Block cipherIn cryptography, a block cipher is a deterministic algorithm that operates on fixed-length groups of bits, called blocks. Block ciphers are the elementary building blocks of many cryptographic protocols. They are ubiquitous in the storage and exchange of data, where such data is secured and authenticated via encryption. A block cipher uses blocks as an unvarying transformation. Even a secure block cipher is suitable for the encryption of only a single block of data at a time, using a fixed key.
Linear algebraLinear algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning linear equations such as: linear maps such as: and their representations in vector spaces and through matrices. Linear algebra is central to almost all areas of mathematics. For instance, linear algebra is fundamental in modern presentations of geometry, including for defining basic objects such as lines, planes and rotations. Also, functional analysis, a branch of mathematical analysis, may be viewed as the application of linear algebra to spaces of functions.
Affine hullIn mathematics, the affine hull or affine span of a set S in Euclidean space Rn is the smallest affine set containing S, or equivalently, the intersection of all affine sets containing S. Here, an affine set may be defined as the translation of a vector subspace. The affine hull aff(S) of S is the set of all affine combinations of elements of S, that is, The affine hull of the empty set is the empty set. The affine hull of a singleton (a set made of one single element) is the singleton itself.
Bent functionIn the mathematical field of combinatorics, a bent function is a Boolean function that is maximally non-linear; it is as different as possible from the set of all linear and affine functions when measured by Hamming distance between truth tables. Concretely, this means the maximum correlation between the output of the function and a linear function is minimal. In addition, the derivatives of a bent function are balanced Boolean functions, so for any change in the input variables there is a 50 percent chance that the output value will change.
