Alan Szepieniec, researcher at Nervos, discusses the Supersonics paper, new hash functions, and the Marvelous universe. They explore trap doors in public keys, transparent snarks, dark compilers, and the historical evolution of ciphers. They also delve into grobner basis attacks and the world of cryptography research.
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Quick takeaways
Supersonic is a new proof system that offers efficient verification without a trusted setup, utilizing class groups in polynomial commitment schemes.
The Marvelous hash function universe, including Vision and Rescue, optimizes for arithmetic complexity and is designed for efficiency in zero knowledge proofs.
Deep dives
Summary: Alan Schupienitz's Background in Cryptography
Alan Schupienitz, a researcher at Nervos and co-author of several papers, including the Supersonics and Marvelous Papers, discusses his journey into cryptography. He shares his early interest in programming and encryption, studying applied discrete algebra at university, and his decision to do a PhD in post-quantum cryptography. Alan also explores the importance of cryptography in enhancing privacy and human freedom.
Summary: Supersonic and Transparent Snarks
Alan explains the motivation behind Supersonic, a new proof system that provides efficient verification without a trusted setup. He discusses the use of class groups in polynomial commitment schemes as an alternative to pairing-based groups, highlighting the benefits and trade-offs. Alan also mentions the competition between Leuven and Luxembourg universities in developing Stark-friendly hash functions, aiming to improve the security and efficiency of traditional hash functions.
Summary: The Marvelous Hash Function Universe
The podcast delves into the Marvelous hash function universe, focusing on their applications in zero knowledge proofs, multi-party computations, and other cryptographic protocols. Alan describes the Marvelous hash functions, Vision and Rescue, which optimize for arithmetic complexity and are designed to be efficient in zero knowledge proofs. He also explains the ongoing research and challenges in assessing the security of these new hash functions.
Summary: Future Perspectives and Collaboration
The episode concludes with a discussion on the future of cryptography and the need for further research in areas like post-quantum security systems, machine learning in multi-party computations, and thresholded deterministic signatures. Alan invites interested individuals to join cryptography research efforts and highlights the importance of collaboration in advancing the field.
In this week’s episode, we catchup with Alan Szepieniec, a researchers at Nervos and co-author of the Supersonics paper & the Marvellous family of Hash Functions (which specify the Vision/Rescue cyphers). We chat about his past work in cryptography, how the Supersonics paper came to be, and dive into the new generation of hash functions emerging, including the Marvelous universe.
For more info, please have a look at these resources and past episodes!