- Start Date:
June 12, 2018
- Event Start Time:
2:00 PM
- Event End Time:
3:00 PM
- Organizers:
Lazaros Gallos
- Seminar Series:
REU Seminar
- Presenter(s):
Muthu Venkitasubramaniam - University of Rochester
- Event Location:
DIMACS Seminar room
- Abstract:
Succinct non-interactive zero-knowledge (ZK) argument of knowledge or zk-SNARKs, a variant of ZK proof systems, have recently gained a lot of attention as a tool that enables anonymity and integrity in blockchain technologies and forms the backbone of the Zcash cryptocurrency. However, the current (efficient) solutions either rely on trusted setup or make heavy use of public-key primitives and/or complex combinatorial objects (eg, probabilistically checkable proofs).
We design and implement a simple zero-knowledge argument protocol for arbitrary statements (i.e., NP) whose communication complexity is proportional to the square-root of the verification circuit size. The protocol can be based on any collision-resistant hash function. Alternatively, it can be made non-interactive in the random oracle model, yielding concretely efficient zk-SNARKs that do not require a trusted setup or public-key cryptography.
Our protocol is attractive not only for very large verification circuits but also for moderately large circuits (Boolean or Arithmetic) that arise in applications.
I will describe some applications where our zero-knowledge argument will improve the state-of-the-art and present some on-going work.
