* refactor: Deleted a redundant `ScalarMul` helper trait

* refactor: Refactor `to_transcript_bytes`

* refactor: refactor R1CS Shape checking in Spartan checks

- Introduced a new function `check_regular_shape` in `r1cs.rs` to enforce regularity conditions necessary for Spartan-class SNARKs.

* refactor: Refactor sumcheck.rs prove_quad_* for readability

- Extracted the calculation of evaluation points to its new function `compute_eval_points`, enhancing code reusability within `prove_quad` and `prove_quad_batch` functions.

* reorganize different variants of spartan and make direct snark more generic

* cargo fmt

* test: compute_path

* refactor: path computation

- Improve path concatenation by utilizing built-in `join` method

* refactor: replace `PartialEq` with derived instance

- Derive `PartialEq` for `SatisfyingAssignment` struct
- Remove redundant manual implementation of `PartialEq`

Cargo-expand generates:
```
        #[automatically_derived]
        impl<G: ::core::cmp::PartialEq + Group> ::core::cmp::PartialEq
        for SatisfyingAssignment<G>
        where
            G::Scalar: PrimeField,
            G::Scalar: ::core::cmp::PartialEq,
            G::Scalar: ::core::cmp::PartialEq,
            G::Scalar: ::core::cmp::PartialEq,
            G::Scalar: ::core::cmp::PartialEq,
            G::Scalar: ::core::cmp::PartialEq,
        {
            #[inline]
            fn eq(&self, other: &SatisfyingAssignment<G>) -> bool {
                self.a_aux_density == other.a_aux_density
                    && self.b_input_density == other.b_input_density
                    && self.b_aux_density == other.b_aux_density && self.a == other.a
                    && self.b == other.b && self.c == other.c
                    && self.input_assignment == other.input_assignment
                    && self.aux_assignment == other.aux_assignment
            }
        }
```

* refactor: avoid default for PhantomData Unit type

* refactor: replace fold with sum where applicable

- Simplify code by replacing `fold` with `sum` in various instances

* refactor: decompression method in sumcheck.rs

* refactor: test functions to use slice instead of vector conversion

* refactor: use more references in functions

- Update parameter types to use references instead of owned values in various functions that do not need them
- Replace cloning instances with references

* chore: update to ff/group 0.13 and associated dependencies

Updates:
- zkcrypto/ff, zkcrypto/group to 0.13,
- bellperson to 0.25,
- pasta_curves to 0.5.1, and removes the fil_pasta_curves fork
- pasta-msm should no longer need a fork (WIP)

Adapts source in function, mostly for const usage and API updates.

* expose the portable feature of pasta-MSM

* update pointer to pasta-msm

* Clippy

---------

Co-authored-by: François Garillot <francois@garillot.net>

* a more optimal preprocessing SNARK

* update version

* cleanup; address clippy

* Ability to collect evaluation claims

* defer polynomial evaluation claims

* address cargo clippy

* spark-based commitments to R1CS matrices

* small fixes

* simplify transcript engine usage

* update version

* checkpoint

* simplify further

* checkpoint

* gens --> ck

* update benches

* address clippy

* cleanup

* update version

* pass only one multilinear polynomial to EE

* update version

make spartan generic over the evaluation engine

update version

disable Wasm CI check

* Bump commit.

* Bump commit.

* (WIP) Add serde support

* Minor fixes

* Use neptune const generics

* Use git patches

* Impl serde for CompressedSNARK

* Update dependencies, revert to typenum

* Formatting

* Update bellperson-nonnative patch

* Cleanup

* Remove bellperson-nonnative fork

* Switch back to fil_pasta_curves

* Update forked dependencies

* Cleanup

* Remove unnecessary patch

* Update to lurk-pasta-msm

---------

Co-authored-by: porcuquine <porcuquine@users.noreply.github.com>

* update crate versions

* fix clippy issues

* cargo fmt

* support for arbitrary arity for F

* revive MinRoot example

* revive tests

* revive ecdsa

* remove unused code

* use None instead of Some(1u32)

* revive benches

* fix clippy warning

use a default implementation for step circuit

* cleanup code

* compiles

* additional plumbing

* add padding

* Add missing file

* integrate

* add a separate test

* cleanup

* cleanup

* add checks for outer sum-check

* sum-checks pass

* sum-checks pass

* sum-checks pass

* Add polycommit checks to the end

* switch to pasta_msm

* clippy

* remove int_log

* switch to pasta_curves

* clippy

* clippy

* add a special case for bases.len() = 1

* use naive MSM to avoid SIGFE error for smaller MSMs

* add rayon parallelism to naive MSM

* update comment since we already implement it

* address clippy

* cleanup map and reduce code

* add parallelism to final SNARK creation and verification

* add par

* add par

* add par

* add par

* store padded shapes in the parameters

* Address clippy

* pass padded shape in params

* pass padded shape in params

* cargo fmt

* add par

* add par

* Add par

* cleanup with a reorg

* factor out spartan-based snark into a separate module

* create traits for RelaxedR1CSSNARK

* make CompressedSNARK parameterized by a SNARK satisfying our new trait

* fix benches

* cleanup code

* remove unused

* move code to Spartan-based SNARK

* make unused function private

* rename IPA types for clarity

* cleanup

* return error types; rename r_j to r_i

* fix duplicate code