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Photometric Properties of Jupiter Trojans Detected by the Dark Energy Survey

The Jupiter Trojans are a large group of asteroids that are coorbiting with Jupiter near its L4 and L5 Lagrange points. The study of Jupiter Trojans is crucial for testing different models of planet formation that are directly related to our understanding of solar system evolution. In this work, we select known Jupiter Trojans listed by the Minor Planet Center from the full six years data set (Y6) of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) to analyze their photometric properties. The DES data allow us to study Jupiter Trojans with a fainter magnitude limit than previous studies in a homogeneous survey with griz band measurements. We extract a final catalog of 573 unique Jupiter Trojans. Our sample include 547 asteroids belonging to L5. This is one of the largest analyzed samples for this group. By comparing with the data reported by other surveys we found that the color distribution of L5 Trojans is similar to that of L4 Trojans. We find that L5 Trojans’ g − i and g − r colors become less red with fainter absolute magnitudes, a trend also seen in L4 Trojans. Both the L4 and L5 clouds consistently show such a color–size correlation over an absolute magnitude range 11 < H < 18. We also use DES colors to perform taxonomic classifications. C- and P-type asteroids outnumber D-type asteroids in the L5 Trojans DES sample, which have diameters in the 5–20 km range. This is consistent with the color–size correlation.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Detecting Hardware Trojans in PCBs Using Side Channel Loopbacks

Malicious modifications to printed circuit boards (PCBs) are known as hardware Trojans. These may arise when malafide third parties alter PCBs premanufacturing or postmanufacturing and are a concern in safety-critical applications, such as industrial control systems. In this research, we examine how data-driven detection can be utilized to detect such Trojans at run-time. We develop a flexible and reconfigurable PCB test bed derived from the popular open-source programmable logic controller (PLC) platform “OpenPLC.” We then develop a Trojan detection framework, which utilizes and analyzes multimodal side channels (e.g., timing, magnetic signals, power, and hardware performance counters). We consider defender-configurable input/output (I/O) loopback test, comparison with design-document baselines, and magnetometer-aided monitoring of system behavior under defender-chosen excitations. Our approach can extend to golden-free environments. Golden (known-good) versions of the PCBs are assumed not available, but design information, datasheets, and component-level data are available. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach on a range of Trojans instantiated in the test bed.

42 ENGINEERING↗

An Integrated Testbed for Trojans in Printed Circuit Boards with Fuzzing Capabilities

This paper showcases an all-in-one testing environment that combines Trojan detection and fuzzing capabilities for printed circuit boards using the OpenPLC “NYU Trojan Edition” and a dedicated Trojan detection framework. The demo system is self-contained and equipped with two OpenPLC-based boards (one with a Trojan and one without), and automated tools for inserting the Trojan and collecting side-channel data. We developed a graphical user interface for interactive Trojan selection, data visualization, and anomaly detection analysis.

Trojan detection, anomaly detection, PCB, timing l↗

On the Detection of Habitable Trojan Planets in the Kepler Circumbinary Systems

We present the results of a study of the prospect of detecting habitable Trojan planets in the Kepler Habitable Zone circumbinary planetary systems (Kepler-16, -47, -453, -1647, and -1661). We integrated the orbits of 10,000 separate N-body systems (N = 4, 6), each with a one Earth-mass body in a randomly selected orbit near the L {sub 4} and L {sub 5} Lagrangian points of the host HZ circumbinary planet. We find that stable Trojan planets are restricted to a narrow range of semimajor axes in all five systems and limited to small eccentricities in Kepler-16, -47, and -1661. To assess the prospect of the detection of these habitable Trojan planets, we calculated the amplitudes of the variations they cause in the transit timing of their host bodies. Results show that the mean amplitudes of the transit timing variations (TTVs) correlate with the mass of the transiting planet and range from 70 minutes for Kepler-16b to 390 minutes for Kepler-47c. Our analysis indicates that the TTVs of the circumbinary planets caused by these Trojan bodies fall within the detectable range of timing precision obtained from the Kepler telescope’s long-cadence data. The latter points to Kepler data as a viable source to search for habitable Trojan planets.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

