The Mathematics of Secrets
@mathofsecrets.bsky.social
Hi, I'm Josh Holden. I teach math, write books, and encrypt secret messages.
Pinned
The Mathematics of Secrets
https://wordpress.rose-hulman.edu/holden/the-mathematics-of-secrets/
mathofsecrets.com
Doing some profile editing --- this should really be a pinned post, not my bio!
In his book The Mathematics of Secrets, Joshua Holden takes readers on a tour of the mathematics behind cryptography—the science of sending secret messages.
mathofsecrets.com
In his book The Mathematics of Secrets, Joshua Holden takes readers on a tour of the mathematics behind cryptography—the science of sending secret messages.
mathofsecrets.com
Hot take: I hate to say it, but this is silly. Mathematicians have known for at least a century that you can replace imaginary numbers with 2x2 matrices of real numbers. Would the result be useful? Sounds like the answer is no. #quantumcomputing www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-t...
Physicists Take the Imaginary Numbers Out of Quantum Mechanics | Quanta Magazine
Quantum mechanics has at last been formulated exclusively with real numbers, bringing a mathematical puzzle at the heart of the theory into a new era of inquiry.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 8, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Hot take: I hate to say it, but this is silly. Mathematicians have known for at least a century that you can replace imaginary numbers with 2x2 matrices of real numbers. Would the result be useful? Sounds like the answer is no. #quantumcomputing www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-t...
Reposted by The Mathematics of Secrets
Well, that's a #cryptography oops. web.archive.org/web/20251016...
Solution to CIA’s Kryptos Sculpture Is Found in Smithsonian Vault
Jim Sanborn planned to auction off the solution to Kryptos, the puzzle he sculpted for the intelligence agency’s headquarters. Two fans of the work then discovered the solution.
web.archive.org
October 26, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Well, that's a #cryptography oops. web.archive.org/web/20251016...
Doing some profile editing --- this should really be a pinned post, not my bio!
In his book The Mathematics of Secrets, Joshua Holden takes readers on a tour of the mathematics behind cryptography—the science of sending secret messages.
mathofsecrets.com
In his book The Mathematics of Secrets, Joshua Holden takes readers on a tour of the mathematics behind cryptography—the science of sending secret messages.
mathofsecrets.com
The Mathematics of Secrets
https://wordpress.rose-hulman.edu/holden/the-mathematics-of-secrets/
mathofsecrets.com
October 11, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Doing some profile editing --- this should really be a pinned post, not my bio!
In his book The Mathematics of Secrets, Joshua Holden takes readers on a tour of the mathematics behind cryptography—the science of sending secret messages.
mathofsecrets.com
In his book The Mathematics of Secrets, Joshua Holden takes readers on a tour of the mathematics behind cryptography—the science of sending secret messages.
mathofsecrets.com
Found this in my old tabs. Kind of a scary idea! #Cryptography can't do much about attacks like this. @schneier.com www.schneier.com/blog/archive...
Eavesdropping on Phone Conversations Through Vibrations - Schneier on Security
Researchers have managed to eavesdrop on cell phone voice conversations by using radar to detect vibrations. It’s more a proof of concept than anything else. The radar detector is only ten feet away, ...
www.schneier.com
October 11, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Found this in my old tabs. Kind of a scary idea! #Cryptography can't do much about attacks like this. @schneier.com www.schneier.com/blog/archive...
Reposted by The Mathematics of Secrets
An incredible proof from “When Least is Best” by Paul Nahin
March 12, 2025 at 9:47 PM
An incredible proof from “When Least is Best” by Paul Nahin
Reposted by The Mathematics of Secrets
How a modern radio works, told through mathematics, history, and selected puzzles.
Paul J. Nahin's The Mathematical Radio is now available in #paperback. Learn more: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
#Math #Mathematics #History
Paul J. Nahin's The Mathematical Radio is now available in #paperback. Learn more: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
#Math #Mathematics #History
September 18, 2025 at 6:48 PM
How a modern radio works, told through mathematics, history, and selected puzzles.
