Beth Nordholt | |
---|---|
Born | Jane Elizabeth Nordholt |
Known for | Quantum communication, space plasma physics |
Spouse | Richard Hughes |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
Jane Elizabeth (Beth) Nordholt is an American physicist known for her work in space science on mass spectrometry of the solar wind and rings of Saturn [1] [2] [3] and the flow of water vapor in the Earth's polar wind, [4] and for her work in digital security on devices for quantum key distribution [5] [6] [7] [8] and random number generation. [9] [10] [11] Until her retirement, she worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which in 2006 named her as a Laboratory Fellow. [1] [12]
Nordholt is the daughter of John B. (Jack) Nordholt Jr., a former Marine and owner of Webster Manufacturing, and of Joanne Pedigo Nordholt. [13] She is a 1976 graduate of Columbian High School in Tiffin, Ohio. [14] She earned a bachelor's degree in 1980 from Rutgers University, and a master's degree in physics in 1983 from the California Institute of Technology. [15]
She helped to design the ion mass spectrometer (IMS) for the spacecraft Cassini to gather information on Saturn's environment. [2] She also contributed to instrumentation for NASA Deep Space 1 and Genesis missions. [1] [16]
Nordholt has many patents in the area of quantum communication including quantum key distribution, random number generation, and implementations for optical fiber or free space optical communication. [17] She was a co-team leader for the Los Alamos National Laboratory quantum communications project. [6]
In 2001, she received an R&D 100 Award as part of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Free-Space Quantum Cryptography project. [18] [19]
She became a laboratory fellow at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2006. [1]
As of 2013, she was married to Richard Hughes, a physicist and collaborator at Los Alamos National Laboratory. [6]
Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a secure communication method that implements a cryptographic protocol involving components of quantum mechanics. It enables two parties to produce a shared random secret key known only to them, which then can be used to encrypt and decrypt messages. The process of quantum key distribution is not to be confused with quantum cryptography, as it is the best-known example of a quantum-cryptographic task.
John Robert Pasta was an American computational physicist and computer scientist who is remembered today for the Fermi–Pasta–Ulam–Tsingou experiment, the result of which was much discussed among physicists and researchers in the fields of dynamical systems and chaos theory, and as the head of the department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1964 to 1970.
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Joan Feynman was an American astrophysicist. She made contributions to the study of solar wind particles and fields, sun-Earth relations, and magnetospheric physics. In particular, Feynman was known for developing an understanding of the origin of auroras. She was also known for creating a model that predicts the number of high-energy particles likely to hit a spacecraft over its lifetime, and for uncovering a method for predicting sunspot cycles.
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David John McComas is an American space physicist, Vice President for Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, and Professor of Astrophysical Sciences and leads the Space Physics at Princeton Group at Princeton University. He had been Assistant Vice President for Space Science and Engineering at the Southwest Research Institute, Adjoint Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), and was the founding director of the Center for Space Science and Exploration at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He is noted for his extensive accomplishments in experimental space plasma physics, including leading instruments and missions to study the heliosphere and solar wind: IMAP, IBEX, TWINS, Ulysses/SWOOPS, ACE/SWEPAM, and Parker Solar Probe. He received the National Academy of Science's 2023 Arctowski Medal, European Geosciences Union 2022 Hannes Alfven Medal, SCOSTEP 2022 Distinguished Scientist Award, a NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal in 2015, the 2014 COSPAR Space Science Award, and the American Geophysical Union 1993 Macelwane Medal.
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Johndale C. Solem is an American theoretical physicist and Fellow of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Solem has authored or co-authored over 185 technical papers in many different scientific fields. He is known for his work on avoiding comet or asteroid collisions with Earth and on interstellar spacecraft propulsion.
John T. Gosling was an American physicist, whose research in heliophysics focused on the large-scale structure and magnetic topology of the solar wind, coronal mass ejections, solar wind and geomagnetic disturbances, magnetic reconnection, collisionless shocks, and particle acceleration in space. Gosling most recently performed research at University of Colorado and was an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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Antoinette Jane (Toni) Taylor is an American physicist known for her research on metamaterials and nanophotonics including terahertz metamaterials for controlling and generating submillimeter radiation. She is Associate Laboratory Director, Physical Sciences at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
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