Title: Compositional Transfer in Neural World Models via Symbolic Law Discovery Core Thesis This research establishes a mathematically grounded paradigm for Modular World Modeling, where physical invariants are recovered as additive vector fields rather than monolithically memorized. We prove that by framing learning as Tangent-Space Residual Superposition, neural networks can internalize isolated physical laws that compose zero-shot to predict complex, unseen multi-physics environments. Key Breakthroughs & Upgrades The Compositional Scaling Law (2D to 12D) Our experiments reveal a fundamental divergence in high-dimensional scaling. While monolithic models suffer from "Baseline Washout" and entanglement, our modular ensembles maintain physical integrity across 12-dimensional manifolds. In chaotic triple-force environments, the modular framework achieves a 6.5× reduction in trajectory MSE ($71.5 \times 10^{-4}$ vs. $470.2 \times 10^{-4}$ for the monolith). Causal Discovery: Active Gradient Conflict ($\rho \approx -0.99$) We provide the first empirical proof identifying the causal driver of monolithic failure. Gradient alignment analysis reveals that monolithic models are trapped in a state of Active Gradient Sabotage, where the update required for one force (e.g., Gravity) almost perfectly cancels out the update for another (e.g., Spring). Our framework bypasses this bottleneck by isolating gradients in tangent space, ensuring 100% of task-specific knowledge is preserved. Benchmark vs. Physics-Informed Neural Operators (PINO) A head-to-head comparison with the PINO paradigm reveals a fundamental Compositional Utility Gap. While PINOs are powerful solvers for specific partial differential equations, they fail the Zero-Shot test because solution operators are inherently non-additive. Our framework is not only capable of additive operator composition but is also 2.5× faster at inference and provides a direct path to SINDy Symbolic Discovery (99.25% recovery accuracy). Hierarchical Physical Discovery The framework scales hierarchically, enabling the unsupervised decomposition of environments into continuous dynamics (gravity) and discrete contact events. This allowed the discovery of hidden physical constants, such as the coefficient of restitution ($\epsilon=0.80$), without target-domain supervision. Scientific Impact These results transform world modeling from a holistic storage problem into a sparse algebraic retrieval problem. By bridging the gap between black-box simulation and verifiable symbolic laws, this work provides a scalable roadmap toward interpretable Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) that respects the structural symmetries of the physical universe.
South Africa’s experience shows how participatory sustainability models can translate climate goals into locally led action across very different contexts. This chapter synthesizes evidence from urban Tshwane and rural Limpopo to examine how community empowerment, inclusive governance, and co-creation improve resilience while advancing multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In Tshwane, collaborative planning through the Integrated Development Plan, a climate action plan to 2050, and programmes such as the Pretoria East Urban Biosphere Reserve and school-based climate initiatives combined citizen science, green infrastructure, and nature-based solutions to restore ecosystems, strengthen water and energy security, and mainstream net-zero building standards. In Limpopo, the community-led Multiple-Use Services model and the Giyani Local-Scale Climate Resilience Programme paired Indigenous knowledge with technical support to co-design low-cost water systems, deploy solar-powered boreholes and small treatment units, and build local capacity for monitoring and maintenance. A six-step participatory framework underpinned both cases, from joint problem definition through implementation and skills transfer, with Innovation Forums enabling representation of women and youth and improving accountability. Comparative analysis highlights common enablers (trusted intermediaries, transparent budgeting, citizen science, and blended finance) and barriers (fragmented mandates, uneven data, limited digital access, and funding continuity). Policy recommendations include institutionalising community-led mechanisms in municipal processes, scaling nature-based and MUS approaches where appropriate, investing in skills and open data, and creating fit-for-purpose finance that matches local capabilities. The South African lessons offer scalable, context-sensitive pathways for empowering communities to climate-proof urban and rural systems.
Sustainability and Climate Change Governance
Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development
Let $ξ$ be the stationary occupation field generated by a Poisson system of independent simple symmetric random walks on $\mathbb Z$ in space--time dimension $1+1$. For a finite set $A\subset\mathbb Z$, we consider the classical fixed-region observables $W_N(A)$, the cumulative occupation of $A$ up to time $N$, and $D_N(A)$, the number of distinct particles visiting $A$ up to time $N$. We prove quantitative central limit theorems for both observables, with Wasserstein rate of order $N^{-1/4}$. In addition, we introduce an independent nearest-neighbour random walk $S=(S_n,\,n\ge 0)$ on $\mathbb Z$ with non-zero drift and sample the field along this ballistic path. For a fixed polynomial observable $φ(x)=\sum_{j=0}^k β_j x^j, β_k\neq 0$, of degree $k\in \mathbb N$, we consider the partial sums $Y_{N,φ}=\sum_{n=1}^N φ(ξ(n,S_n)).$ We prove a Wasserstein bound of order $N^{-1/2}$ for the normal approximation of the standardized $Y_{N,φ}$. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first quantitative normal approximation result for polynomial functionals of the Poisson occupation field sampled along a random walk path. The drift induces an effective decorrelation of the sampled environment, leading to a substantial improvement over fixed-region sampling. The proofs rely on a representation of $ξ$ as a Poisson functional on path space and on the Malliavin--Stein method for Poisson functionals.
