Comparative study of diverse zero-knowledge argument systems

Abstract

Cryptography and complexity theory have gained a lot of importance because of zero-knowledge proofs. The motive behind zero-knowledge proofs are to provide an obfuscation to the verifier, so that the verifier will not understand the information sent by the prover. Zero-knowledge proofs are normally used to verify a prover's theorem to a verifier, in such a way that the verifier will not be able to discover any supplementary evidence other than the proof given to him. An enigmatic conception was formalized, that lead to the formation zero-knowledge proof systems. In this paper, we have reviewed different zero-knowledge argument / proof techniques. We have also reviewed the proof system implications in the presence of malicious prover and malicious verifier. Examples related to zero-knowledge argument systems are also given.