Glossary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) - A specialized integrated circuit designed for a specific application or function, offering optimized performance and efficiency by implementing dedicated hardware tailored to that specific task.
Authentication - The process of verifying the identity of a user, device, or system to ensure that it is genuine and authorized to access certain resources or information.
Aurora - Aurora is a Zero Knowledge Proof system that combines zk-SNARKs and Bulletproofs to achieve compact proofs for general-purpose computations.
AuroraLight - AuroraLight is an improvement over Aurora that achieves faster prover times and smaller proof sizes while maintaining its generality and security properties.
B
Bulletproofs - Bulletproofs are a non-interactive Zero Knowledge Proof construction that enables efficient verification of range proofs and arithmetic circuits.
C
Cryptography - The practice and study of secure communication techniques, including encryption, decryption, and various cryptographic protocols.
Completeness - The property of a Zero Knowledge Proof protocol that guarantees an honest prover can convince a verifier of a correct statement.
Commitment Scheme - A cryptographic protocol that enables a party to commit to a value without revealing it and later prove the committed value’s consistency.
Computational Zero Knowledge - The lowest level of security among the three types of Zero Knowledge proofs, ensuring that an efficient computational algorithm cannot distinguish between valid and invalid proofs within a reasonable amount of time.
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F
Fiat-Shamir Heuristic - A technique used to transform an interactive Zero Knowledge Proof into a non-interactive form by simulating the verifier’s challenges.
FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) - A reconfigurable integrated circuit that can be programmed and reprogrammed to perform a wide range of tasks, offering flexibility and customization for various applications without requiring a fixed design.
Fractal - Fractal is a non-interactive Zero Knowledge Proof system that allows for scalable and efficient verification of statements in a distributed setting.
G
Groth16 - Groth16 is a non-interactive Zero Knowledge Proof system that utilizes elliptic curve pairings to achieve succinctness and efficient verification.
H
Homomorphic Encryption - A form of encryption that allows mathematical operations to be performed on encrypted data without decrypting it.
Hardware Acceleration - The use of specialized hardware components or instructions to perform computations more efficiently than software-based approaches.
Halo - Halo is a recursive proof composition technique that enables the construction of compact Zero Knowledge Proofs for general arithmetic circuits.
Hyrax - Hyrax is a Zero Knowledge Proof system that provides efficiency and succinctness for verifying arithmetic and boolean circuit satisfiability.
I
Interactive Proof - A Zero Knowledge Proof where the prover and verifier engage in multiple rounds of communication to establish the validity of the proof.
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K
L
Ligero - Ligero is a Zero Knowledge Proof system designed specifically for blockchain applications, offering low computational and storage requirements for verification.
M
Marlin - Marlin is a Zero Knowledge Proof system that leverages recursive composition to construct large-scale Zero Knowledge Proofs with low proof sizes and verification times.
Merkle Tree - A tree data structure in cryptography that enables efficient verification of the integrity and membership of data elements.
Multi-party Computation (MPC) - A cryptographic protocol that enables multiple parties to jointly compute a function over their private inputs while preserving the privacy of those inputs, allowing them to collectively obtain the desired result without revealing individual data to each other.
N
Non-interactive Proof - A Zero Knowledge Proof where the prover generates a single proof without any interaction with the verifier.
NTT (Number Theoretic Transform) - A mathematical technique used for efficient polynomial multiplication and fast Fourier transforms in various applications such as signal processing, error correction codes, and cryptography.
O
P
Pairing-Based Cryptography - A cryptographic approach that leverages mathematical pairings to perform various operations and enable advanced cryptographic protocols.
Perfect Zero Knowledge - A level of security provided by a Zero Knowledge proof where the verifier gains no additional knowledge about the secret information being proved, except for the validity of the statement.
Plonk - Plonk (Permutation-based SNARK) is a Zero Knowledge Proof system that utilizes permutation arguments to achieve succinctness and efficiency.