MEGASIM: Distribution and Detection of Earth Trojan Asteroids

Abstract Using N -body simulation results from the MEGASIM data set, we present spatial distributions of Earth Trojan Asteroids and assess the detectability of the population in current and next-generation ground-based astronomical surveys. Our high-fidelity Earth Trojan Asteroid (ETA) distribution maps show never-before-seen high-resolution spatial features that evolve over timescales up to 1 Gyr. The simulation was synchronized to start times and timelines of two observational astronomy surveys: (1) the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) and (2) the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). We calculate upper limits for the number of ETAs potentially observable with both the ZTF and LSST surveys. Due to the Yarkovsky Effect, we find no stable ETAs on billion-year timescales likely to be detected by any ETA survey, as no C-type or S-type ETAs (with H < 22 and H < 24, respectively) are likely to be stable on billion-year timescales, and ETAs large enough to remain stable on billion-year timescales are very rare relative to the rest of the ETA population. We find that a twilight ETA survey will not drastically increase the likelihood of individual ETA detection, but it would provide orders of magnitude more observations of select ETA populations. The null detection to date from ZTF restricts the potential ETA population to hundreds of objects larger than 100 m (at H ≈ 22), while a null detection by LSST will further restrict the ETA population to tens of objects larger than 100 m.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A Survey on the Design, Detection, and Prevention of Pre-Silicon Hardware Trojans

The complexity of the semiconductor design lifecycle and globalized manufacturing process creates concern over the threat of deliberate malicious alterations, or hardware Trojans, being inserted into microelectronic designs. This has resulted in a significant corpus of hardware Trojan research including Trojan design and benchmarking efforts and development of corresponding metrics and detection and prevention techniques, over the last two decades. In this survey, we first highlight efforts in Trojan design and benchmarking, followed by a cataloging of seminal and recent works in Trojan detection and prevention and their accompanied metrics. Given the volume of literature in this field, this survey considers only pre-silicon techniques. We make this distinction between pre- and post-silicon to properly scope and provide appropriate context into the capabilities of existing hardware Trojan literature. Each major section (design, prevention, and detection) is accompanied by insights, and common pitfalls, which we highlight can be addressed by future research.

42 ENGINEERING↗

A Search for L4 Earth Trojan Asteroids Using a Novel Track-before-detect Multiepoch Pipeline

We report Earth Trojan asteroids are an important but elusive population that co-orbit with Earth at the L4 and L5 Lagrange points. There is only one known, but a large population is theoretically stable and could provide insight into our solar system’s past and present, as well as planetary defense. In this paper, we present the results of an Earth Trojan survey that uses a novel shift-and-stack detection method on 2 nights of data from the Dark Energy Camera. We find no new Earth Trojan asteroids. We calculate an upper limit on the population that is consistent with previous searches despite much less sky coverage. Additionally, we elaborate on previous upper-limit calculations using current asteroid population statistics and an extensive asteroid simulation to provide the most up-to-date population constraints. We find an L4 Earth Trojan population of N ET < 1 for H = 13.93, N ET < 10 for H = 16, and N ET < 938 for H = 22.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

PRISTINE: An Emulation Platform for PCB-Level Hardware Trojans

Printed circuit Boards (PCBs) are becoming increasingly vulnerable to malicious design alteration, also known as Trojan attacks, due to a distributed business model that often involves various untrusted parties. Such attacks can be mounted at various stages in the PCB life cycle. The relative ease of alteration of PCB hardware even after fabrication (due to physical access to surface-mounted critical components and traces) makes them attractive for an adversary to manipulate their functional/physical behavior for malicious intent. There is a growing need to explore viable Trojan attacks in a PCB, analyze their functional and physical characteristics (e.g., impact on power or delay), and study the effectiveness of countermeasures against these attacks. While simulation-based approaches for PCB Trojan insertion are effective at creating a large population of possible Trojans, they fail to provide functional feasibility analysis with a realistic workload for a trigger circuit. Also, they cannot estimate a Trojan’s side-channel footprint due to the unavailability of physical models of diverse PCB components. To address these deficiencies, in this paper, we present PRISTINE, a PCB-level emulation system for any integrity or physical tampering issues, specifically, hardware Trojan insertion. The need for building such an emulation platform to resolve PCB trust issues in the supply chain is also surveyed and discussed. Both custom Hardware Hacking (HaHa) boards and multiple commercial PCBs are then used to test the ability of the proposed system to emulate various hardware Trojans specially designed to exploit board-specific hardware characteristics. Experimental results on emulated board-level Trojans show that a wide range of Trojans can be successfully activated, thus enabling the expected payload effects on both types of boards to be studied and quantified. The resulting data are further analyzed to create PCB-level Trojan benchmarks. In particular, a comparative evaluation of the experimental results is used to propose a risk level metric that quantifies the probability of detection and degree of payload impact of each Trojan on a given commercial PCB.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Complete Evaluation on Advanced Reactor Machine Learning Subversion Attacks (Final)