Paul J. Nahin's The Mathematical Radio is now available in #paperback. Learn more: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
#Math #Mathematics #History
Paul J. Nahin's The Mathematical Radio is now available in #paperback. Learn more: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
#Math #Mathematics #History
Slight clickbaiting here --- #quantumcomputing with 300 *logical* qubits can do amazing things, but this machine only has 3000 *physical* qubits. Still potentially a big step forward! @apsphysics.bsky.social
phys.org/news/2025-09...
phys.org/news/2025-09...
Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology
Daily science news on research developments, technological breakthroughs and the latest scientific innovations
Phys.org
October 5, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Slight clickbaiting here --- #quantumcomputing with 300 *logical* qubits can do amazing things, but this machine only has 3000 *physical* qubits. Still potentially a big step forward! @apsphysics.bsky.social
phys.org/news/2025-09...
phys.org/news/2025-09...
Reposted by The Mathematics of Secrets
At a time when abortion rights are under attack, platforms with enormous resources—like Meta—have no excuse for silencing this important speech. We must push platforms to #StopCensoringAbortion. www.eff.org/pages/platf...
Platforms Have Failed Us on Abortion Content. Here's How They Can Fix
BY MOLLY BUCKLEY | October 1, 2025This is the eighth installment in a blog series documenting EFF's findings from the Stop Censoring Abortion campaign. You can read additional posts here. In our Stop
www.eff.org
October 5, 2025 at 6:00 PM
At a time when abortion rights are under attack, platforms with enormous resources—like Meta—have no excuse for silencing this important speech. We must push platforms to #StopCensoringAbortion. www.eff.org/pages/platf...
Reposted by The Mathematics of Secrets
The Xiaofeng Wang search warrant has been unsealed, thanks to @riana.bsky.social. infosec.exchange/@hovav/11531...
Hovav Shacham (@[email protected])
After a mere six months, progress on @[email protected]’s motion seeking to unseal the XiaoFeng Wang search warrant!! https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69834044/21/in-re-motion-to-unseal...
infosec.exchange
October 4, 2025 at 12:00 AM
The Xiaofeng Wang search warrant has been unsealed, thanks to @riana.bsky.social. infosec.exchange/@hovav/11531...
Reposted by The Mathematics of Secrets
October 3, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Oh, right, I said I'd post some good news. This article appears to have nothing to do with #cryptography, but down towards the bottom they talk about "clock arithmetic" --- that's the "wraparound" I introduce on page 3 of my book! @quantamagazine.bsky.social www.quantamagazine.org/new-math-rev...
New Math Revives Geometry’s Oldest Problems | Quanta Magazine
Using a relatively young theory, a team of mathematicians has started to answer questions whose roots lie at the very beginning of mathematics.
www.quantamagazine.org
September 27, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Oh, right, I said I'd post some good news. This article appears to have nothing to do with #cryptography, but down towards the bottom they talk about "clock arithmetic" --- that's the "wraparound" I introduce on page 3 of my book! @quantamagazine.bsky.social www.quantamagazine.org/new-math-rev...
Come on Microsoft #cryptography, get with the 21st century! @matthewdgreen.bsky.social blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2025/09/10/k...
Kerberoasting
I learn about cryptographic vulnerabilities all the time, and they generally fill me with some combination of jealousy (“oh, why didn’t I think of that”) or else they impress me w…
blog.cryptographyengineering.com
September 27, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Come on Microsoft #cryptography, get with the 21st century! @matthewdgreen.bsky.social blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2025/09/10/k...
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I’m flagging this nice book/paper on FHE schemes not necessarily because it’s correct and I endorse it, but because it looks pretty useful. arxiv.org/pdf/2503.05136
arxiv.org
September 22, 2025 at 7:21 PM
I’m flagging this nice book/paper on FHE schemes not necessarily because it’s correct and I endorse it, but because it looks pretty useful. arxiv.org/pdf/2503.05136
Don't be panel #2. xkcd.com/3134/ #quantumcomputing
Wavefunction Collapse
xkcd.com
September 6, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Don't be panel #2. xkcd.com/3134/ #quantumcomputing
Reposted by The Mathematics of Secrets
Via @david, new shape just dropped.