Modern digital financial systems continuously face the fundamental trilemma of transaction confidentiality, computational efficiency, and cryptographic security. While existing blockchain technologies have made significant progress in security and decentralization, they are limited in ensuring confidentiality of financial information due to their public distributed ledger structure. To overcome these limitations, we present Epsilon, an innovative protocol that fundamentally addresses this complexity by directly combining Elliptic Curve-based Partially Homomorphic Encryption with parallel processing architectures. This paper introduces the Cryptora Protocol, a complete end-to-end operational framework that implements a two-tiered architecture where transaction processing is performed off-chain in a peer-to-peer manner, with results recorded on smart contract-based on-chain distributed ledgers. Our experimental results demonstrate that Epsilon achieves 500,000 TPS with end-to-end latency of 50-100ms while maintaining strong cryptographic guarantees including semantic security, unlinkability, and double-spending resistance.
Palm leaf manuscripts have rich sources of knowledge and information reflecting cultural, historical, and linguistic knowledge. Extracting information from palm leaf manuscripts poses significant challenges for preservation and access, as they are fragile in nature. We propose an advanced multimodal deep learning framework for the digitization, character reconstruction, and decentralized federated learning of palm leaf manuscripts. The proposed approach integrates Transformer-based OCR models (TrOCR, LayoutLM), Vision Transformers (ViTs), and Contrastive Language-Image Pre-training (CLIP) to enhance character recognition for damaged and missing characters in the manuscripts. Natural Language Processing Algorithms are implemented to restore incomplete or faded characters while preserving the originality of the manuscripts. To ensure secure and decentralized access, we employ a blockchain-based federated learning system where metadata, translations, and reconstructed text are securely stored on a Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) blockchain ledger. Federated learning across distributed nodes minimizes the centralized dependencies while enabling real-time collaborative OCR model updates. Scalability is ensured by Docker and Kubernetes where real-time processing is done across distributed nodes. Experimental results demonstrate superior OCR accuracy (96.3%), improved character restoration fidelity (92.7%), and enhanced blockchain security with minimal overhead (4.2%), outperforming traditional methods. The proposed method stores the manuscripts in a digitized form, providing easy access for researchers and scientists globally. The proposed work unlocks the hidden treasures, knowledge and information from the cultural treasures. Results obtained show that the efficiency and scalability of the proposed approach paves a path into the digital era by enhancing cultural preservation.
Blockchain technology has been widely heralded as a transformative tool capable of establishing trust in digitized supply chains through cryptographic finance, immutability, and decentralized ledgers. However, empirical evidence and recent analyses suggest that these technological mechanisms alone are insufficient to generate holistic trust among supply chain stakeholders. This study critically examined why blockchain adoption often failed to produce sustained trust, despite enhancing transparency, traceability, and data integrity. A qualitative, theory-driven methodology was employed, analyzing peer-reviewed literature across supply chain management, financial technology, and digital governance domains. The findings revealed that trust remained deeply rooted in social, relational, and institutional dimensions, which blockchain technologies could not replace. Off-chain data dependencies, governance gaps, regulatory ambiguities, and power asymmetries emerged as key factors undermining trust formation. Furthermore, blockchain often displaced trust from human and institutional actors to opaque technical systems, reducing accountability and stakeholder confidence. The study concluded that blockchain should be conceptualized as a supportive infrastructure for trust rather than a substitute for relational and institutional mechanisms. Recommendations included integrating blockchain with hybrid governance models, legal frameworks, and inclusive participation strategies to enhance trust resilience. The study also identified future research directions focusing on cross-industry comparisons, socio-technical interactions, and emerging blockchain alternatives. These insights contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the socio-technical limits of blockchain in supply chain digitization and highlight the critical role of governance and institutional alignment in sustaining trust.