Navigating through the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in nuclear reactors and their Instrumentation and Control (I&C) systems demands a careful, deliberate journey. AI’s capability to manage massive datasets and streamline control systems has indeed carved out a significant role in various sectors, including nuclear energy. However, while AI, and particularly Large Language Models (LLMs), bring a lot to the table in terms of operational efficiency and anomaly detection, they also expose the sector to a new breed of cybersecurity threats, like Inference Attacks, Adversarial Attacks, and Trojan Attacks. This guide is designed to be a straightforward manual, diving deep into the intertwining worlds of AI and cybersecurity within nuclear reactors, and tailoring insights for three crucial audiences: I&C Vendors/Developers, Nuclear Regulators, and Nuclear Reactor Operators and Cyber Defense Teams. (1) Section 2, directed at I&C Vendors/Developers, will provide a clear and focused look at several cybersecurity attacks, offering practical recommendations and detailed scenarios related to AI cybersecurity. This section isn’t just about identifying problems but also about giving solid, usable solutions. (2) Section 3, meant for Nuclear Regulators, gets straight to the point about regulations, policy suggestions, and guidelines that are needed to lay down a robust, secure, and ethical foundation for the application of AI in nuclear operations. The focus is on making sure that everything adheres to international standards and laws while being practicable and clear-cut. (3) Section 4, aimed at Nuclear Reactor Operators and Cyber Defense Teams, offers an exhaustive exploration and technical reports, with clear recommendations and scenario analyses vital to protect operational environments and guarantee the secure application of AI in nuclear reactor operations. The goal is simple: as we step into an era where AI becomes a fundamental element of our technological and energy infrastructures, this guide is here to act as a clear, direct handbook, ensuring that AI is implemented within the nuclear sector in a manner that is secure, responsible, and practical. It’s about striking a balance – optimizing the undeniable benefits offered by AI while securing and shielding against potential cyber threats as we move through this new and complex landscape.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Introducing MEGASIM: Multitudinous Earth Greek/Trojan Asteroid SIMulation*

Abstract We announce the completion of two new Earth Trojan Asteroid (ETA) simulations. ETAs co-orbit the Sun with Earth and remain loosely bound to the fourth or fifth Lagrange points. To date, two ETAs have been detected (2010 TK 7 and 2020 XL 5 ); however, based on their orbits, these are likely temporary captures rather than members of a primordial population. The motivation for our simulations is multi-faceted: (1) the lack of a detected population despite literature claims of stability over the age of the solar system, (2) ETAs are important for both solar system science and planetary defense, and (3) the proximity of ETAs makes them prime candidates for space exploration missions. These simulations are of extremely high fidelity, large in number and long in simulation time. We will be releasing a series of papers based upon these simulations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Autonomous System Subversion Tactics: Prototypes and Recommended Countermeasures

