Questions tagged [snarks]
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Verifiable computation examples where verification is much faster than re-execution
Verifiable computation (VC) has been practical since Pinocchio and the field has evolved significantly since.
What are some of the best examples today where computation is significantly faster than ...
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Pinocchio protocol: what if no extractability check
In Pinocchio protocol, prover submits extractability terms below so that counterfeiting fake proof is infeasible under q-PKE assumption.
But, I don't understand why it is even necessary. What kind of ...
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Pinocchio protocol: Is this equation meaning polynomial's dot product or multiplication?
In Pinocchio paper, I'm confused by the equation in section 2.2.1. (image below)
Is the product of two polynomials $v_0(x)+\sum(cv(x))$ and $w_0(x)+\sum(c_w(x))$ of dot product or just a simple ...
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Why is the SHA256 in libsnark so slow?
When I use the merkle proof example of libsnark, I find that it takes more time to calculate the merkle tree than to calculate the proof. As shown in the log below, it takes 0.04s to calculate a ...
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Extractor in knowledge-soundness vs extractor in witness-extended emulation
In the knowledge soundness definition page 8 of Groth16, it says: The extractor gets full access to the adversary’s state, including any random coins. My question is why full access? Why we just don't ...
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Can a circuit in a zk-SNARK be reversed-engineered?
The definition of zk-SNARK involves not leaking any information from the prover-verifier interaction, but what about leaking information from the circuit itself? e.g., could there be a circuit to ...
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What do we mean by "Efficient Computing" of a Span Program (SP)?
I'm reading "Quadratic Span Programs and Succinct NIZKs without PCPs" and I'm having trouble understanding the "Efficiency" of a span program.
I can see that a span program cannot ...
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What is required to verify a zk-SNARK?
I am trying to verify a zk-SNARK from a solidity contract offline, in Rust.
This is the verifying contract that checks the proof in the solidity side.
And this is the transaction that carries the ...
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zkSNARKs: Doing the setup for the Single Variable Operand Polynomial
I am reading this explanation of zkSnarks written by Maksym Petkus - http://www.petkus.info/papers/WhyAndHowZkSnarkWorks.pdf
My question is about Section 4.6.1
Setup
construct the respective operand ...
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'NIZK arguments for quadratic arithmetic programs' of '[Groth16] On the Size of Pairing-based Non-interactive Arguments'
I wonder about the CRS of NIZK argument.
I think [A]$_1$, [B]$_2$, [C]$_1$ is calculated using CRS.
Instead of calculating A, B, C first and then calculating [A]$_1$, [C]$_1$, [B]$_2$.
May I know if ...
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Proof of knowledge of constant discrete log in the bilinear setting
Consider a pairing $\mathbb{e}: \mathbb{G}_1\times \mathbb{G}_2\longrightarrow \mathbb{G}_T$ with generators $g_1$, $g_2$ for $\mathbb{G}_1$, $\mathbb{G}_2$ respectively. The groups $\mathbb{G}_1$, $\...
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zkSnarks: Ensuring that a variable has a single value across all the operations it is used in
I am reading this explanation of zkSnarks written by Maksym Petkus - http://www.petkus.info/papers/WhyAndHowZkSnarkWorks.pdf
In section 4.5, the pdf explains how to represent the following operations
$...
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zkSnarks: Why does the target polynomial $t(s)$ need to be kept a secret if it's known to both prover & verifier?
I am reading this explanation of zkSnark written by Maksym Petkus - http://www.petkus.info/papers/WhyAndHowZkSnarkWorks.pdf
The example used here is that there is a polynomial of degree 3 which the ...
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zkSNARKS: If we are already using Homomorphic Encryption/Hiding, why is the shift by $\delta$ required for Zero Knowledge?
I am reading this explanation of zkSnark written by Maksym Petkus - http://www.petkus.info/papers/WhyAndHowZkSnarkWorks.pdf
From Section 3.5
Because verifier can extract knowledge about the unknown ...
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zkSNARKS: What prevents the prover from chosing a different polynomial than the one he is expected to know
I am reading this explanation of zkSnark written by Maksym Petkus - http://www.petkus.info/papers/WhyAndHowZkSnarkWorks.pdf
Here the Prover knows a polynomial of degree 3, 2 of the solutions of the ...
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zkSNARKS - unable to understand the usage of polynomial to verify some condition
From Vitalik Buterin's Blogpost - An approximate introduction to how zk-SNARKs are possible
From the sub-topic "Comparing a polynomial to itself", I understood till here
In other words, any ...
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Proving the output of a generic function
Is there any generic construction to prove the correctness of the output of a function? In other words, is there a general way to produce a witness for the statement $y = f(x)$?
More formally, let $f: ...
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Why Zk-SNARKs are Argument of Knowledge if a Knowledge Extractor exists?
From what I know, proving the existance of a Knowledge Extractor implies perfect soundness.
So why in zk-SNARKs (and similar) we talk about Arguments of Knowledge, where the soundness property is only ...
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Are zk-STARKs a Sigma protocol? Is the communication interactive? And other doubts
I've heard that STARKS are not a non-interactive protocol, if so:
What is (briefly) the mechanism they use to operate?
Can they be considered a Sigma protocol?
Why SNARKs are not interactive, instead?...
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Why the Kate Commitment and the Algebraic Group Model is used a lot in zk-SNARKs proving system since 2019?
I am engaged in the research of zk-SNARKs. After I read some papers about zk-SNARKs, I realize the Kate Commitment and the Algebraic Group Model is used a lot since 2019. They are used in Sonic, Plonk,...
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A field element as the exponent of a group element
The R1CS constraints are expressed over finite fields. Many proofing systems, such as zk-SNARK, use prover keys such as $g^{\alpha^0}, g^{\alpha^1}, ..., g^{\alpha^n}$ where $\alpha$ is a field ...
