From Nova to Magnetar: Three Years of Research with Srinath Setty

This week, Anna and Nico catch up with Srinath Setty, researcher at Microsoft. They look back at his research since his work on Nova, spanning lattice-based folding, zero-knowledge identity proofs, and lookups and memory checking, much of which traces back to his 2019 work, Spartan. The bulk of the conversation is on Magnetar, his newly released zkVM. Built only on standard hash functions, it aims to be among the most secure general-purpose zkVMs, and it also turned out to be dramatically faster than many existing systems. Srinath explains how it’s put together, where the speed comes from, and what’s still left to build. Related links:

• Magnetar: High-speed post-quantum RV64 zkVM from standard hashes
• Proof-based general-purpose computing with Magnetar(Microsoft Research blog)
• BinarySpartan: Spartan over binary fields
• Spartan: Efficient and general-purpose zkSNARKs without trusted setup
• Neo and SuperNeo: Post-quantum folding with pay-per-bit costs over small fields
• LatticeFold: A Lattice-based Folding Scheme and its Applications to Succinct Proof Systems
• Vega: Low-Latency Zero-Knowledge Proofs over Existing Credentials
• Unlocking the lookup singularity with Lasso
• Jolt: SNARKs for Virtual Machines via Lookups
• Twist and Shout: Faster memory checking arguments via one-hot addressing and increments
• Ligerito: A Small and Concretely Fast Polynomial Commitment Scheme
• Arc: Accumulation for Reed-Solomon Codes
• WARP: Linear-Time Accumulation Schemes
• Flock: Fast Proving for Batch Boolean Computations
• ZK Podcast: Nova and Beyond with Srinath Setty
• ZK Podcast: Lattices, Folding, & Symphony with Binyi Chen
• ZK Podcast: Episode 404 with Benedikt Bünz
• ZK Podcast: Episode 410 with Ron Rothblum

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