One of the fielding requirements for Advanced and Small Modular Reactors (AR/SMR) is the ability to support remote and autonomous operations. Autonomous Control Systems (ACS) are found on platforms such as Autonomous Space Vehicles, Cruise Missiles, and advanced driver-assistance systems. Each of these ACS implementations depends upon a set of decision support subsystems responsible for supporting Autonomous Mission Managers (names vary based upon field and author preferences). These Autonomous Mission Managers receive inputs from system sensors (e.g., LIDAR collection from an automobile travelling down a street; transients from a nuclear reactor), and perform a set of classifications (e.g., Red Traffic Light; Small Pedestrian at 10m; Load Rejection; Single Coolant Pump Trip), and then use these classifications in combination with recommendation algorithms to achieve platform goals (e.g., Stop the Vehicle at the Traffic Light, Avoid the Small Pedestrian; Trip the Reactor to prevent a Safety Event). The design, implementation, and fielding of an ACS capability will alter the cyber-attack surface such that existing risk management plans will need to be updated to include how to protect and defend against data-science and decision-support-system attack classes. These attack classes would include protection of the design and training environments where algorithm selection and testing and training data would be obvious attack vectors. These attack classes would also require an informed set of detection and response procedures to identify anomalous behaviors and document best practices for anomaly assessment and vulnerability mitigation and remediation. Last year we published a Cyber Threat Assessment Methodology for Autonomous and Remote Operations for AR/SMRs along with a companion publication on Cyber Attack and Defense Use Cases. The focus of the methodology was on describing and enumerating ACS processes, components, and functions such that security engineers could: evaluate subversion options against the target; identify threat actor attributes and capabilities derived from each subversion option; and identify security controls and response countermeasures. The Use Cases document offered detailed methodology examples including an assessment of a Military Base SMR, an Autonomous System Decision Loop, and implementation of AR/SMR Machine Learning algorithms. Our proposal at the end of last year was to focus on implementation of subversion prototypes related to the last Use Case area: AR/SMR Machine Learning (ML) Algorithms. We included six attack scenarios in our Use Cases paper: a Poisoning Attack against ML functions implemented using an FPGA; a Trojaning Attack against ML classifiers exploiting the excitability of Nuclear Engineers; a Backdooring Attack against ML Training environments to ensure persistence of an attack vector; a False Positive Evasion Attack against multi-factor Access Control Systems using clever inputs; an Inference Attack against ML models by an Insider with access to the Operational environment; and an Adversarial Reprogramming Attack against a Material Access Control Video Surveillance System. At the beginning of this year these six attack scenarios were provided to our research teams at Georgia Tech and Idaho State University and each team successfully implemented a subversion attack against a ML implementation to include transient misclassifications. While this is a notable outcome from this type of research, this paper offers the reader insight into not only how to structure and execute these types of attacks, but into the thought process behind how the researcher investigated the problem space, performed initial algorithm implementation, and the trial-and-error behind arriving at the successful subversion prototypes. We include in this paper a set of associated Scenarios on how these subversion prototypes could be implemented and an initial set of guidance for AR/SMR architects, Nuclear Regulators, and Cyber Defenders to implement awareness and defense capabilities into their current operational portfolios.

42 ENGINEERING↗

A Deep and Wide Twilight Survey for Asteroids Interior to Earth and Venus

We are conducting a survey using twilight time on the Dark Energy Camera with the Blanco 4 m telescope in Chile to look for objects interior to Earth's and Venus' orbits. To date we have discovered two rare Atira/Apohele asteroids, 2021 LJ4 and 2021 PH27, which have orbits completely interior to Earth's orbit. We also discovered one new Apollo-type Near Earth Object (NEO) that crosses Earth's orbit, 2022 AP7. Two of the discoveries have diameters ≳1 km. 2022 AP7 is likely the largest Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) discovered in about eight years. To date we have covered 624 square degrees of sky near to and interior to the orbit of Venus. The average images go to 21.3 mag in the r band, with the best images near 22nd mag. Our new discovery 2021 PH27 has the smallest semimajor axis known for an asteroid, 0.4617 au, and the largest general relativistic effects (53 arcsec/century) known for any body in the solar system. The survey has detected ~15% of all known Atira NEOs. We put strong constraints on any stable population of Venus co-orbital resonance objects existing, as well as the Atira and Vatira asteroid classes. These interior asteroid populations are important to complete the census of asteroids near Earth, including some of the most likely Earth impactors that cannot easily be discovered in other surveys. Comparing the actual population of asteroids found interior to Earth and Venus with those predicted to exist by extrapolating from the known population exterior to Earth is important to better understand the origin, composition, and structure of the NEO population.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