Privacy - The state of being free from unauthorized intrusion, surveillance, or disclosure of personal or sensitive information.
Proof Of Knowledge - A cryptographic concept where a prover demonstrates possession of certain information or knowledge to a verifier without revealing the actual information.
Prover - The entity in a Zero Knowledge Proof protocol that possesses knowledge of a secret and aims to prove its knowledge to the verifier.
Pseudorandom Function - A pseudorandom function (PRF) is a deterministic function that takes an input and produces an output that appears random, even though it is generated by a deterministic algorithm, making it indistinguishable from a truly random function for practical purposes.
Q
QAP (Quadratic Arithmetic Programs) - QAP is a method to represent arithmetic circuits as quadratic polynomials, commonly used in Zero Knowledge Proof systems for efficient proof generation and verification.
R
R1CS (Rank-1 Constraint Systems) - R1CS is a mathematical framework used in Zero Knowledge Proof systems to represent computational problems as sets of constraints.
Redshift - Redshift is a Zero Knowledge Proof system designed for blockchain applications, offering scalability, efficiency, and post-quantum security.
Ring Signature - A cryptographic digital signature scheme that allows a user to sign a message on behalf of a group (or ring) of potential signers, while maintaining the privacy of the actual signer’s identity within the group.
S
Security - The protection of hardware, software, and data from unauthorized access, theft, damage, or disruption, aiming to maintain confidentiality and integrity.
Side-channel Attacks - Attacks that exploit unintended information leakage, such as timing, power consumption, or electromagnetic radiation, to infer secret information.
Statistical Zero Knowledge - A level of security offered by a Zero Knowledge proof where the verifier cannot distinguish between a valid proof and a false proof, except with an extremely low probability.
Sonic - Sonic (Scalable, Non-Interactive, and Compact) is a Zero Knowledge Proof system that offers scalability and efficiency for verifying large computations.
Soundness - The property of a Zero Knowledge Proof protocol that ensures an honest prover cannot convince a verifier of an incorrect statement.
Spartan - Spartan is a Zero Knowledge Proof system that achieves transparency, scalability, and post-quantum security without requiring a trusted setup.
Supersonic - Supersonic is a Zero Knowledge Proof system that provides high-performance and efficient verification of arithmetic circuits and boolean satisfiability.
T
Trusted Execution - The execution of a program or process in a secure and isolated environment, protecting it from tampering and unauthorized access.
Trusted Setup - The process of generating initial parameters for a Zero Knowledge Proof protocol, ensuring that they do not reveal any secret information.
U
V
Verifier - The entity in a Zero Knowledge Proof protocol that challenges the prover’s claim and verifies the validity of the proof without gaining knowledge of the secret.
W
Witness Indistinguishable Proof - A cryptographic proof that guarantees that given two valid proofs for the same statement, it is computationally infeasible for an adversary to distinguish which proof corresponds to the true witness.
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Z
Zero Knowledge Proof - A cryptographic protocol where a prover can demonstrate knowledge of a secret without revealing the secret itself, convincing the verifier of its validity.
Zero Knowledge Property - The property of a Zero Knowledge Proof protocol that assures the verifier learns no additional information about the secret beyond its validity.
Zk-rollups - zk-rollups, short for Zero-Knowledge Rollups, are Layer 2 scaling solutions for blockchain networks that utilize zero-knowledge proofs to aggregate and validate multiple transactions off-chain, improving scalability and reducing transaction fees while maintaining the security and trustlessness of the underlying blockchain.
zk-STARKs - Zero-Knowledge Scalable Transparent Arguments of Knowledge (zk-STARKs) are Zero Knowledge Proofs that achieve transparency and scalability without a trusted setup.
zk-SNARKs - Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge (zk-SNARKs) are Zero Knowledge Proofs that provide succinctness and non-interactivity.
ZPU - A Zero Knowledge Processing Unit (ZPU) is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designed to accelerate zero-knowledge proof computations and enhance the efficiency of cryptographic protocols.