# About the directions “Photonics”, “Programming and IT” and “Information and Cybersecurity” of the Olympiad “I am a Professional”

We continue to talk about the Olympics “I am a Professional”, held with the support of Yandex, RSPP, and the country's largest universities, including ITMO University.

Today we are talking about three more areas that our university is in charge of.

## Information and cybersecurity

This direction is suitable for those who intend to enter the specialty in the field of security of computer systems and networks, information security in automated systems or network device administration. ITMO University has an international educational program “Information Security”, organized in partnership with the Finnish Aalto University. Undergraduates can choose specialties: “Information Security of Specialized Systems” or “Cyber ​​Security in the Banking Sector”.

In all these areas, ITMO University is actively developing. Students and teachers of the faculty study the security issues of computer, cyberphysical systems and machine design of on-board computers. For example, students are developing methods to repel attacks on motherboard firmware using a hypervisor. The laboratory of "Safe Information Technologies" also operates on the basis of the faculty. Its employees act as computer forensic scientists and help customers build a secure IT infrastructure.

Also, within the department, ITMO University employees are developing the CODA project. This is a system for detecting malicious requests to the core of a computing system.

The expertise of ITMO University teachers was reflected in the olympiad tasks of the Information and Cybersecurity direction. Specialists from Kaspersky Lab, INFOWATCH and Sberbank also help compose them.

What will be the tasks. Among the topics can be distinguished: symmetric and asymmetric, post-quantum cryptography, data transmission in computer networks, OS security. There are also questions on logic and reverse. There will be no "paper security", so you can not memorize the Federal Law numbers.

How to prepare. After registration, the participants of the Olympiad get access to the demos of the options with the tasks of the qualifying stage of last year. Also examples can be found on the website. cit.ifmo.ru/profi. Note that while the site is under reconstruction, but it will soon be launched.

It is also useful to pay attention to the write-up’s of various CTF competitions held around the world. There are useful materials in the Vkontakte group SPbCTF, whose ideological inspirers are partners of the Information and Cybersecurity direction.

## Programming and Information Technology

ITMO University holds many computer science competitions. These are school and student olympiads. The university also acts as a venue for the stages of the ICPC World Cup. The tasks of the “Programming and IT” direction take into account the experience of these events. Colleagues are helped by colleagues from partner companies: Sberbank, Netcracker, and the MDGs.

What will be the tasks. The subjects of tasks cover a wide range of disciplines: programming, algorithms and data structures, information theory, databases and data warehouses, computer architecture, operating systems, computer networks, UML, multi-threaded programming. Students must demonstrate knowledge in the theory of computational complexity. For example, in 2017, students were asked to analyze a code that simulates the operation of a request queue.

How to prepare. Be guided by examples of tasks of the past years. For example, on the YouTube channel of the “I am a Professional” Olympiad, there are recordings of webinars with analysis of tasks. Here in this video, the speaker talks about storage systems:

## Photonics

Photonics studies the interaction of light with matter and as a whole includes all aspects of the propagation of optical radiation: from the generation and transmission of light signals to the development of unique functional materials, laser technologies, integrated optoelectronic devices, space and medical technology, quantum communications and light design.

ITMO University conducts a large number of studies in these areas. The University of Light Design, the School of Laser Technology and the Student Optics Laboratory (SNLO) operate at the university, where students carry out their own projects under the guidance of mentors.

Also, on the basis of the university, the Optics Museum is opened, where various optical exhibits are presented. We conducted a photo tour of the museum in one of the previous materials.

We invite bachelors, masters and specialty students in such fields of training as photonics and optoinformatics, optics, laser technology and laser technology to participate in the Olympics “I am a Professional” in the “Photonics” field. We also note instrument engineering, biotechnological systems, physics, astronomy, and others. Winners-bachelors will be able to enter the master's program of the Megafaculty of Photonics at ITMO University without entrance tests.

In 2020, applicants can choose from 14 programs of various orientations. For example, the corporate “Applied Optics”, the industrial “LED technology and optoelectronics”, the scientific “Quantum Communications and Femtotechnology”.

What will be the tasks. For the successful completion of the correspondence tour, you must have basic knowledge of the fundamental foundations of physical and geometric optics, laser radiation generation, optical material science and shaping, design, metrology and standardization.

Example of task number 1: Compare what optical phenomena are depicted in the figure? A – Rainbow, B – Mirage, C – Halo

Participants in the full-time tour will have to demonstrate systematic thinking and creativity, demonstrate project design skills. Case studies are developed in conjunction with industrial partners and are practice-oriented. Here is an example of such a task:

Example of task number 2: Optical technologies are widely used in navigation devices, in particular, laser gyroscopes, which have very high sensitivity, but are distinguished by their high cost and sufficiently large dimensions. Most applications use less sensitive but cheap fiber optic gyroscopes (FOGs).

All optical gyroscopes are based on the Sagnac effect. For counterpropagating waves propagating in opposite directions, a phase shift appears in a closed loop if this closed loop rotates with a certain angular frequency ω, namely:

$inline \Delta \phi = 2\pi \Delta L / \lambda inline$

where



– optical path difference between counterpropagating waves.

1. Derive the formulas (neglecting the relativistic effects) of the dependence of the phase difference on the area S limited by one turn of the optical fiber and the circular frequency of rotation of the VOG Ω.
2. Estimate the minimum permissible dimensions of such a fiber gyroscope (radius of its ring) if a single-mode fiber with a refractive index of n = 1.5 and a diameter of d = 1 mm is used.
3. Determine the required fiber length at the smallest possible radius if the FOG sensitivity to rotation speed, expressed in units of ΔφC / Ωμ, is 1 mrad (i.e., at Ω = Ωμ).
4. Determine the minimum required energy of the source to ensure the sensitivity defined in clause 3, that is, assume that the sensitivity of the receiver is limited by photon shot noise.

How to prepare. Students need to “pull up” quantum physics, quantum optics, solid state physics and mathematics. When preparing, view the webinars at which the representatives of the methodological commission analyze the tasks of the correspondence round of the Olympiad. For example, in the following video, Roman Grigoryevich Polozkov, a leading researcher and associate professor of the Faculty of Physics and Technology, talks about interference, diffraction, and polarization of light:

Also worth paying attention to courses on photonics from this list of MOOC.

• Registration for the qualifying stage ends on November 18.

• The online qualifying stage will be held from November 22 to December 8, but you can skip it if you successfully complete at least two online courses from the list.
• Olympics "I am a professional": official site.

• Regulations.