Damien J. Rontani, Postdoctoral Associate
Office Location: 171 Physics
Office Phone: (919) 660-2500
Email Address: damien.rontani@phy.duke.edu
Specialties:
Nonlinear dynamics and complex systems
Education:
PhD, Georgia Tech, 2011
PhD, Supélec (affiliated with the University of Paris-Saclay), 2011
MS, Georgia Tech & Supélec, 2005
Research Description:
Randomness Extraction from Physical Entropy Sources
Chaotic dynamics arising in RF electronics or photonics systems are natural sources of entropy that can be exploited for the generation of high-speed random bits that have critical applications in classical and quantum cryptographic protocols but also in stochastic-based algorithms (e.g.: Monte Carlo approach) for the simulation of very complex biological, financial, or climate systems.
The objective of this research activity is to find the most suited experimental system offering optimal level of performance in terms of bit rate (>10 Gb/s), integration with existing communication architectures, and scalability.
Experimental Network Physics
Networks physics is a powerful framework to describe a wide class of collective phenomena ranging from biology and physics, to social sciences. Within this research axis, we aim at improving our understanding of fundamental properties of dynamical network by realizing very large-scale experiments (network with thousands of nodes) comparable to the network size used in theoretical predictions. Here, we concentrate our effort on Boolean, chaotic, and kuramoto-like networks.
Neuromorphic Computing
Effective classification, decision making, or pattern recognition are tasks easily performed by the human brain. In an attempt to artificially echo such capabilities, the framework of reservoir computing was developed by computer scientists. Recently, transient dynamics from complex time-delay systems has proven to be a very effective approach for reservoir computing. In this research activity, we are searching for suitable experimental network-based systems that can perform state-of-the art pattern recognition.
Applications of High-Speed Electronics and Optical Chaos
In this research activity, we develop state-of-art architectures based on RF-electronics and photonics systems to create sources of high-speed chaos for cryptographic applications, imaging techniques, and radar applications.
Areas of Interest:
Physical Generation of Random Numbers
Experimental Network Physics
Neuromorphic Computing
High-speed Electronics and Optical Chaos
Physical-Layer Security and Cryptography
Recent Publications
- D.P. Rosin, D. Rontani, and D.J. Gauthier, Emergence of Dynamical Complexity in Networks Designed on a Chip (Submitted, August, 2012) .
- D. Rontani, A. Locquet, M. Sciamanna, D.S. Citrin and A. Uchida, Generation of orthogonal codes with chaotic optical systems, Opt. Lett., vol. 36 (2011), pp. 2287-2289 .
- D. Rontani, A. Locquet, M. Sciamanna, and D.S. Citrin, Spectrally efficient multiplexing of chaotic light, Opt. Lett., vol. 35 (2010), pp. 2016-2018 .