The authors claim to have proved that this polyhedron lacks Rupert's property. I haven't read the proof yet, but the claim itself doesn't seem outrageous.
The authors claim to have proved that this polyhedron lacks Rupert's property. I haven't read the proof yet, but the claim itself doesn't seem outrageous.
August 27, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Via @david, new shape just dropped.
The authors claim to have proved that this polyhedron lacks Rupert's property. I haven't read the proof yet, but the claim itself doesn't seem outrageous.
The authors claim to have proved that this polyhedron lacks Rupert's property. I haven't read the proof yet, but the claim itself doesn't seem outrageous.
Reposted by The Mathematics of Secrets
August 30, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Reposted by The Mathematics of Secrets
August 29, 2025 at 8:28 PM
More unfortunate #cryptography news via @schneier.com. (I promise I'll post some good news soon!) www.schneier.com/blog/archive...
We Are Still Unable to Secure LLMs from Malicious Inputs - Schneier on Security
Nice indirect prompt injection attack: Bargury’s attack starts with a poisoned document, which is shared to a potential victim’s Google Drive. (Bargury says a victim could have also uploaded a comprom...
www.schneier.com
August 30, 2025 at 4:50 PM
More unfortunate #cryptography news via @schneier.com. (I promise I'll post some good news soon!) www.schneier.com/blog/archive...
I just finished a #cryptography paper on how to use a secret that you know to prove that you wrote a message. While we wait for it to be published, how about this warmup from @matthewdgreen.bsky.social --- lots of nice pictures! blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2014/11/27/z...
Zero Knowledge Proofs: An illustrated primer
One of the best things about modern cryptography is the beautiful terminology. You could start any number of punk bands (or Tumblrs) named after cryptography terms like ‘hard-core predicate&#…
blog.cryptographyengineering.com
August 24, 2025 at 4:34 PM
I just finished a #cryptography paper on how to use a secret that you know to prove that you wrote a message. While we wait for it to be published, how about this warmup from @matthewdgreen.bsky.social --- lots of nice pictures! blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2014/11/27/z...
Lots of #cryptography researchers are looking for problems that are just harder than quantum computers can deal with. These folks want to look at *way* harder problems! (A good reminder that NP-complete is not as hard as it gets!) @quantamagazine.bsky.social www.quantamagazine.org/quantum-scie...
Quantum Scientists Have Built a New Math of Cryptography | Quanta Magazine
In theory, quantum physics can bypass the hard mathematical problems at the root of modern encryption. A new proof shows how.
www.quantamagazine.org
August 7, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Lots of #cryptography researchers are looking for problems that are just harder than quantum computers can deal with. These folks want to look at *way* harder problems! (A good reminder that NP-complete is not as hard as it gets!) @quantamagazine.bsky.social www.quantamagazine.org/quantum-scie...
This is a little worrying, since the Fiat-Shamir transform is used in most of the signature proposals for post-quantum #cryptography! It doesn't seem like this new technique can break those, though, so hopefully we are safe for now. @quantamagazine.bsky.social www.quantamagazine.org/computer-sci...
Computer Scientists Figure Out How To Prove Lies | Quanta Magazine
An attack on a fundamental proof technique reveals a glaring security issue for blockchains and other digital encryption schemes.
www.quantamagazine.org
July 27, 2025 at 12:27 AM
This is a little worrying, since the Fiat-Shamir transform is used in most of the signature proposals for post-quantum #cryptography! It doesn't seem like this new technique can break those, though, so hopefully we are safe for now. @quantamagazine.bsky.social www.quantamagazine.org/computer-sci...
This is potentially very exciting --- cost and reliability of quantum hardware are key factors in determining its use for #cryptography! @apsphysics.bsky.social physics.aps.org/articles/v18...
Quantum Dots For Reliable Quantum Key Distribution
The efficiency of a quantum cryptography scheme can be improved by replacing conventional attenuated lasers with single-photon quantum-dot sources.
physics.aps.org
July 1, 2025 at 3:53 PM
This is potentially very exciting --- cost and reliability of quantum hardware are key factors in determining its use for #cryptography! @apsphysics.bsky.social physics.aps.org/articles/v18...
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