We present COMET-MPC (Commitment-Oriented Multi-Party Computation with Equality Testing), a novel MPC framework that fundamentally reimagines multi-party computation as a commitment verification problem rather than a traditional secret-sharing problem. COMET-MPC achieves dealerless, one-round setup by reducing all MPC coordination tasks—input binding, consistency verification, and replay prevention—to homomorphic equality testing over elliptic-curve commitments. Unlike classical MPC protocols (Shamir’s secret sharing, FROST) that require multi-round polynomial verification or interactive zero-knowledge proofs, COMET-MPC performs verification through a single algebraic check: testing whether a group element equals the identity. This zero-detection paradigm exploits the structural identity between EC-Pedersen commitments and EC-ElGamal ciphertexts, enabling decrypt-free verification with perfect correctness and computational hiding under the Decisional Diffie-Hellman (DDH) assumption. We provide complete algorithmic specifications, formal security proofs including binding, hiding, replay resistance, and a rigorous security level analysis demonstrating ≈ 128-bit security for standard 256-bit elliptic curves. COMET-MPC is particularly suited for real-world ledger systems, authentication protocols, confidential databases, and privacy-preserving regulatory compliance where minimal interaction, minimal trust, and minimal leakage are paramount.
Ifran Khan, Huangbao Gui, BiJia Li, Chin Man Chui · 5 authors
The Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) and Baruník and Křehlík (2018) are two complementary models used in this study to examine the transmission of volatility spillover among the five precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and rhodium); the top five cryptocurrencies (bitcoin, ethereum, tether, ripple, and binance coin); two green equities (NASDAQ OMX green energy and S&P global clean energy indexes); and two physical and transition climate risk indexes (PRI and TRI). The analysis spans daily data from January 2018 to December 2023, covering multiple crises. One key contribution is offering new insights into asset interactions with transition and physical climate risks based on textual analysis established by Bua et al. (2024). We conclude that volatility spillovers explain 40.3% of market uncertainty. The largest transmitters include ethereum (72.17%), bitcoin (64.65%), silver (52.42%), and XRP (49.18%), while TRI and PRI also play considerable roles. Ethereum, bitcoin, silver, XRP, rhodium, and clean energy emerged as net transmitters, while palladium, TRI, PRI, USDT, gold, BNB, the green economy, and platinum act as net receivers. Short-term spillovers (39.15%) dominate medium-term (18.27%) and long-term (20.88%), implying that short-term shocks pose greater risks to investors. The climate-related risks demonstrate distinct transmission mechanisms, with transition risks (TRI) responding to broad market movements while physical risks (PRI) propagate through more specialized channels. Our study suggests that investors should closely monitor cryptocurrencies and green assets in the short term, approach gold and stablecoins with caution in the medium term, and consider long-term allocations to rhodium and clean energy assets.
Abstract Given the complexity of an on-demand architecture for public financial management (PFM), how can governments effectively implement these changes? This chapter outlines four approaches that can enable changes in a decentralized manner, without forcing them from the top down. One, any changes to PFM must align with the incentives of individuals in the system. Two, the system should be modified with agile development in mind, using adaptive planning, fast delivery, constant learning and improvement, and rapid response to change. Three, asynchronous onboarding, or the idea that stakeholders can adopt and integrate with the overall PFM system in their own time, can make sure these changes work within India’s complex federal structure. Four and relatedly, we discuss how changes in PFM can be undertaken within the existing institutional structure. By following these approaches, governments can navigate the complexities of changes in architecture of PFM while fostering sustainable and scalable improvements in public service delivery.
Blockchain technology has emerged as a core enabler of decentralized digital infrastructure by offering inherent features such as immutability, distributed trust, and transparency. These characteristics position blockchain as a promising foundation for building sustainable and accountable digital ecosystems. However, despite its growing adoption across domains such as governance, finance, supply chain management, and public services, blockchain systems continue to face critical challenges. Security vulnerabilities, scalability constraints, energy consumption, and transparency—privacy trade-offs remain major barriers to their long-term reliability and sustainability. This study presents a structured analysis of security and transparency challenges in blockchain-based decentralized systems, with specific emphasis on their role in sustainable digital infrastructure. Key architectural components, including consensus mechanisms, decentralization models, and immutable ledger design, are examined to identify structural weaknesses and performance bottlenecks. The primary contribution of this work is the introduction of a unified layered challenge taxonomy that categorizes threats across protocol, network, and application layers, supported by a dataset-driven comparative evaluation of representative blockchain platforms. The findings demonstrate that sustainable blockchain deployment requires carefully balanced design strategies that integrate efficiency, security, and transparency rather than optimizing any single dimension in isolation. This work provides practical insights and reference points for future research aimed at developing secure, scalable, and sustainability-oriented decentralized systems.
