ECTS credits:

4 ECTS

 

Course parameters:

Language: English

Level of course: PhD course

Time of year: October-December 2021

No. of contact hours/hours in total incl. preparation, assignment(s) or the like: 20 hours / 120 hours

Capacity limits: 20 participants

 

Objectives of the course:

At the end of the course participants should be able to easily navigate through the recent literature in efficient zero-knowledge arguments.

 

Learning outcomes and competences:

At the end of the course, the student should be able to:

• understand basic information-theoretic techniques for the design of efficient arguments (multilinear extensions, codes, other polynomial-based representations)
• understand the connections between core theoretical concepts such as PCPs and interactive proofs and the efficient argument constructions in current research
• understand tradeoffs in efficiency and trust-in-security-model between different types of cryptographic assumptions for efficient arguments (ROM, Knowledge-of-exponents)
• understanding basic techniques behind impactful works in the field
• have a rough understanding of what is expensive in practice to prove and verify and the value of different computational models

 

Compulsory programme:

Attendance to 80% of the hours; a presentation on one topic; a report on some other participant’s presentation.

 

Course contents:

Lectures and participants presentations.

 

Prerequisites:

At least one graduate-level course in cryptography. Some basic familiarity with interactive proofs, cryptographic protocols and the problem of efficient zero-knowledge.

 

Name of lecturer:

Matteo Campanelli

 

Type of course/teaching methods:

Part of the course will involve lectures. For the rest of the course, participants will be asked to present a recent work in the field to the rest of the class.

The course will be designed to encourage active discussions.

 

Literature:

https://people.cs.georgetown.edu/jthaler/ProofsArgsAndZK.pdf

 

Course homepage:

https://www.notion.so/binarywhales/ZK-Seminar-Fall-21-c4db4f3064ff48ef8f0a5b7f2537f462

 

Course assessment:

Participants will be evaluated from their presentation and participation.

 

Provider:

Department of Computer Science

 

Time:

Wednesdays at 12 pm

 

Place:

Nygaard Ada Room

 

Registration:

Deadline for registration is 10 October 2021. Information regarding admission will be sent out no later than two days later.

For registration: email Matteo Campanelli (address below).

If you have any questions, please contact Matteo Campanelli, e-mail: matteo@cs.au.dk