The list is particularly useful for publishers and hardware manufacturers who are trying to work out the standards and technical protocols for e-materials.

One example of what a user will find in the document is the section on the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL). The text states that XBRL “is an open specification that uses XML-based data tags to describe financial statements. XBRL encoded financial information works across automated supply chains.” The listing then suggests a Web site for more information.

The guide is available at http://www.itl.nist.gov/div895/docs/NIST241assm.9oct.pdf (PDF). (Requires Acrobat Reader--download Reader free).

Media Contact:
Philip Bulman, (301) 975-5661

 

 

Physics and Statistics

CLEAN Device May Tell a Lot about Supernovas

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Princeton University and Indiana University believe a proposed new device will enable detection of a supernova’s telltale burst of neutrinos at least 20 times more efficiently than existing light-water detectors. The new detector also would spot the distinctive mu and tau neu trinos that comprise most of a supernova’s energy stream, making it possible to measure total supernova energy output for the first time.

The detector, dubbed CLEAN for Cryogenic Low Energy Astrophysics with Noble gases, would contain a core filled with liquid neon cooled to 27 Kelvin (minus 246.15 degrees Celsius). CLEAN would pick up low-energy neutrinos via neutrino-nucleus elastic scattering, in which incoming neutrinos bounce off the nuclei of neon atoms, generating tiny flashes of light that CLEAN could read.

To distinguish neutrino bursts from background gamma ray “noise” (where the gamma rays act in a similar fashion to neutrino events and outnumber those events by about a thousand to one), NIST statistician Kevin Coakley developed new statistical methods and an algorithm that picks out neutrinos from the blizzard of unwanted signals.

The researchers plan to submit a proposal in the coming year to fund the development of a first-generation prototype CLEAN detector.
For more information about CLEAN, contact Coakley, (303) 497-3895, kevin.coakley@nist.gov.

Media Contact:
Fred McGehan, Boulder, (303) 497-7000

 

 

Manufacturing

New Chair Appointed to NIST’s MEP Advisory Board

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Director Arden Bement has named Dean Garritson as the new chair of the National Advisory Board for NIST’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). Garritson is president and CEO of the International Sign Association (ISA), Alexandria, Va. ISA represents manufacturers, users and suppliers of on-premise signs and sign products. Previously, he served as the vice president of small and medium manufacturers with the National Association of Manufacturers. Garritson has been a member of the MEP advisory board since January 2000. The previous board chair, Edward J. Noha, chairman of the board emeritus of CNA Financial Corp., Chicago, Ill., will continue to be an MEP board member.

Members of the advisory board are selected for their expertise in manufacturing and industrial extension, and for their work on behalf of small manufacturers. Meeting three times a year, the board provides advice on MEP programs, plans and policies. Annually, the board summarizes its findings and recommendations in a report to the Secretary of Commerce.

In addition to Garritson and Noha, other board members are: Carl E. Banks, president, Production Technologies (Tracy, Calif.); Rich A. Bendis, president and CEO, Innovation Philadelphia; Maria Estela de Rios, vice president, corporate affairs, Orion International Technologies Inc. (Albuquerque, N.M.); Dan J. Marcum, chairman, Micro Craft Inc. (Tullahoma, Tenn.); Robert S. Montjoy, director, Economic Development Institute, Auburn University (Auburn, Ala.); Charles E. Shanklin, president, Crestview Aerospace Corp. (Crestview, Fla.); and John A. Yngve, chairman, Bondhus Corp. (Monticello, Minn.).

Media Contact:
Jan Kosko, (301) 975-2767