Abstract This chapter addresses the emergence of energy communities in Colombia as an innovative element for the transition to a decentralized energy model. In a context marked by rising energy prices and an accelerated energy transition, these projects are a bet on sustainable energy practices and the improvement of national energy security. Energy communities also aim to democratize distributed energy sources. They face significant political and practical challenges. Energy communities are citizen-driven energy actions that involve local communities with the purpose of generating, consuming, and managing energy in a collective and decentralized way. The chapter reviews existing literature on the collective generation of energy and its existing experiences. Despite Colombia’s ambitious target to reduce emissions by 51 per cent by 2030, significant gaps in current laws and policies hinder the integration of sustainability into distributed energy resources (DER) programs. Key issues include regulatory barriers, limited access to finance, and the need for better integration with the country’s existing energy infrastructure. To address these challenges, various legal approaches will be analysed, drawing lessons from international experiences and proposing strategies to align incentives with the private sector and restore investor confidence. The focus is on creating an enabling regulatory framework that facilitates the growth of energy communities. Finally, the chapter highlights that energy communities have great potential to transform the Colombian energy sector, but concerted efforts are needed to address regulatory, financial, and infrastructural challenges. By aligning incentives and restoring investor confidence, energy communities can thrive as part of a new decentralized energy model in Colombia.
Abstract One of the key challenges of energy decentralization through DERs is financing. This chapter evaluates the potential role of Islamic finance as a tool to bridge the gap in the current financing of DER infrastructure. Focusing on the opportunities and challenges in African countries, the chapter explores innovative financing approaches, including Islamic financing instruments, microfinance solutions, co-operative models, and crowdfunding, to address the resource gap. The engagement of Islamic finance in the promotion of renewable energy offers substantial advantages in advancing global sustainability initiatives. However, maximizing its full potential of Islamic financing will require supportive legal and institutional frameworks that simplify and reinforce its application in the energy sector. Yet, as demonstrated in this chapter, such supportive frameworks are not easily forthcoming in many countries. The chapter analyses legal and institutional challenges to the financing of DER projects through Islamic financing and offers recommendations on addressing them.
Diplomska naloga obravnava blockchain tehnologije s poudarkom NFT-jev (non-fungible tokens) in nelegitimnih kriptovalut. Raziskava vključuje primerjalno analizo dveh skupin blockchain projektov: uveljavljenih kriptovalut z lastno verigo blokov in problematičnih projektov brez realne vrednosti. Z analizo tehničnih, ekonomskih in socialnih dejavnikov smo identificirali ključne indikatorje, ki razlikujejo legitimne projekte od prevar. Raziskali smo vzorce cenovnih manipulacij, mehanizme odklepanja žetonov, distribucijo lastništva in marketinške taktike. Analiza 30 projektov je pokazala trimodalno porazdelitev ocen legitimnosti, kjer vsi projekti z oceno nad 75 ostajajo operativni, medtem ko vsi projekti z oceno pod 40 predstavljajo dokumentirane prevare. Končni rezultat je metodologija za prepoznavanje tveganih projektov in smernice za varnejše sodelovanje v blockchain ekosistemu, kar bo prispevalo k večji ozaveščenosti uporabnikov in izboljšanju varnostnih praks.
Ensuring atomic execution of cross-shard transactions is a fundamental challenge for sharded blockchains, particularly in scenarios demand coordination across multiple shards. However, existing solutions either rely on on-chain coordination, leading to high communication overhead, or leverage secure hardware for off-chain execution, imposing strong trust assumptions and reducing general applicability. To this end, we propose RollShard, a sharded blockchain that integrates stateless off-chain mechanism to efficiently process multi-shard transactions (MSTs). In RollShard, each MST is abstracted into a transaction DAG by the Sequencer Shard to ensure the authenticity of the transaction content and the correctness of its execution order. Batched MSTs are dispatched to off-chain executors, each of which simulates transaction logic using a virtual zero-state model integrate with a hierarchical state-delta tree (HSDT). The HSDT employs a Merkle Sum tree to precisely capture batched MSTs’ impact on per-shard account states. Based on the HSDT, the executor generates the zero-knowledge proof to attest the correctness of each shard’s state changes and global value conservation. The resulting net state deltas are then optimistically committed to the relevant shards without cross-shard coordination, reducing intra-shard coordination. We design a game-theoretic incentive mechanism to ensure rational behavior of off-chain executors, showing that honest execution forms a Nash equilibrium under collateral staking. Experimental results based on a prototype deployed in a local area network demonstrate that ROLLSHARDsignificantly outperforms two baseline coordination models proposed in ByShard, namely the Linear and Distributed designs. Specifically, under high workload, RollShard improves throughput by 44.9% and 158%, and reduces cross-shard latency by 38.9% and 42.1%, compared to the Linear and Distributed models, respectively.
