Tutte Colloquium - Cécile Pierrot

Title: The discrete logarithm problem in finite fields

Abstract:

The security of currently deployed public key protocols relies on the presumed hardness of problems often coming from number theory, such as factoring a large integer or solving the discrete logarithm problem in some group.

In this talk we focus on discrete logarithms in finite fields. We explain what is a discrete logarithm, why cryptographers need them, and we focus then on algorithms to solve the related problem, together with open questions in this area.