Paper 2025/1159 Original: eprint.iacr.org/2025/1159 ↗

$\mathsf{DekartProof}$: Efficient Vector Range Proofs and Their Applications

Abstract

Let $p$ be a prime and consider a committed vector $\vec{v} = (v_1, \ldots, v_m) \in \mathbb{F}_p^m$. We develop new techniques for succinctly proving in zero-knowledge that all the elements of $\vec{v}$ are in the range $\{0,1,\ldots,n\}$ for some $n<p$. We refer to this as a batched zero-knowledge range proof, or a batched ZKRP. This problem comes up often in cryptography: it is needed in publicly verifiable secret sharing (PVSS), confidential transactions, and election protocols. Our approach makes use of a multilinear polynomial commitment scheme and the sum check protocol to efficiently provide a batch range proof for the entire vector. Along the way we introduce a new type of a Polynomial Interactive Oracle Proof (PIOP) we call a Homomorphic PIOP that can be compiled into a SNARK. We use an HPIOP to construct a new efficient zero-knowledge version of the sum check protocol. We compare our new techniques with existing range proofs and lookup arguments.