Anna and Guillermo chat with Justin Thaler, from Georgetown and a16z, about his SNARKs article misconceptions, zkVM Jolt, and community contributions. They cover the importance of precision in defining ZK systems, Fiat-Shamir transformations, and advancements in small characteristic fields for SNARK performance. The discussion also delves into the Jolt system and polynomial IOP innovations, emphasizing community involvement and future developments.
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Quick takeaways
Lasso enables efficient verification of committed values against a pre-determined function, streamlining the process for data parallel computation.
Jolt is a versatile zkVM tailored for RISC-V architecture, emphasizing flexibility in handling different commitment schemes and simplifying verification processes.
Deep dives
Lasso - Efficient Lookup Arguments
Lasso is a lookup argument that allows a prover to efficiently prove that a set of committed values are outputs of a predetermined function. It is designed for highly data parallel computation, where the prover proves that each committed value equals the function's output. Lasso streamlines the verification process for verifying multiple committed values against a defined function.
Jolt - ZKVM for RISC-V Instruction Set
Jolt is a zkVM specifically tailored for the RISC-V instruction set architecture. It enables a prover to demonstrate the correct execution of a computer program with a specified witness using RISC-V bytecode. Jolt aligns with the concept pioneered by the RISC-V Zero project, leveraging the benefits of code already proven and established within the research community.
Introduction of Lasso and Its Benefits
Lasso is introduced as a solution that enhances the efficiency of matrix vector multiplication by ensuring that the prover commits to small values instead of larger ones. This approach draws inspiration from the Spartan paper of 2019-2020, enhancing performance and minimizing commitments. In practical applications, utilizing Lasso eliminates the need for prover commitment to lookup tables, making it a unique and efficient solution.
Jolt's Unique Approach and Components
Jolt is described as a versatile ZKVM, emphasizing its flexibility to accommodate different commitment schemes like Biniase while maintaining its core functionality. The polynomial IOP in Jolt streamlines the verification process by reducing multiple evaluations of a function to a single efficient computation. Key components of Jolt include handling execution through Lasso lookup arguments, managing random access memory with offline memory checking techniques, and using R1CS for decoding, promoting simplicity and powerful functionality.
The group dive into a handful of points from Justin’s ‘17 Misconceptions about SNARKs’ article, discussing if his views have changed since it was published back in 2023 and whether some points have become common knowledge since the article first rippled through the ZK community. They then dive into his new zkVM Jolt, which was initially described along with Lasso in 2023, but has now been implemented and is open to contributions from the community.
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