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It is possible to verify the computation of a hash function without actually proving it in zero knowledge?
Let me first introduce the context: Let's say that we have a hash function evaluation: $$h = H(x, y),$$ where $x$ and $y$ are the public and the private input of the hash function $H$, respectively.
...
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Does libsnark support generation of a trusted setup/public parameters via MPC?
Secure Sampling of Public Parameters for Succinct Zero Knowledge Proofs
states:
We design, build, and evaluate a multi-party protocol
for securely sampling encodings of random evaluations
of certain ...
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Definition of Circuit Satisfiability In The Context of zk-SNARKs
A standard theorem is that boolean circuit satisfiability is NP-complete (shown in CLRS, for example).
I am interested in what these statements formally mean.
From CLRS, I can cite that
$$\text{...
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138
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How does one construct a SNARK circuit for proving the knowledge of a SHA256 pre-image?
Usually one explains how the R1CS/QAPs and SNARKs work using examples of circuits with multiplication and addition nodes, and constructing polynomials from that is relatively straightforward. SHA-2 ...
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Which is the relation between Zero-Knowledge Proofs of Knowledge and circuits?
With the risen popularity of Zero-Knowledge Proofs of Knowledge (ZKPoKs) such as Pinocchio, Groth16 and Sonic, to name some ZKPoKs that are popularly known as zk-SNARKs, I got engaged to understand ...
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ZK-SNARK basics: knowing t(x), what prevents the prover from creating random h(x) to forge L, R, and O
After reading a number of ZK-SNARK explainers from here, here, and here, I still don't understand a few things.
The setup of the algorithm uses QAP to calculate polynomial P(x) = L(x) * R(x) - O(x), ...
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IS zk-SNARK not suitable for constructing anonymous authentication scheme?
zk-SNARK was a powerful tool for privacy-respecting e-cash. However, recent years, in the literatures about anonymous authentication scheme, such as group signatures, anonymous credential, blind ...
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Why it is said that “zk-SNARKs need a trusted setup” to work?
What is the meaning of a "trusted setup" in this context? It is often said all around that zk-STARKs and Bulletproofs does not require a trusted setup. How do zk-STARKs and Bulletproofs ...
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CRS vs SRS in zk-SNARK
Are Common Reference String (CRS) and Structured Reference String (SRS) is the same in preprocessing phase of zk-SNARK? Is there any difference between them?
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Hash and (MAC) based signatures using zk-SNARK
I was wondering if we could use any general symmetric key MAC, a collision resistant hash $H$ and zk-SNARK (or any general NIZK scheme) to construct a signature scheme. I have a MAC key $k$, which is ...
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Construction of R1CS vs QAP
I have been following the medium post of Vitalik, where he shows step by step how to convert program --> Circuit --> R1CS --> QAP.
I am aware of the Pinocchio protocol, where they utilize the ...
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Difference between a Polynomial Opening & a Polynomial Commitment
Going through the literature led me to think I understood the difference between these two things, but thinking about I am not actually certain. Could you help me correct my definitions of these two ...
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Efficiently prove the correctness of Paillier encryption in or "outside" a zk-SNARK
I'm working with a zk-SNARK library [1] that allows me to prove the correctness of arbitrary arithmetic circuits, and I now want to use these zk-SNARKs to prove that some Paillier [2] ciphertext $c$ ...
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How to construct a circuit in zkSNARK
I have a few questions about how to use zk-snark. Since the basic logic of using zk-snark is:
using a circuit to represent a problem,
generate an R1CS from the circuit,
transform R1CS to QAP and then ...
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Conditional decryption
Is it possible for one party to encrypt some data and have another party (unknown to the first party) view that original data if a certain condition is met?
I cannot find any information about this ...
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libsnark generator toxic waste
I'm looking through the test and examples of libsnark, let's take for example here:
https://github.com/christianlundkvist/libsnark-tutorial/blob/master/src/test-gadget.cpp
at line 19 there's:
...
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two-to-one hash in libsnark, what is it "exactly"?
I'm reviewing this test which prepares a zero knowledge proof of the preimage of an hash:
https://github.com/mariogemoll/libsnark-tutorial/blob/sha256/src/test-knowledge-of-preimage.cpp
In my (wrong) ...
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Fixed variable in Groth16
In the paper On the Size of Pairing-based Non-interactive Arguments by Jens Groth, it is always referred in the equations to satisfy that $a_0 = 1$ and the others $a_1, ..., a_m \in \mathbb{F}$.
I am ...
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Can zksnark prove DLP?
Can one use zksnark to prove the knowledge of a discrete logarithm? In another word, can zksnark (R1CS) encode exponentiation?
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Why invent new hash functions for zero-knowledge proofs?
Recently, new hash functions were invented. Their primary purpose is serving the needs of zero-knowledge proof systems. I'm talking about Poseidon-256, Starkad-256, etc. See the paper.
What is the ...
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Examples of flattening code to create an R1CS
When preparing logic for use in a zkSnark, one needs to first "flatten" the code so it can be written as a series of constraints.
I'm finding it hard to find examples of doing this. For instance, how ...
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Converting R1CS to QAP - checking the last step
from reading Vitalik Buterin's excellent post on creating a QAP from an R1CS, I understood to translate a function into three groups of vectors, the number of vectors being the number of "gates" or ...
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Is security of zk-SNARKS related to the size of the arithmetic circuit they evaluate?
In the context of zk-SNARKS, we are given an arithmetic circuit $C$, public outputs $y_1, \ldots, y_n = \mathbf{y}$ and some public inputs $x_1, \ldots, x_ℓ$. The prover wants to prove knowledge of ...