Zero-Knowledge Proofs 

Zero-knowledge proofs are my main research interest. Imagine the common scenario where a party has some public data x, private data w, and needs to convince others that the output y = P (x, w) of a computer program P was indeed computed correctly. For instance, in the Estonian e-voting protocol, the voting server wants to convince auditors that the tally (y) is correctly computed based on the encrypted votes (x) without revealing the private votes (w). Zero-knowledge proof is a tool that allows one to show that y is correct without revealing anything else (zero-knowledge) about w.

SNARKs are particularly efficient (zero-knowledge) proofs that allow verifying the correctness of y much faster than running P. Because of their incredible speed, SNARKs have enabled applications where privacy doesn't necessarily even matter (verifiable outsourced computation, accelerating blockchains, correctness of machine learning inference, etc.).

Here are a few links for further reading:

• Quanta magazine: How Do You Prove a Secret? (for newbies)

• Zero Knowledge Proofs: An illustrated primer (gentle intro by Matthew Green) 

• Zero-knowledge rollups (application in blockchain)

• ZKP MOOC (best video series)

• Proofs, Arguments, and Zero-Knowledge (comprehensive book by Justin Thaler)

Students

Current students:

• Pritam Pal (PhD student)

• Sten-Egert Märtson (bachelor's student)

Prior students:

• Shahla Atapoor (master's student. Subsequently obtained a PhD in KU Leuven)

• Marek Pagel (bachelor's student)