A Quest for the Physics of Cyberspace

Note: Presentation times are in Pacific Standard Time (PST).

Monday, February 01, 2021 - 10:30 am11:00 am

Julian Rrushi, Oakland University

Abstract: 

We present research on the discovery of the physics of cyberspace, meaning the laws that govern the dynamics of cyberspace. We discover physical properties of cyberspace in aggregate from a probabilistic examination via statistical physics and dynamical systems theory of the underlying computer hardware architectures, operating system designs, code execution, and networking. We encode the inner workings of hardware architectures and operating systems into mathematical models that resemble physical matter such as gasses and fluids, while representing the physics of cyberspace with high fidelity. We then explore statistical physics and dynamical systems theory similarly to how they were used to study gasses and fluids. We develop new physical-matter inspired approaches at the intersection of statistical physics and dynamical systems theory, in a quest for the physics of cyberspace. We guide this research with experimental data that we obtain via instrumentation of hardware emulation and operating system virtualization.

Julian Rrushi, Oakland University

Dr. Julian Rrushi is an assistant professor of engineering at Oakland University, Michigan. Julian completed a B.S. in Computer Science, an M.S. in Information Technology, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Milan. He researches operating systems, hardware architectures, and artificial intelligence to break new ground in computer security. Julian has received a Young Faculty Award from DARPA to research the physics of cyberspace.

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BibTeX
@conference {264102,
author = {Julian Rrushi},
title = {A Quest for the Physics of Cyberspace},
year = {2021},
publisher = {USENIX Association},
month = feb
}

Presentation Video