In decentralized web applications, users face an inherent conflict between public verifiability and personal privacy. To participate in regulated on-chain services, users must currently disclose sensitive identity documents to centralized intermediaries, permanently linking real-world identities to public transaction histories. This binary choice between total privacy loss or total exclusion strips users of agency and exposes them to persistent surveillance. In this work, we introduce a Selective Disclosure Framework designed to restore user sovereignty by decoupling eligibility verification from identity revelation. We present ZK-Compliance, a prototype that leverages browser-based zero-knowledge proofs to shift the interaction model, enabling users to prove specific attributes (e.g., "I am over 18") locally without revealing the underlying data. We implement a user-governed Grant, Verify, Revoke lifecycle that transforms the user's mental model of compliance from a permanent data handover into a dynamic, revocable authorization session. Our evaluation shows that client-side proof generation takes under 200ms, enabling a seamless interactive experience on commodity hardware. This work provides early evidence that regulatory compliance need not come at the cost of user privacy or autonomy.
Alternative blockchains have emerged as innovative solutions to overcome the limitations of early technologies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, while expanding the potential applications of decentralized networks. These blockchains introduce distinctive features, consensus mechanisms, and scalability solutions tailored to specific use cases, enhancing both versatility and efficiency. Notable examples include Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Cardano, Solana, Polkadot, and Avalanche. Binance Smart Chain (BSC) leverages a dual-chain architecture, enabling users to develop decentralized applications and digital assets on one chain while benefiting from fast transactions on the other. Cardano, built through a rigorous peer-reviewed process, prioritizes scalability, interoperability, and sustainability, utilizing the Ouroboros proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. Solana emphasizes high throughput and low latency, employing a unique proof-of-history consensus to achieve transaction speeds far surpassing those of traditional blockchains. Polkadot introduces a multi-chain framework that allows independent blockchains to communicate and share value without relying on centralized intermediaries. Its “parachain” system fosters interoperability and enhances scalability across networks. Meanwhile, Avalanche offers a consensus protocol designed for low-latency finality and high throughput, enabling the creation of customizable blockchain networks tailored to specific applications, all the while preserving robust security guarantees.
Ethereum and other prominent cryptocurrencies have revolutionized decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain technology. Introduced in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum expanded blockchain&s;s capabilities beyond Bitcoin by enabling smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). Operating on a public, permissionless network, Ethereum uses its native cryptocurrency, Ether (ETH), to facilitate transactions and computational services. Smart contracts—self-executing agreements encoded directly into the blockchain are central to Ethereum, enabling automated, trustless interactions without intermediaries. This innovation has fostered a thriving ecosystem of dApps, DeFi protocols, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), driving adoption across industries. Cryptocurrencies like Binance Coin (BNB), Cardano (ADA), and Solana (SOL) each contribute unique innovations to the blockchain ecosystem. Binance Coin, initially launched as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, now operates on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC). It offers faster and cheaper transactions, supports decentralized applications, and enables reduced trading fees within the Binance ecosystem. Additionally, BNB facilitates staking, governance participation, and cross-chain compatibility for broader usability. Cardano, founded by Charles Hoskinson, emphasizes a Ethereum and other prominent cryptocurrencies have revolutionized decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain technology. Introduced in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum expanded blockchain&s;s capabilities beyond Bitcoin by enabling smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). Operating on a public, permissionless network, Ethereum uses its native cryptocurrency, Ether (ETH), to facilitate transactions and computational services. Smart contracts—self-executing agreements encoded directly into the blockchain are central to Ethereum, enabling automated, trustless interactions without intermediaries. This innovation has fostered a thriving ecosystem of dApps, DeFi protocols, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), driving adoption across industries. Cryptocurrencies like Binance Coin (BNB), Cardano (ADA), and Solana (SOL) each contribute unique innovations to the blockchain ecosystem. Binance Coin, initially launched as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, now operates on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC). It offers faster and cheaper transactions, supports decentralized applications, and enables reduced trading fees within the Binance ecosystem. Additionally, BNB facilitates staking, governance participation, and cross-chain compatibility for broader usability. Cardano, founded by Charles Hoskinson, emphasizes a research-driven approach with peer-reviewed development. It employs a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism called Ouroboros to enhance scalability and security while maintaining energy efficiency. Cardano’s layered architecture enables seamless upgrades and supports smart contract functionality for decentralized applications.